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 "We missed a few opportunities that we should have had, but I think they missed more than we did. That could have been an 8-6 contest," Hempfield coach Keith Nagley said. "We just found a way to come up with big stops when we needed them and score goals at the right time."

Hempfield capitalized on the majority of its early scoring opportunities thanks to the success of its forwards getting under the Ephrata defense on balls from the midfield.

"We made an adjustment coming into the game with which side we wanted to attack and how we wanted to play. We wanted to get the ball to the weak side and get it in there when it was open," Nagley said.

With that method in mind, Hempfield rattled off first-half goals from Caitlin Moore and two virtually identical scores from Amy Wengrenovich and Marina Pappas in the 19th and 23rd minute, giving it a 3-1 lead at the break.

The Knights struck first in the second half on Greenawalt's tally for a three-goal lead, but Ephrata managed to keep attacking.

The Mountaineers broke through with 17:00 to go on Aly Goodman's second goal, and again with a point-blank shot by Melissa Speros to cut the lead to 4-3.

Ephrata kept plugging and with just over a minute remaining, Arielle Gordon couldn't convert on a breakaway shot, as Hempfield managed to hold it.

"It turned out to be a nailbiter, but it shouldn't have been. They needed to pop one in and just couldn't get it done. Phew, I don't need anymore like that. It'll give me ulcers," Nagley said.