Mascenic didn't start with its usual spark in the NHIAA Division IV boys' soccer quarterfinal game against Hinsdale Saturday, but in overtime, the slow burn turned to pyrotechnics in an instant, as the Vikings scored the sudden-victory golden goal.

"It's just unbelievable to pull it off in overtime," senior captain Gabriel Hileman said after the 2-1 playoff victory. "We should never have gotten there, but there is nothing like an overtime win. They're just so much fun and I just love them."

The Vikings (13-1-3) entered the D-IV tournament as the three seed, sitting out the first round with a bye while No. 6 Hinsdale (9-5-4) worked their way to New Ipswich by knocking off No. 11 Wilton-Lyndeborough 2-1.

The defensive-minded, battle-tested Pacers may have been the lower seed, but they brought everything they had to Mascenic and it was more than the Vikings had bargained for. 

"They put in a lot of fight," said senior captain Elijah Barthelmess. "We weren't expecting that. I will say that we did play down, but they were hustling. They wanted it."

Nonetheless, Mascenic struck first on a beautiful pass from Hileman at midfield right to senior captain Hunter Thompson at the top of the box. Thompson took the gift-wrapped opportunity and deposited it past Pacer keeper Connor Dixon for a 1-0 Viking lead in the 25th minute. 

"The pass got right to my foot," Thompson said. "[Hileman] couldn't have done better. It was set up right for me and I just hit it in."

Of course, a 1-0 playoff lead is like a greased pig: with enough time, it's going to squirm away, and that's just what happened. Five minutes into the second half, the Mascenic defense undercut a Hinsdale header attempt in the box, and Hunter Taylor struck the ensuing penalty kick home past senior keeper Quinn Krook to tie the game. 

"We've been doing a pretty good job all season," Thompson said. "It's just that call in the box that messed us up, but I knew we could pull it out in the end."

Shortly thereafter, it was another officials' call that threatened to determine the game's outcome, as an aggressive Hinsdale in-air challenge and the conversation that followed led to a double-yellow-to-red-card ejection, leaving the Pacers down a man for the rest of the game. But the undermanned underdogs didn't give up the fight, with Dixon putting on an impressive show in the net, and when the second-half whistle pierced the frigid November air, the game was still tied at 1-all and an extra 10 minutes of overtime were required. 

Krook kept Hinsdale off the board into OT stoppage time, and finally, Thompson got the ball and fed it to Simon Gonzalez-Ruiz in front of the goal for the game-winner.

"It got to Simon and Simon put it in the back of the net, and the rest is history," Hileman said.

The Vikings erupted in celebration, mobbing at midfield in a sea of blue and white with visions of Laconia dancing in their heads. 

"It's a sigh of relief and it's pure joy," Hileman said. "We've literally worked our entire high school and middle school career just to get to this point, and now we're officially at this point. So it's really exciting."

Mascenic heads into the semifinals with nine seniors, a recipe for success similar to the 2019 team that reached the only state championship game in program history. Tuesday's game against No. 2 Gorham (16-1) in Laconia will be the first semifinal appearance for any of the current Vikings.

"Whoever we play in Laconia, we're just going to go in there and look to play the best game we can and come out with a victory," senior captain Lucas Leroux said.