How Mars girls soccer rolled past Northern York and into PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals
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Mars' Carly McKenna (8) passes the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Jade Breese (13) dribbles the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Carly McKenna (8) dribbles the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Mackenzie Powell (31) kicks the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Miley Gratton (29) competes with Northern York's Alexa Rank for the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Jade Breese (13) kicks a pass in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars girls soccer head coach Blair Gerlach watches from the sidelines in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Katie Blake (20) kicks a pass in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Brielle Krepin (36) hits a header in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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The Mars girls soccer team celebrates after a goal in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Hayleigh Wolski (1) winds up a kick in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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The Mars student section reacts to a goal in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against Northern York, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Miley Gratton (29) is pursued by Northern York's Ava Ondecko (32) and Emerson Basinger (2) as she moves the ball upfield in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Reese Vuckovich (35) and Northern York's Carly Sheffer (8) compete for control of the ball in a PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Mars Athletic Complex. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
ADAMS TWP — It appeared so commonplace for HB Wolski.
In the 21st minute, the Mars freshman lifted the first goal of Tuesday's PIAA Class 3A first-round girls soccer matchup over Northern York's goalkeeper from nearly 30 yards out, but she didn't jump in excitement, yell or act at all like it was a big deal.
Wolski, in typical, bashful fashion, stood and waited for her teammates to mob her.
"It's funny, because we've made it a point to try and pull her out of her shell a little bit because she's so reserved," Planets coach Blair Gerlach said after a 3-0 win. "But we got her dancing at practice the other day a little bit, we had some celebrations and so forth. It's fun because they're young, they're enjoying it. They're not super-stressed out. They're just happy to have one more game to play."
Mars advances to Saturday's quarterfinals to face District 9 champion DuBois Area, which topped Penn-Trafford 4-1 on Tuesday.
With 30th- and 57th-minute goals, respectively, sophomore Mackenzie Powell and junior Miley Gratton had their names called over the loudspeaker, too.
Just as important, though, the less-heralded Planets (18-1-1) defense smothered the visiting Polar Bears (13-6-3), the District 3 fourth-place finisher. Dating back to the start of last month, the Planets have conceded all of three goals, communication and awareness of when help is needed being a large reason why.
Mars didn't have long to prepare after downing Shaler for the WPIAL crown on Saturday.
"We definitely saw key players on film and we knew what to watch out (for) and their key strengths and stuff," sophomore defender Addison Jacoby said. "So we knew how to stop them and what to do to slow them down or how to approach them."
Sophomore Reese Vuckovich, more of a defensive midfielder, balances helping on both halves.
“I get back on my marks and then I make some runs up, but mostly I play defensive because we kinda need that sometimes," Vuckovich said. "We have two that go up and two that come back."
Gerlach doesn't even attribute the success to talent, more so a willingness to be part of the pack, something that will serve the young group well as it marches on.
"I just like the fact that they're selfless," Gerlach said. "If somebody has to man mark somebody one night, if somebody has to shadow somebody, if ... we're playing just a regular back line where we're passing players on and so forth, they'll do whatever you ask them to do with a smile on their face.
"There's a pride in that group, where it's like, 'We want to have a zero.' We just want to keep throwing zeroes, and if we keep throwing zeroes, we just need one."
