Bishop Guetin's Ryan Neary, left, battles Hanover's Sacha Palm during Saturday's Division I quarterfinal Saturday at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING )

NASHUA – It’s been a storybook season for the Bishop Guertin High School boys soccer team, but there are moments Cards head coach Tyler Vandeventer can’t bear to watch:

Penalty kicks.

Thus Vandeventer didn’t see his junior forward Ryan Neary bury the game-clinching penalty kick Saturday at Stellos Stadium that beat No. 6 Hanover 1-0 (4-1) and sends the Cards to the Division I semifinals for the first time in well over a decade.

In fact, he didn’t see any of the other penalty kicks either.

“I’m a little superstitious,” Vandeventer said. “Every penalty (kick) I’ve watched for our team this year we’ve missed, and every one that I have not watched has gone in the goal. If we have penalties, my back will be turned until I see it on the film.”

Neither team could capitalize on any chances during 100 minutes of regular play, including two 10-minute sudden death overtimes. So into the penalty kick phase they went. The teams traded PKs, Guertin’s James Guidry nailing his and Hanover’s Matteo De Giorgis doing the same.

But on the next two, while the Cards’ Liam Ireland and Jacob Crane scored, Hanover’s Sacha Palm and Ronan Przydzielski both fired high over the goal. Cards senior keeper Beau Boughter, who had seven saves, didn’t have to do a thing in PKs and but was a big factor. He robbed the Bears on a break-in and also knocked the ball out of harms way several times in his 66th start for the program and last at Stellos.

“Quality goalkeeping from a player who’s had the experience,” Vandeventer said.

All Neary had to do was be the fourth Cardinal to beat Bears keeper Gabriel Del Pino and BG (14-2-2) was semis bound.

“I was seeing in the back of my head, going to the crowd, celebrating with all the people,” Neary said. “Just watching the back at the net, watching the back of the net all the time. I knew I was going to go left the whole time. I just felt it in the moment.”

“We’ve done penalty kicks every day in training,” Vandeventer said. “Just based off what we’ve seen, we have our guys, we go with them and trust them.”

It was surprising to see the Bear misses.

“You never know with penalty kicks, it’s a tough way to end,” Hanover coach Lucas Richardson said. “It was a really good high school soccer game. They were up for it, we were up for it, there was a really good battle at midfield. There were some chances both sides, both goaltenders made some big saves, just a real good high school soccer game, you know?”

Now it’s on to the semis at Manchester Memorial 4 p.m. on Wednesday to face No. 2 Bedford (14-0-4) which won its own PK battle with Londonderry yesterday. BG and the Bulldogs did not face each other, oddly enough, in the regular season.

“This is great for us, this is great,” Neary said. “On to the next game.”

And if it goes to PKs, let the coach know how it went.