Scranton’s Will Ghergo (11) heads the ball around Williamsport’s Parker Fox (13) during the first half. MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent
Scranton goalkeeper Thomas Brogan gets a save in the first half. MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent
Scranton’s Yoshua Salumu tries to control the ball in the first half. MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent
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Scranton’s Will Ghergo (11) heads the ball around Williamsport’s Parker Fox (13) during the first half. MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent
BY JON GERARDI
jgerardi@sungazette.com
As Williamsport’s Connor Hofstrom walked into the 18 to take his penalty kick, there were some nerves running through the junior midfielder. Trailing by a goal with 18 minutes, 55 seconds to play, it was a pressure-packed situation.
But once the ball was set, Hofstrom simply took a deep breath, relaxed and drilled it.
Hofstrom’s shot tied the game and from there, Williamsport kept up the pressure en route to a 4-3 victory over Scranton in the District 2-4 Class 4A boys soccer subregional quarterfinals on a chilly Wednesday evening at Balls Mills.
The No. 4 Millionaires advance to face top-seeded Wyoming Valley West in the semifinals Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Wyoming Valley West.
Williamsport had to work hard to get the win 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 Salumu scored inside the 18 to give Scranton a 3-0 lead.
A three-goal deficit suddenly became 3-1, thanks to a Hofstrom penalty kick. Then, it was 3-2 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.”
Salumu had two goals for Scranton — one in each half — to help build the 3-0 lead. Amani Wilondja made 2-0 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 Connor Hofstrom to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Once Connor Hofstrom converted that first penalty kick, however, coach Hofstrom felt the momentum swing Williamsport’s way.
“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 Connor Hofstrom was in the perfect position to send it in quickly and give Williamsport its first lead of the game with 11:54 to play.
“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 made 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.”
Salumu 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 it couldn’t allow either to strike and did well limiting those opportunities.
Salumu got a chance with 7:00 to play, when he got 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 opportunity. 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.
“That No. 3 kid for Scranton (Wilondja) 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 said.
Wilondja 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.
First: SCR – Salumu, 22:41. SCR – Wilondja, 7:49. SCR – Salumu, 38:50. WIL – Hofstrom (PK), 37:34. WIL – Adjei-Frimpong (Hofstrom), 31:14. WIL – Hofstrom (PK), 18:55. WIL – Hofstrom (Plummer), 11:54; Shots-corners: SCR 6-5, WIL 11-10; Saves: SCR (Brogan) 5, WIL (Fink) 3; Records: SCR 5-11, WIL 7-9-1.
Originally Published: October 22, 2025 at 11:53 PM EDT