The Cards celebrate their 1-0 Divison I title win over Nashua South on Saturday night in Manchester, the goal scored by Nick Chartier, far left.(Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MANCHESTER – Right place, right time, in the Nick of time.

That was the way it went for Bishop Guertin boys soccer junior Nick Chartier, who had he stayed on the sideline during the last few minutes of the second sudden death overtime, the Cards battle for the Division I championship with city rival Nashua South almost certainly would’ve gone to penalty kicks.

But in the 106th minute of play, Chartier, who re-entered the game two minutes earlier, followed teammate Ryan Neary’s rush toward Panthers goalkeeper Antonio Pancine. He was there to pounce on the rebound of Neary’s shot and kicked it home for a 1-0 BG win and state title, the No. 3 16-2-2 Cards’ first since 2004.

“I trusted Neary, I thought he was going to score,” Chartier said. “As soon as I saw the ball bounce out from Antonio’s hands, I knew I could be there to help us win the game. … I was just thinking put it past the goalie, hit it as hard as I can.”

Somehow the Cardinals had just a tad more energy after 106 minutes on Manchester Memorial’s Chabot McDonough Field and that was a huge factor. Cards coach Tyler Vandeventer was moving players in and out, because he knew the Panthers usually played only 13 players and he’d have the fatigue edge.

“That really lets us have more in the tank,” Guertin coach Tyler Vandeventer said. “I think the playoffs were his four best games personally. Just his energy up and down the field. In the Hanover (quarterfinal win), he probably played 95 of the 100 minutes. … He was off two minutes before the goal, we put him back in and he wins it for us.”

Ironically, a few minutes earlier, the Panthers thought they had it won until BG four-year keeper Beau Boughter reached up and snared a shot in mid-air, looking, as South coach Tom Bellen said, “seven feet tall.”

“I thought it was going in so I had to put myself out there,” Baughter said. “I just had to stay as calm as possible back there and just play my game, that definitely led to that save.”

Also tall for Guertin was Liam Ireland, whose throw-ins, long kicks and defensive play were a problem for South. But even he was tired as his sideline throws lacked the corner kick effect they had through the first 95 minutes. He was a huge thorn in the side of Panthers Damien Rodrigues and Kevin Arajuo who couldn’t get in space to make the connections that made South so successful this season.

“I think that just shows you the heart and soul that kid plays with,” Vandeventer said. “Every little bit of energy he has goes into the matches.”

The Panthers were clearly tired, as their energetic rushes were missing in the last few minutes.

Nashua South’s Steve Long, Maxim Hall (12) and keeper Antonio Pancine battle Bishop Guertin’s Trent Cormier on a corner kick during Saturday nght’s Division I title game in Manchester. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“The first overtime, in particular, they were kind of taking it to us,” Bellen said. “The first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half we were fine, then we started getting tired, we started panicking, started kicking the ball instead of trying to keep it in, we just couldn’t get our rhythm back.

“We stopped keeping the ball, we started getting a little more tired, and we just didn’t have enough left in the tank.”

Guertin basically took away a lot of the things the Panthers like to do.

“They haven’t given up a goal in the tournament, and that’s a problem,” Bellen said. “Hats off to those guys, they played solid defense. They were feeling us out, seeing what’s going on, and they started getting the momentum. They’re a fast team, aggressive and fast. The better team won tonight.”

It marks the end of quite a climb up the mountain for the Cards, who had been a struggling program for well over a decade. Vandeventer guided them to eight wins and tourney berth his first year, then he had a younger team for the next two seasons that needed a right of passage.

It’s been one heckuva ride.

“Sixteen wins in a season after winning three games last year, two games the year before,” Vandeventer said. “Massive.”

Championship massive.

“Honestly,” Boughter said, “it couldn’t have been a better ending.”