TROY - The clanging of iron had become a sound all too familiar for the Pioneer High School boys lacrosse team, but there was something particularly dejecting about this shot by Dylan Swanson.

As the ball grazed the side of goal for the fifth time in the second half, Swanson's head sunk along with those of his teammates. The ringing of the bar didn't just signal that the ball had once again just missed its intended destination. With just 30 seconds remaining and trailing Birmingham United 8-6, the dead iron meant Pioneer's season was over.

United was rewarded possession and played keep away for the final ticks of its 8-6 win at Troy Athens High School.

The loss knocked the Pioneers (12-7) out of the MHSAA Division 1 state tournament. Birmingham (11-7) will play Troy Athens in the regional finals on Friday.

More coverage on MLive.com: Boxscore | Tournament Bracket

For Darren Millman, coaching in his last game at Pioneer, there will be no swan song run through the state tournament.

"Lacrosse is a game of inches and when two good teams are playing one another, sometimes it's a couple inches one way or another," said Millman, who is stepping down to head the Ann Arbor Blue Jays youth lacrosse organization.

After the first quarter, anything but a Pioneer victory seemed out of the question as Pioneer controlled the possession and led 2-0 off goals from Christian Bouchard and Aidan Barrer, who led Pioneer with two goals apiece.

"We started a little bit slow, we're missing one of our more talented seniors today, and I think that effected us in the beginning," said Birmingham coach Jeff Martin. "I think it took us a while to realize, guys, this is still lacrosse. We still can do the things that we always practice and we're still a team. One guy doesn't make or break you."

Pioneer led 4-3 at half, but Birmingham scored two unanswered goals in the third as part of a 4-0 second half run. Barrer's second goal of the game, with 8:18 remaining, ended a 20-minute Pioneer scoring drought.

In contrast, Birmingham midfielder Scott Drummond had took control of the game from the early in the second quarter on, challenging his coach's notion that a player can't "make or break" a team, with three goals and two assists.

"He's beeen our offensive quarterback, catalyst all year. He's fantastic," said Martin of Drummond's performance. "There's points in games where he just decides ‘no one's going to stop me. I'm going to score or I'm going to feed somebody.' You saw it in the second half, two or three minutes where he just wouldn't be denied."

Drummond's was on full display late in the fourth when he collected the ball from the mouth of the Birmingham goal then proceeded to weave through the Pioneer midfield and defense before putting his team ahead 8-5 with 4:36 remaining.

"To their credit, there was a period there where, Drummond, where his play led to two or three goals in a row, and that's what good players do, the perform in big games like that," Millman said.

Pete Cunningham covers spors for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2565. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.