Both teams had leads and then lost them. Starmount couldn't hold a 4-3 advantage, gained when Adrian Zamora and Victor Navarro scored during a six-minute span midway through the second half.
Harrold tied the contest 4-4 with 10:08 left in regulation, then picked up his hat-trick goal in the second of two 10-minute overtime periods.
The result gave Wilkes Central (13-3, 6-2 Mountain Valley 2A) outright possession of second place in the conference. Starmount (9-6, 3-4 MVAC) could have forged a tie with the Eagles in second place but instead must now beat Surry Central on Monday to hang on to third.
"The game tonight was like a heavyweight fight, with both teams standing toe to toe and taking each other's blows, with the Eagles getting the final blow in the first overtime period to lock up second place," Rams coach Dale Draughn said. "We played a great game tonight. We have some injuries that are hurting us right now, but I can say that my players left it out on the field and this is the best game of soccer we have played all year long."
Starmount scored first when Nate Benfield converted a Mauricio Lopez pass into a goal with 25:33 left in the opening half. Late in the first half, though, the lights accidentally got cut off at the stadium.
"I think that killed our momentum in the first half," Draughn said.
Wilkes Central scored a goal to tie the game before the break, then added two more nets after intermission to seize a 3-2 lead. While Zamora and Navarro put Starmount ahead again 4-3, the Rams couldn't hold the Eagles off down the stretch.
More Soccer STARMOUNT 6, EAST WILKES 0: Missing three starters due to injury didn't seem to slow the Rams during Wednesday's non-conference showdown in Ronda.
Coach Dale Draughn's team scored three goals in each half. Mauricio Lopez earned a hat trick plus one, recording four goals on the night.
Oscar Hernandez (usually Starmount's starting goalie) and Adrian Zamora had the Rams' other goals. Zack Williams, Mariano Flores, Michael Prigmore and Jesus Aguilar had assists for Starmount.
"We did things very well at times and then we kinda went away from what was working at times," Draughn said. "We pretty much dominated the second half and did a better job of spreading out of shots on goal.
"Now is the time that other players are going to have to step up and we have done that for the past two games with Zamora adding scoring punch and other players looking to take their shots. That is something we have been working on all season long and it is finally starting to sink in."
Starmount outshot East Wilkes 33-3. The Rams improved to 9-3 overall with the non-conference win, while East Wilkes dropped to 5-12.
SOUTH STOKES 6: ELKIN 0: The Sauras scored four goals in the opening half to capture this pivotal Northwest 1A match-up Thursday night.
South Stokes improved to 10-4-1 in league play and Elkin dropped to 9-5-2. The Elks now must wait and see if they'll make the 1A playoffs.
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