Allentown Central Catholic fends off Mars in PIAA boys lacrosse quarterfinals

By: Luke Brown
Saturday, June 7, 2025 | 6:07 PM

MECHANICSBURG — As Allentown Central Catholic started to pull away in Saturday’s PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse quarterfinal matchup, the Mars Fightin’ Planets maintained hope.

First, it was 8-6, the first two-goal lead for either team, with 5:40 to go in the third quarter. Then it was 9-7, 10-7 and eventually 15-10 in favor of the Vikings. But through the deficits, Mars coach Bob Marcoux’s faith did not waiver.

“Heck, no,” said Marcoux about any doubts late in the game. “Especially when we’ve got Josh Wilburn winning faceoffs for us like he’s done all year. We think we’re still in it, for sure.”

In the end, it was a 15-10 loss for Mars to the District 11 champion Vikings, a season-ending setback to finish the year at 19-3 — with a WPIAL gold medal to go along with it.

“Really proud of these guys, you know?” Marcoux said. “I think a lot of people counted us out early in the year, having lost three Division I guys and a bunch of really good players. But these guys worked hard all year and they showed a lot of heart, a lot of grit.”

In the first half, it seemed no one could get an edge. Allentown Central Catholic went up 1-0 off Tate Shoemaker’s unassisted goal 60 seconds in, but Ian Coulter responded just over five minutes later. Throughout the first half, it was about as back and forth as it can get.

The score was tied at every score up to 6-6, with two lead changes in between. It took 30 minutes, 20 seconds of lacrosse until anyone got more than a one-goal lead, off another Shoemaker goal for the Vikings. Allentown Central Catholic never gave up a lead after that.

A lot of that had to do with Stony Brook recruit Jack Restino, who scored six goals throughout the game, including four in the second half.

“Everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth,” said Marcoux. “And he’s a really good kid. So we decided that we were going to play him heavy with (Mike Duffy), our LSM, and then slide early when we could, but he’s really good. He took some really good shots, and he buried them. He’s a good player.”

Mars’ loss could have easily looked a lot different. Just over a minute into the final quarter, trailing 10-8, the Fightin’ Planets had a shot bounce off the crossbar and a rebound was saved at the last second.

Two minutes later, another shot was bonked right off the post. To win big games, sometimes it takes a few bounces.

“That’s what you coach the kids is next-play mentality,” Marcoux said. “We knew we got some good looks, we’ll keep getting good looks, we’ve just got to bury them.”

If it wasn’t already over at 13-10, James McCarthy’s two goals with 1:48 and 1:09 left did the trick as Allentown Central Catholic pulled off a win over one of Pennsylvania’s premier programs, moving on to the semifinals.

That’s where they’ll face Trinity, the District 3 champion that beat South Fayette in their quarterfinal matchup Saturday. That semifinal game will be Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

In Marcoux’s mind, it’s a Mars team that overachieved.

“Honestly, they exceeded my expectations this year and I had pretty high expectations,” he said. “But I really loved coaching this group.”

Tags: Mars