With less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Hereford boys lacrosse coach Carl Runk had the play he wanted to run.
The Bulls were tied in their home opener with North Carroll, and Runk had the formation he wanted, but attackman Ryan Rock decided to improvise.
"We had set up a certain pattern, but [Rock] forced, but he was in position to take the shot," Runk said. " ... He was high-percentage for us, and you take what you can get in this game."
Rock raced from behind the net and scored the game-winner in a 14-13 victory for Hereford.
"I saw an opening, and I knew that I could score if I had a little space," Rock said.
Rock led the way for Hereford (1-0) with five goals and two assists. Fellow attackman Trey Hilberg had three goals and six assists, and Rustin Bryant chipped in two goals and three assists.
Hereford was down 6-1 after 16 minutes of play but scored six unanswered goals, and went into halftime with the score tied at 7.
The Bulls took a 12-9 advantage into the final quarter, but the Panthers (0-1) battled back. Trailing 12-10 with six minutes left, North Carroll got goals from Bryan Drabisch (three goals, one assist) and Jake Serfas (three goals) in a 24-second span to tie it at 12.
Rock scored from in front of the net off a pass from Hilberg with 4:30 left, and Serfas answered from 15 yards out with just 1:39 remaining to tie the score at 13.
Rock's goal with 22 seconds left decided the game, but North Carroll had one more opportunity. The Panthers' Cody Walter fired with nine seconds remaining, but Hereford goalkeeper Ben Slechta made a quick save to preserve the victory.
stefen.lovelace@baltsun.com