The Nashua North girls soccer team celebrates its 2-1 Division I quarterfinal upset win over Bishop Guertin, a game that was decided by penalty kicks at Rivier's Merrill Field on Friday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They followed the five minute rule that their coach, Jacqueline Thompson, has for answering opponents’ goals.

Now the Titans needed to turn that into a 30 second rule on Friday in the Division I quarterfinals vs. No. 1 Bishop Guertin, because in penalty kicks you don’t have time to even think.

They did just that, answering BG all the way until two Cardinal misses and a goal by Sarah Frye gave the No. 8 Titans an incredible 2-1 stunning victory at Rivier University’s Merrill Field. The 11-6-1 Titans will now face No. 4 Winnacunnet in the semifinals Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. at Manchester Memorial. It was a crazy day in which three of the top four seeds (Bedford and Exeter the others) were ousted.

“I don’t think (the Cards) were expecting us to come out with so much energy,” Sarah Frye said. “I think they were expecting to walk all over us. We’ve grown as a team so much, I’m so proud of how we played.”

“It’s absolultely amazing,” said Thompson, whose team was blanked by BG 4-0 just two weeks ago. “I believed in them from the beginning, I said this is a team to watch out for. If anybody’s going to do it, it would be them.”

North had the better of the play in the wind in the scoreless first half, but the Cards finally broke through during a pinball frenzy off an Emerson Brown corner kick when Hadley Comeau found the twine in the 66th minute for a 1-0 BG lead. That came a little while after BG’s Kelsea Ackerman had hit the crossbar.

But just under five minutes later, Sarah Frye collided with a wall of BG defenders, and that set her up for a free kick from 25 yards out. She doesn’t miss those, putting the ball just above the reach of BG keeper Jess Lacroix with just under 10 minutes to play to tie things at 1.

“I didn’t know if they were going to call it or not, but when they did I knew I had to hit it because we were down,” Sarah Frye said.

“For years with this team they know I have a five minute rule,” Thompson said. “We score then turn around and score again, or just the same for us. When (BG) scored, they turned around and said, ‘Five minutes.'”

In the two overtimes, BG had five corner kicks but came up empty.

“Hats off to them today,” said BG coach Chris Millett, who warned after his team (14-2-1) had beaten the Titans that North would be a dangerous team to face and it came to fruition. “They outplayed us, certainly that first half. It was just kind of a little too late at the end. They capitalized, their keeper came up big with two huge stops. Credit to her.”

Bishop Guertin’s Ava Suech, left, and Nashua North’s Sarah Frye compete for the ball during Friday’s Division I quarterfinal at Rivier’s Merrill Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Bishop Guertin’s Ava Suech, left, and Nashua North’s Sarah Frye compete for the ball during Friday’s Division I quarterfinal at Rivier’s Merrill Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

That’ would be North’s second half goalie Rachel Gauthier, who, after the teams each scored on their first three penalty kicks, stopped BG’s Zoe Horton-Sousa, opening the door to a North advantage with the Titans kicking in the bottom half of the rounds. Sarah Frye then buried a shot that BG keeper Jess Lacroix appeared to get some fingers on but the ball bounced up into the net in the bottom of the fourth round. Gauthier then denied BG’s Paige Gabriel and the Titans began a wild celebration.

“Shock,” Gauthier said her mindset was during the PKs. “I was in another world, I felt like I was looking down on everything. All I knew is I hit that save, we were done. In a way I kind of force them to go one way. I step to one side. But once you send it, that’s where you’re going, you better hit that ball and it’s there.”

“There’s nothing to say other than she’s absolutely amazing,” Thompson said. “She has the perfect mindset.”

So it seems do the Titans, who have never gone this far.

“Everyone continues to keep us as the underdog,” Thompson said. “I like it, I love it, and we keep proving everybody wrong.”