Exeter goalkeeper Johnny Meyer, along with Nashua South's Joona Hantula, left, Jameson Mondale and Sammy Hadouche watch the ball bounce away off a corner kick during the Panthers' dramatic 3-2 double overtime quarterfinal win on Friday night at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Collision course.

When the Division I boys soccer tournament started, no one could have envisioned a Nashua High School North-South semifinal, but that’s exactly what will happen at Stellos Stadium on Monday night.

That’s because the upstart 12th-seeded Titans edged No. 13 Portsmouth 2-1 on Arthur Santos’ goal just inside of five minutes remaining in regulation in the first quarterfinal at Stellos Stadium.

Then the Stellos nightcap was even more dramatic as the top seeded, unbeaten Panthers won on Nick Esp’s goal with seven seconds remaining in double overtime.

Destiny? Perhaps.

“It’s exactly what we wanted,” Esp said. “We want this game.”

But oh, boy, getting there was something else. South and Exeter played to a 1-1 tie during the regular season, and appeared headed for penalty kicks in this one tied 2-2 when late in the second overtime South coach Tom Bellen and Esp eyed each other with an idea the defensive leader for the Panthers would move up and get into the fray on a Daniel Miranda throw in.

Good thing he did, as he blasted a shot past Exeter keeper Johnny Meyer. With time kept on the field at that point, Esp knew it was running out but not how close.

“I had no idea,” Esp said. “I took a touch and did what I had to do. … It was crazy.”

The Panthers were gassed the latter half of the second half. After a scoreless first half, Rory Olsen gave them a 1-0 lead two minutes into the second half, but the Blue Hawks evened things up six minutes later. Back came South (16-0-1) on a goal by Sammy Hadouche, off another Miranda feed at 61:46, but the Blue Hawks’ Quinn Phillips got the equalizer with 7:49 to play.

“When you go up a goal and get tied, go up a goal and get tied, it’s a little bit of a mental thing,” South coach Tom Bellen said.

But No. 9 Exeter (9-6-3) was left with the mental strain.

“It’s tough for these guys at the moment,” Exeter coach Dan Curran said. “The last 60 minutes or so I thought we were the better team on the field. … We never gave up, we kept fighting.”

And to make it even more of a cruel loss, the Blue Hawks thought they had it one just over a minute into the first overtime when Sean Cheng thought he had the game won, staring at an empty net with the ball at his feet after South senior keeper Leo Kopicko had just made a save.

Cheng fired, and Curran was thinking “There it is.”

But South freshman Leonel Lopez came out of nowhere in the goal mouth to knock it away and not only save the shot, but South’s season.

“He’s a good athlete, smart player,” Bellen said. “We talk about discipline, and when the kid gets beat, ball comes across, where do you go, and that’s to block it in front of the goal, and that’s what he did.”

“I was super scared,” Lopez admitted. “I didn’t know what to do, so I tried to cover as much territory as possible, trying to cover as much of the goal as he could. He shot it to me, I’m so grateful.”

So are his teammates, and soccer fans who wanted to seen North vs. South in the semis.

NORTH’S BIG WIN

The Titans (9-9) got their game-winner when Caua De Freitas took a kick from about 20 yards out that it looked like Portsmouth goalie Skylar Mickolaities overran as he came out. Just to be sure, Santos swooped in and booted the ball in for the 2-1 lead that stood.

“Adrenalin was pumping, especially with the atmosphere,” Santos said. “Our school hasn’t had much luck getting this far, so moments like that only come once. So I had to put it in the back of the net.

“At first I saw Caua go up and I thought, ‘He’s got this’. The ball was rolling to the front of the net. I felt ‘I have to secure this.’ I’m sorry Caua, but I had to take your goal.”

“It’s a bang-bang sport,” Portsmouth coach Eric Martens said. “I trust Skylar to make those decisions, and nine out of 10 he wins it. He lost that one. That’s just how sports work, man.”

It happened just a minute after Portsmouth’s Diego Trevino missed a golden chance, putting the ball over the goal as North netminder Yazid Poolakal tried but couldn’t reach it.

“I’ve said all along we have the talent,” Titans coach Josh Downing said. “It’s just a matter of them coming out and playing the way they can play. They’re a talented, talented group of kids.”

Portsmouth actually took a 1-0 lead in the first half at 27:13 when Charlie Horgan scored off a corner kick, but the Titans came right back just over two minutes later when De Freitas’ slow roller somehow found it’s way past a diving Mikilaities to tie it up, and that’s how things stood going into the half and also until the final few minutes.

“You give up quick goals, teams can either collapse after that or come back,” Downing said.

De Freitas actually hit the crossbar with six minutes left. Then Santos came through.

“I think it was going in,” Downing said. “But Arthur’s so fast, he got to that ball, but I think it would have trickled in.”

And rolled all the way to a Monday night (6:15 p.m.) date with South.

“Everybody wants it,” Santos said.

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