Williamsport started Wednesday night’s District 2-4 Class AAAA boys soccer semifinal with a flurry of scoreless shots before losing top scorer Jimmy Pombor to an ankle sprain.

The Millionaires ended the night with a 3-1 defeat to the Wilkes-Barre Wolfpack at the Balls Mills complex to finish their season 7-9-1.

Wilkes-Barre’s Aidan McFarlane scored twice off John Barker assists, once in each half, before Connor Poole averted the shutout for the Millionaires on a set kick from about 30 yards away at 70 minutes.

“So many games we come out flat, but we had good energy and good defense tonight and then to get that injury…” said Williamsport coach Lee Kaar. “When one of your leaders goes down that hurts but we have the talent to battle against a team like this and win. It wasn’t the injury that did it, but it took the wind out of our sails for awhile before it was, ‘We can do this, let’s go.”

Pombor, one of three graduating Millionaire seniors, scored 16 of Williamsport’s 38 goals this year. But he was done for the night after a first-half collision that left him on crutches.

Wilkes-Barre (8-8-4) eventually dominated possession, outshooting Williamsport 16-5 and held the Millionaires without a shot for nearly 40 minutes. Before that Williamsport started the game with 3 corner kicks in 10 minutes but failed to score against a Wikes-Barre team that also started poorly.

“Defense has been our strong point all year, as we’ve struggled to score,” said Wilkes-Barre coach Jack Nolan, noting backup keeper Zach Perry had done well in place of injured starter Joe Egidio. “We start slow, it’s been our history all year and we stressed the first 10 minutes. We eventually settled in and possessed the ball far better.”

McFarlane’s first score, at 15 minutes, set the tone for the rest of the game as he broke through and put Barker’s cross pass in the wide-open lower left corner. His second, at 59 minutes, came from the same spot after Barker’s pass from the top of the box after receiving a corner kick.

Evan Corcoran scored the Wolfpack’s final goal from well outside the box as he corralled a clear-out and sent it back home from about 25 yards out.

McFarlane was Wilkes-Barre’s top scorer this fall with 7 goals despite missing 6-8 games, said Nolan.

Kaar had hoped Williamsport could establish more offense all along the width of the pitch, but that was a problem much of the year that saw the Millionaires win just once and tie once since the end of September. He noted how assistant J.R. Confair told the team postgame next season could be spectacular if there was a good offseason.

“I hate to be the wait until next year coach, but with only three guys graduating, we have to have guys step up and commit,” said Kaar. “I”m very excited for the group of sophomores and juniors, and we have a big freshman class. It’s always tough to think like that after a loss, but it’s definitely something where, if we have a crew that can be together, together they can be quite effective.”

WB – Aidan McFarlane (John Barker) 15; WB – McFarlane (Barker) 59; WB – Evan Corcoran 61. WPT – Connor Poole 70

Shots: WB 16, WPT 5. Corner kicks: WB 3, WPT 4. Saves: WB (Zach Perry) 2, WPT (Sam Radulski) 8.

Records; Williamsport 7-9-1. WB 8-8-4. Next: WB in D2-4 AAAA final at Hazleton, Saturday.