Holding a lead can sometimes be harder than doing the actual scoring. Hempfield found that out on the PIAA District Three playoff stage Saturday.
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The Knights twice lost grips on leads, including one with 5:53 left in the game, in a 3-2 season-ending loss to Central Dauphin.
"Their counterattack was just too much for us to handle," Hempfield coach Mark Ashley said following the quarterfinal loss at Hershey High School. "They had some speed up top, and guys who were able to finish, and they did it."
Eric McGinnis, a tall forward who was the hardest chore for Hempfield to handle, scored the winner on a blast that beat keeper Travis Worra.
Hempfield held one-goal leads after tallies from Connor Goldsmith, midway into the first half, and Zach Hollinger, eight minutes into the second.
Goldsmith made a good move to get free from a defender inside the box and fired a shot that went off the hands of keeper Jonathan Lutz and into the net.
Alex Caplan answered 15 minutes later for the Rams when McGinnis' pass set him up on a break. Caplan didn't miss, tucking a shot inside the right post.
"We were pressing to get forward," Ashley said of the CD goals. "Our backs were anxious to support our [offensive] attack and got pushed forward too far."
Hollinger made it 2-1 when Goldsmith finessed a pass to the middle of the box.
"We weren't sure we'd be able to score like we did, because that was our Achilles' heel all season," Ashley said.
Lukas Gross tied it at 2 when he scored on a rebound with 15:44 left in regulation.
Ten minutes later, CD's Michael Jones fought off two tackles and somehow worked the ball to McGinnis inside the 18. Worra had no chance against McGinnis' bullet of a kick.
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