At halftime of Mars’ PIAA boys lacrosse quarterfinal against Upper Dublin on Saturday, the message from coach Bob Marcoux to his players was simple: You have one half of lacrosse left.
He meant that there was one half – 24 minutes – left to make up the one-goal deficit the Fightin’ Planets were facing.
Beyond that, Marcoux was saying that his players had one half left in their seasons, some being their senior seasons, if they didn’t make the choice to extend it past the quarterfinal round.
Schematically, nothing changed. The Fightin’ Planets ran the same offensive sets that had only allowed for two goals in the first 24 minutes. In the second half, though, Marcoux’s team scored eight and battled through adversity for a 10-8 win over Upper Dublin and a date in the PIAA semifinals with Lampeter-Strasburg.
“We needed their best effort,” said Marcoux. “We’ve been working all year on our conditioning, all year trying to get healthy, and it really paid off.”
Out of halftime, there weren’t many positive signs for the Fightin’ Planets. Upper Dublin’s Chase Foster scored back-to-back goals at 8:54 and 5:50. It extended the Cardinal lead from 3-2 to 5-2, but Marcoux didn’t call a timeout.
Instead, his team went on a run of seven unanswered goals. The run started at 4:25 of the third and ended at 8:36 of the fourth quarter. Connor Long, Nate Caldwell, Chase Lamm, Jake Tirch and Henry Saver all contributed at least one goal to the run.
After Saver’s goal that put the Fightin’ Planets up 9-5 with 8:35 remaining, Mars goalkeeper David Renner made a stop but got hit in the neck in the process. Upper Dublin went on a three-goal run in 81 seconds, but Renner stayed in the game.
It wasn’t for a lack of backup options. Luke Reinhart has played the majority of second halves for the team this season, but on Saturday, Marcoux felt it was right to keep Renner in, even after being hit in the neck.
“He was playing so well in the first half and we decided to ride the hot hand,” said Marcoux. “This time of year, you got to ride a hot hand, and he was clearly the hot hand tonight. … He’s demonstrated toughness for four years here. He’s one of those kids that just kept working, and he finally got his opportunity this year. He’s absolutely made the most of it.”
After the shakeup, both with Renner being hit and scored on, Mars got back to work to buy some insurance for its 9-8 lead.
Grant Weaver scored on an assist from Tirch with 1:03 remaining, all but cementing Mars’ spot in the semifinals.
In the final moments, the Cardinals became more desperate, and the penalties followed. A tripping penalty, followed by a push and a cross check, required Mars to stay level-headed and stay away from any penalty trouble of its own.
“Really good leadership,” said Marcoux, on what allowed the Fightin’ Planets to stay composed. “Reed (Fuller) was one of the guys at halftime that said, ‘Look, we got this. We’re in good shape. We just got to play our game, come out firing.’ And Reed got the guys fired up. … He was a big positive motivator, and I can’t say enough about his leadership as a junior.”
Mars ran the clock out and now moves into the seventh semifinal appearance in program history. The Fightin’ Planets will face Lampeter-Strasburg, which defeated South Fayette, 11-10, in overtime.