May 19th, 2015. Wiz Khalifa with Charlie Puth topped the music charts with “See You Again.” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” hit the theaters, and Hampton beat Mars in boys lacrosse in the Division 2 semifinals. The Talbots went on to win the WPIAL championship.
The Fightin’ Planets haven’t lost a WPIAL playoff game since.
Mars defeated South Fayette, 9-6, in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game Thursday at Upper St. Clair to capture the program’s 10th straight lacrosse title.
“It’s unbelievable,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “It never, ever gets old. This was almost as much fun as the first one.”
Mars notched the game’s first goal. After securing a ground ball after a failed clear, junior Reed Fuller fired a shot home from the left wing for a 1-0 lead early in the first quarter.
South Fayette answered at 3:13 when Robert Morris recruit Drew Welhorsky found teammate Bryce Watkins with a beautiful pass at the top of the crease to tie the game at 1-1.
The Lions jumped in front 2-1 when Jack Makar found Nathaniel Keller at the 4:40 mark.
But it didn’t take Mars long to tie the game. After winning the ensuing faceoff, Grove City commit Grant Weaver got alone in front and tied it 2-2 just 13 seconds after the South Fayette goal.
Welhorsky, who set the WPIAL all-time points record during the regular season, put South Fayette back in front, curling out from behind the net at the right post and scoring at 9:35.
Mars ended the back-and-forth first quarter with a goal with 22 seconds remaining. Weaver found Marywood recruit Connor Long in front to tie the game 3-3.
Mars had a long section winning streak snapped during the regular season, and the Fightin’ Planets had several other tests during the season according to Marcoux.
“This has been a little bit of a different year for us,” he said. “We’ve had a lot more close games, so we’re a little bit more battle tested. I think we’re comfortable in these kind of games.”
Long put the Fightin’ Planets in front 4-3 with his second goal of the game just over two minutes into the second quarter. That was the only marker of the quarter, and Mars held a one-goal lead at halftime.
Mars scored a third straight goal when Weaver netted his second of the game early in the third quarter for a 5-3 lead.
Mars went in front 6-3 halfway through the third when Isaac McMichael fired a bouncer into the net off a Long pass from the goal line.
Junior Max Joseph ended the Mars run, taking a cross-crease pass from Keller and sneaking a shot into the net at 9:29 to pull South Fayette to within 6-4.
The Fightin’ Planets got another late goal when Long completed his hat trick by scoring his seventh goal of the season with 28 seconds left for a three-goal lead. But South Fayette’s Daniel Speca took a feed from Joseph after a turnover to score with just seven seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 7-5.
The Lions climbed within one at 4:04 of the fourth quarter when Makar scored an unassisted goal on the run to make the score 7-6.
Weaver recorded his third goal and fourth point with a shifty dodge on the left wing to put Mars up 8-6 near the halfway mark of the final quarter.
“Grant was named All-American this week, and he deserves every bit of it,” Marcoux said of his senior leader. “He’s really the straw that stirs our drink. He’s a two-way midfielder who helps us on defense and he’s our playmaker on offense.”
Weaver now has scored seven goals in the last two championship wins for the Fightin’ Planets.
After a crease violation against South Fayette, Mars was able to possess the ball for over 90 seconds before the Marquette commit Fuller added his second goal of the game to make the final score 9-6, as the Fightin’ Planets took home their 10th consecutive championship.
“All of the past players have come back to offer their encouragement,” Marcoux said. “They come back and stress the culture. We’ve had a bunch of visitors this week who said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a tradition to uphold,’ and I think it made a difference.”
Senior goalie David Renner made several key saves to get the win in net for Mars (15-5).
“He’s our senior and he’s paid his dues,” Marcoux said of Renner. “He’s really waited for his chance, and he upheld the Mars tradition of a goalie coming up big in the finals.”
South Fayette (16-5) finishes as the runner-up for the fourth consecutive year. The Lions have now lost all eight games they have played against Mars all time.
Both teams will move onto the state playoffs to represent District 7.
Mars has now won 30 consecutive WPIAL playoff game dating to the Hampton loss. Marcoux is excited for his team in the state tournament.
“We’ve said all along that our goal is to be healthy and playing our best lacrosse at the end of the year,” he said. “In years past, we’ve come into the playoffs a little bit beat up. This year we are battle tested and ready.”
Mars is the only team from the WPIAL, boys or girls, to win a state title. The Fightin’ Planets defeated Marple Newtown in 2022 to grab state gold.