Monday marked the first appearance in the East Penn Conference Tournament for Freedom’s boys lacrosse program, and the Patriots gave everything they had against top-seeded Central Catholic.

Unfortunately, the Vikings came away with their 29th consecutive victory following a 14-9 victory.

The win sets up an EPC championship showdown between Central (16-0) and Easton (15-3) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night at Northampton High School.

The Rovers avenged a 13-2 defeat to Parkland from a week ago to top the Trojans 8-5 in Monday’s other semifinal round contest.

The Patriots dug themselves a hole in their first-ever EPC playoff game, falling behind 7-1 at halftime, but they came roaring back in the second half, scoring six-straight goals to level the game in the fourth quarter.

From there, Central went on its own run, and scored four-straight goals to build an 11-7 advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the contest, en route to pulling out the win.

Alex Hume paced Freedom with three goals, while Connor Bevan and Jared Karabinus scored two apiece.

The Pates will now prepare for the District 11 3A tournament.