Powell's goal in the 64th minute lifts Mars past Shaler 2-1 for its ninth WPIAL Class 3A title

PITTSBURGH. Sophomore Mackenzie Powell scored in the 64th minute as Mars beat Shaler 2-1 on Saturday, Nov. 7, at F.N.B. Stadium to win the WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship. Mars trailed in the first half, tied the game before halftime, and took the lead for good on Powell’s goal. The title is Mars’s ninth in program history and its first since 2021.

Shaler (15-3) scored first in the 18th minute. Deliah Arrigo took a corner kick, and junior Etta Warner finished at the far post to give the Titans a 1-0 lead. Shaler was playing in its first WPIAL final in 40 years and was looking for its first championship.

Mars (16-1-1) tied the game late in the first half. Junior Jade Breese converted a penalty kick, and the teams went to halftime tied 1-1. “I’m confident in taking them in big games, so I put it hard and left,” Breese said.

“People have a way of pitching that as a favorite against an underdog, and it’s like, ‘Going into this game, we were the underdog.’ We were the lower seed, they won the section, we didn’t,” Mars coach Blair Gerlach said.

The game stayed tied until the 64th minute. Powell pressed, won the ball back and carried it into the box, where she beat Shaler keeper Livia Ryan. The goal came with under 16 minutes left in regulation.

“We have all been looking up to the Mars girls program since I even started playing soccer,” Powell said. “And just to be able to watch how great this program has grown, and then being able to contribute something ourselves, as players, it just feels amazing.”

Shaler had a dangerous free kick in the 61st minute, three minutes before Powell scored, after a foul on the edge of the box. The two teams had split their regular season meetings, Shaler winning in September and Mars winning in October. Mars had also come back from a goal down to beat South Fayette 2-1 in the quarterfinal, the same score by which it won the title.

Mars (17-1-1) opens the PIAA Class 3A tournament at home against District 3 fourth-place finisher Northern on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m. at the Mars Athletic Complex. Shaler (15-4) also advances to the state tournament and plays at District 6 champion Hollidaysburg on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Goals: Shaler, Warner 18, Arrigo; Mars, Breese, penalty kick, first half; Mars, Powell 64; Halftime: Mars 1, Shaler 1.