South Fayette’s girls soccer team suffers setback in state quarterfinals

South Fayette's girls soccer team had its season come to an end Saturday in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals at North Allegheny High School in a 1-0 setback to Mars.

The Lions finished their season at 20-4 and won the WPIAL Class 3A championship for the second-straight year.

"Our girls had an amazing season," South Fayette coach Nick Rosser said. "We worked hard but it didn't fall in our place today."

South Fayette edged Mars (20-3) in penalty kicks to advance to the WPIAL finals after neither team scored in regulation and the two 15-minute overtime periods. The Fightin' Planets earned their spot into the state tournament with a 1-0 victory in overtime over Plum before blanking Harbor Creek, 5-0, in the first round of the state tournament.

Mars will face District 3 champion Lower Dauphin on Tuesday in the state semifinals at Mansion Park in Altoona.

Meredith Ashbaugh scored the only goal her team would need in the opening minutes of the first half after the Fightin' Planets had won a corner kick.

"They are very good in the air," Rosser said. "They came at us, and it was a big cluster, but hey, they got up higher than we did and were able to get the ball on the net. We created a lo

t of opportunities for ourselves. We just couldn't get it in the back of the net."

South Fayette blanked DuBois, 5-0, in the first round of the state playoffs.

Almanac sports editor Eleanor Bailey contributed to this story.