Mars attacks Lampeter-Strasburg, returns to PIAA boys lacrosse championship on back of Jack Tirch’s monster game
DERRY TWP, Mifflin County — On a day when his team desperately needed him, Jack Tirch delivered in a big way.
The Mars senior attackman scored seven goals Tuesday in a 9-6 PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse semifinal win over Lampeter-Strasburg at Mifflin County High School’s Chapman Stadium.
“Big-time players show up in big-time games,” Mars coach Bob Marcoux said. “When Jack’s hot, he’s tough to stop. Give him an inch and he’ll bury it.”
The Planets advance to the state championship game for the fifth time in six seasons. They will take on the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between Twin Valley and Penncrest at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Penn State University’s Panzer Stadium.
Five of Tirch’s scores came in the second half, including one that put the Planets up for good — 6-5 with 7:01 left in the game.
“I’ve been getting a lot of praise from my teammates and it feels great, but it took the whole team to win today,” Tirch, who has scored over 70 goals this season, said shortly after the victory. “This is not the most important win for us. We need one more.”
Mars (18-4) came up empty on its first eight shots of the game. Three were off the mark, and the other five were stopped by Pioneers goalie Cole Beiler.
“He was a three-year starter for us,” Lampeter-Strasburg coach Mike McConomy said of his goalie. “We feed off of his big saves.”
And the Pioneers built a 3-0 lead thanks to second-quarter goals from Landis Todd, Finley Bare and Grant Filius.
Tirch got the Planets on the board with his first goal with 6:16 left in the period. He added another 30 seconds before halftime. The Pioneers’ lead was 3-2 at the break.
“My teammates were taking shots high, and they were missing,” Tirch said. “I went low with my first three shots and they were all goals, so I stayed with that. I could tell it broke (Beiler’s) confidence.”
That third shot, 1:21 after Blake Cote’s goal cut the Pioneers’ edge to 4-3, knotted the score at four in the third period.
Lampeter-Strasburg (22-3) earned its final lead, 5-4, with four minutes remaining in the third on a shot from Todd. Tirch and Nate Caldwell netted the final five goals for Mars.
“We had some bad breaks late, a few ground balls that we couldn’t get to,” McConomy said. “But our effort was tremendous.
“There were two very good offenses playing today, but also two good defenses. I’m not surprised just 15 goals were scored.”
It was the second straight game Mars won after trailing in the second half. The Planets rallied from down 5-2 against Upper Dublin in the quarterfinals.
“We really didn’t make any adjustments today,” Marcoux said. “We were getting good looks in the first half. It was just a matter of saying, ‘It’s a tight game, it’s hot, now let’s find a way to fight through it and win this thing.”
Mars senior goalie David Renner made six saves.
Beiler stopped 11 shots, eight coming in the first half. Mars had 28 shots in the game that sailed wide, high or hit the turf short of the Pioneers’ net. But nine goals was good enough on this day, especially considering where they have landed the Planets, who will look to add a second PIAA championship to their trophy case, joining the 2022 squad.
“I was on two teams (2023, 2024) that got to the state final and lost,” Tirch said. “This group of seniors, we have one more chance to get it done.”
