Moon wins 2nd straight WPIAL girls soccer crown, ends Mars’ 80-game unbeaten streak

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, November 5, 2022 | 4:09 PM

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When it came to winning a second consecutive WPIAL championship, Moon coach Bill Pfeiffer knew dropping down a classification wouldn’t make anything automatic for the Tigers.

But Moon hasn’t made things look too difficult.

The Tigers haven’t allowed a goal since a September win over Butler and won their second consecutive WPIAL championship Saturday at Highmark Stadium with a 1-0 victory over Mars in the Class 3A final.

Moon’s win ended an 80-game unbeaten streak for the Planets, whose last lost was to Blue Mountain in the PIAA playoffs in 2018.

The Tigers won the Class 4A state crown last season, while Mars won the past three PIAA Class 3A titles.

“It’s a great game between two quality kids and teams who know each other,” Pfeiffer said. “We’re not even the biggest school in the classification. No one said anything when we won when we were the smallest school in Class 4A. … You find out some of these smaller teams have a target on our back because they want to beat us.”

No one has figured out the formula yet. Moon is now 20-0 and outscored opponents 14-0 in the playoffs. The Tigers will open the state playoffs against WPIAL fourth-place team Latrobe on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.

Tessa Romah broke through for the Tigers’ only goal Saturday.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match because Mars is the three-time state champs,” Romah said. “You have to prepare for them, and we were getting ready all week.”

Following a long shot in the box that landed at the feet of Romah, she had her first effort saved by Mars goalkeeper Kate McEnroe. The rebound came back to Romah, who fired the ball into the back of the net in the 14th minute.

“You always have to be ready and be on your toes,” Romah said. “It gets stressful when it’s coming back, but you have to give it your all.”

This was the third meeting between Mars and Moon in a WPIAL final. The Planets won the first meeting in 2012, while Moon won the rematch in 2017. The Planets (17-1) played this version of the game without defender Gwen Howell.

“We had some changes in the lineup today,” Mars coach Blair Gerlach said. “It’s not taking anything away from anything they did. We had to move things around based on player availability today.”

Mars had its best opportunity to score in the 72nd minute. Ainsley Ray was able to redirect a shot from inside of 6 yards toward the goal line. While it snuck past the keeper, Moon defender Ayva Wiech was able to clear the shot off the line.

Mars was never able to seriously threaten down the stretch as Moon was able to secure the title.

Gerlach said the Planets won’t spend too much time mourning the end of their unbeaten streak. Mars is focused on taking on the winner of Hollidaysburg and DuBois in the PIAA playoffs next week.

“I think coming into the today, let’s see what happens today and Tuesday happens no matter what,” Gerlach said. “Tomorrow is rebound, bounce back day and we get everyone out, we get moving around and shake off the tenderness from today and start a new one today.”

Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Mars, Moon