Mars girls topple Franklin Regional for 3rd time this season

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 26, 2017 | 9:18 PM

Mars did something they hadn't done all season, but it didn't stop the Fightin' Planets from moving into the WPIAL girls soccer semifinals.

Caroline Wroblewski scored twice, and Taylor Hamlett and Ellie Coffield also found the net to give second-seeded Mars a 4-1 win over No. 7 Franklin Regional in a Class AAA quarterfinal Thursday at Hampton.

Abby Albright converted from the penalty spot for Franklin Regional (11-6-1) in the 60th minute, scoring the first goal Mars (15-1-0) has conceded this season to a Class AAA team. But the shutout streak was of little concern to Mars, which advances to face South Park in the semifinals Monday at a time and location to be determined.

“It's the best thing that could have happened, because everyone starts talking about these streaks, and it's not about the streak. It's about just winning the game,” Mars coach Blair Gerlach said. “I'm just really pleased for as young as we are, we're where we are, and we've done it somewhat convincingly. But we absolutely have to play better (to keep advancing).”

Franklin Regional, which lost to Mars twice by 4-0 scores during section play, came into the quarterfinal playing a tight back four to prevent Mars from working down the middle of the field.

Mars' attacking players showed maturity, despite having only three seniors on the roster, by patiently working their offense down the wings. After a couple early misses by her teammates, Hamlett opened the scoring in the 15th minute by heading in a cross from Coffield on the left.

“The biggest thing I'm surprised about is their resiliency for how young they are. They play a style of soccer that if we need to knock the ball around, they knock the ball around. If we need to play direct, we play direct,” Gerlach said. “They said we don't have to win this game in the first 10 minutes, we need to win 80 minutes. If you start pushing too hard at the beginning, that's when you get frustrated, and that's a snowball you don't want to deal with.”

Instead, the early goal helped Mars get comfortable in the game, and Coffield made the score 2-0 by scoring from close range after Wroblewski managed to control the ball in traffic near the goal line. Coffield later returned the favor with a through ball down the left wing to Wroblewski, who made it 3-0 just two minutes before halftime.

“The game plan was to limit (Mars') scoring opportunities, and they did on a number of them, but you have to give Mars credit. They know how to play and they know how to attack a goal,” Franklin Regional coach Rich Garland said. “It was bound to happen at some point, but we wanted to lessen the number of shots and maybe squeak one out.”

Franklin Regional — a young team in its own right with only two seniors starting — did squeak out their goal after forward Bella Larese got tangled in the box with Mars defender Maggie Williams, resulting in the penalty kick being awarded. The Planets bounced right back, however, with Wroblewski scoring her second on a cross from Hamlett just two minutes later.

“(Franklin Regional) was down a little bit of manpower with some strong players who were out. … But we knew we were going to see a defensive style, and the idea was just to not flip out,” Gerlach said.

Matt Grubba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com

Tags: Franklin Regional, Mars