But once the ball was set, Hofstrom simply took a deep breath, relaxed and took his shot. And, thankfully for the Millionaires, he drilled it.

Hofstrom’s shot was on the money and went to the back of the net to tie the game and from there, Williamsport kept up the pressure en route to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Scranton in the District 2-4 Class AAAA quarterfinals at Balls Mills on a chilly Wednesday evening.

With the win, the Millionaires, seeded fourth, advance to face top-seeded Wyoming Valley West in the District 2-4 Class AAAA semifinals on the road at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“It feels good (to move on). Last year didn’t get that first game, we lost the first game, but now we’ve won and we’re going farther than we went last year,” Connor Hofstrom said.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong (7) is congratulated by Charles Plummer (4) after his goal with 31:14 left in the second half.

Williamsport had to work hard to get the win on Wednesday. Scranton (5-11) scored twice in the first half for a 2-0 halftime lead and just 70 seconds into the second half, Yoshua Salum scored inside the 18 to give Scranton a 3-0 lead.

Down three goals in a playoff game is far from an ideal situation to find yourself in, but instead of hanging their heads, Williamsport’s players kept at it and kept fighting and slowly but surely, that deficit was being erased.

A three-goal deficit suddenly became 3-1 thanks to a penalty kick by Hofstrom. Then, it was a 3-2 game with more than 31 minutes to play. Then it was tied up.

The momentum shifted away from Scranton with each goal as Williamsport kept the energy up.

“Our team knew coming out of the first half that we were the better team. We created a lot more chances than they did. We knew whether we were down 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, we still had the ability to come back and we proved that,” Williamsport coach Brett Hofstrom said. “They knew right at halftime we’re still in this game. We didn’t need to change anything, we just needed to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net because we were creating chance after chance after chance.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Connor Hofstrom (27) celebrates after scoring with 18:55 left in the game against Scranton Prep in the first round of district play-offs at Williamport Wednesday.

Salum had two goals for Scranton — one in each half — to help build the early 3-0 lead. Amani Wilodja made it a 2-0 Scranton game with 7:49 until halftime.

A minute after Salumu’s second goal, however, Connor Hofstrom was awarded a penalty kick. He sent it just to the right of keeper Thomas Brogran to make it a 3-1 game. Six minutes later, it was Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong who scored off an assist from Hofstrom to cut the deficit down to 3-2.

Once Hofstrom converted that first penalty kick, however, coach Hofstrom felt the momentum swing Williamsport’s way.

“I think it was after the first PK we got. We buried it, I think the kids got a little more excited, got a little more life in them,” coach Hofstrom said. “When they scored that third goal you could see their heads drop, but they found that first goal, got them a little more energy. We got the second goal, then the third goal and they found a way to put the winner in there.”

The go-ahead goal was a perfectly executed cross. Charlie Plummer got the ball near the baseline and quickly sent the ball to his left toward the far-right post. That’s where Hofstrom was in the perfect position to send it in quickly and give Williamsport its first lead of the game, 4-3, with 11:54 to play.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Connor Hofstrom (27) and Wyat Judge (9) celebrate after Hofstrom scored the go-ahead point with 11:54 left in the game against Scranton Prep in the first round of district play-offs at Williamport Wednesday.

“When you’re up by one, shut down the middle,” coach Hofstrom said. “So instead of playing what we normally do, we put another center back in and shut down that middle and played five through the middle and make sure we keep everything out east and west not to give any chances. They have some skill guys up front so we had to clog that area to make it harder for them to dribble through.”

Both Salum and Wilondja are talented players for Scranton who used their speed and footwork to their advantage to get around defenders. But with a one-goal lead with just under 12 minutes to play, Williamsport knew they couldn’t allow either to strike and did well limiting those opportunities.

Salum would get a chance with 7:00 to play when he was able to get the ball 10 yards out and sent a shot toward the right upper 90, but the ball went just wide off the mark. It turned out to be one of the best chances for Scranton to tie the game late.

A clock stoppage with five seconds to play gave Scranton one last opportunities. The Knights had a direct kick from the far side of the field down the outside of the 18-yard box and sent in the ball, but Williamsport prevented any shot attempt from happening to secure the win as the Millionaires ran onto the field to celebrate.

“Stay calm, just stand them up, don’t stab and wait for them to make a bad move and step into it,” Connor Hofstrom said about his team’s defensive efforts.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Connor Hofstrom (27) celebrates after scoring the go-ahead point with 11:54 left in the game against Scranton Prep in the first round of district play-offs at Williamport Wednesday.

“That No. 3 kid for Scranton was a great player. He knew what to do, he was calm on the ball and Dumfer (Adjei-Frimpong) didn’t jump on him and he couldn’t do anything,” coach Hofstrom added.

Wildoja had a chance to score with 14:00 to play in at tied game when he was able to get inside of the 18 and just past a Williamsport defender. The Knight had a small window between two other defenders and sent in a shot, but Williamsport’s Max Fink read the play perfectly and dove to block the shot as Williamsport then cleared it out.

“He made that incredible save to the far post, he pushed it wide because that could have been a dagger,” coach Hofstrom said. “You give Max a lot of credit, Spencer (Kaar), Cypress (Koch) and Caleb Shultz a lot of credit for minimizing the good chances that they had because they didn’t have a whole lot of great chances,” coach Hofstrom said. “A couple turnovers on our end and they capitalized, but they did great all season.”

Williamsport pressured and had possession throughout the entire first 40 minutes of the game, but didn’t have a goal to show for it as they took a 2-0 deficit into the half vs. Scranton. In the end, Williamsport held an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal.

The final 10 minutes of the game saw Scranton get pressure against Williamsport in an attempt to score a game-tying goal, but the Millionaires only allowed Scranton to get one shot off inside the 18 in those final 10 minutes of the game.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong (7) and Adoniram Hill (14) try to head the ball and score on a corner kick in the second half.

Williamsport 4, Scranton 3

S–Yoshua Salum, 22:41. S–Amani Wilodja, 7:49. S–Salumu, 38:50. W–Connor Hofstrom (penalty kick), 37;34. W–Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong (Hofstrom), 31:14. W–Hofstrom (penalty kick), 18:55. W–Hofstrom (Charlie Plummer), 11:54.

Shots: S 6, W 11. Corners: S 5, W 10. Saves: S 5 (Thomas Brogan), W 3 (Max Fink).

Records: Scranton (5-11), Williamsport (7-9-1).

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Scranton Prep's Yoshua Salumu (9) and Williamsport's Isaac Balza (10) battle for control of the ball in the second half.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong (7) and Scranton Prep's Gentil Mugabe(25) try to head the ball in the first half.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Adoniram Hill (14) and Connor Hofstrom (27) try to head the ball to score on a corner kick in the first half.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Adoniram Hill (14) and Connor Hofstrom (27) try to head the ball to score on a corner kick in the first half.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Dumfer Adjei-Frimpong (7) heads the ball over Scranton Prep's Gentil Mugabe (25) in the first half.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport goal keeper Max Fink dives for the ball for a save in the first half of the district quarter-final against Scranton Prep at Williamsport Wednesday night.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Isaac Balza (10) drives the ball down field ahead of Scranton Prep's Alessandro Soto (13) in the first half of the district quarter-final at Williamsport Wednesday night.