By JOE SAGER, PIHL Network

WARRENDALE – Mars is back in a familiar place – the Penguins Cup Class A semifinals.

With Thursday’s 6-1 quarterfinal win over Freeport, the Planets advanced to the PIHL’s “Frozen Four” for the fifth-straight season.

Mars has won the last three Penguins Cup Class A titles and two-straight Pennsylvania Cup state championships. This group of Planets wants to continue that legacy.

“We definitely have a lot of pressure on our shoulders because everyone expects us to do it,” said Mars forward Austin Heakins, who had two goals and two assists. “We definitely have lost a lot of our big players from last year and the year before that. But, a lot of these younger kids want to know what it feels like to have a state title. Me and some of my teammates wear our championship rings to the games and the younger guys want one, too. All these freshmen and sophomores have the heart to get to those games again.”

The celebration was muted a bit when Joe Bender, the team’s captain and one of its top forwards, delivered a hard hit in the game’s final minute. He was whistled for a game misconduct, which earned him at least a one-game suspension.

Nevertheless, the Planets (18-2-0) were overpowering offensively.

“We came out on the first shift with a lot of pressure and momentum on them. We were psyched and knew what we had to do,” Mars forward Nick Blaney said. “We knew we had to get a lot of offense. The fact that we got six goals is pretty impressive.”

The six tallies were especially surprising, considering the performance of Freeport goaltender Cody Lee. He kept his team within range, 3-1, heading into the third period before Mars erupted for three goals.

“Cody Lee has always been a great goaltender. He is one of the main aspects of the Freeport hockey organization,” Blaney said. “He’s a great kid and a great hockey player; kudos to him because he played a great game out there.”

Freeport (11-8-2), the No. 7 seed, nearly stunned the Planets with a goal 16 seconds into the contest. Hunter Kepple tapped in Greg Newman’s cross-crease pass for an apparent tally. However, the goal was waved off as the net was dislodged.

The Planets finally beat Lee for a power-play goal with 5:34 left in the first. Robert Foley slid a puck past Lee on the far post for the 1-0 advantage.

Freeport retaliated 40 seconds later when Devin Christy found the back of the net.

It took Mars 55 seconds to answer that as Heakins scored. He took a pass in front of Lee and pulled the puck over to the far post and flipped it high into the net for a 2-1 edge with 3:59 left on the clock.

In the second, Lee made several sprawling saves again before the Planets notched their third goal. Blaney deflected a Heakins shot into the net for a 3-1 advantage with 3:16 to go.

Freeport failed to score on a pair of two-man advantages in the third. After that, the Planets tacked on three more goals.

“It was huge, especially because it was such a close game at the time. That was a chance for them to get back in the game, but we shut all that down,” Blaney said. “They really lost their momentum from there on out.”

Noah Master, Bender and Heakins all scored in the third period to wrap up the Planets’ win.

“We were kind of in a funk. The guys broke out of it tonight,” Mars coach Steve Meyers said. “We had some scoring from our first line again, finally. It was a solid effort from everybody. The goaltending was good and so was the defense. It was real nice to get back on the winning track.”