WELLESLEY — If there have been any nerves previous to taking his pressure-packed penalty kick towards No. 11 Wellesley, Franklin’s Zach O’Mahony O’Sullivan didn’t present it.
As a substitute, the junior defender had a smile on his face.
O’Mahony O’Sullivan confidently stepped up and completely positioned his left-footed shot into the facet of the online, which ended the shootout and delivered the No. 22 Panthers a 3-2 upset victory over the Raiders in a Division 1 first-round matchup on Wednesday.
“I’ve been doing the identical factor for years. I step again, I do know I’m going to make it,” O’Mahony O’Sullivan mentioned as Franklin advances to face No. 6 Framingham. “I used to be wanting on the keeper, I used to be smiling on the keeper. I knew I used to be going to make it.”
Franklin (10-5-4) was an ideal 4-for-4 on penalty kicks — Andre Missagia, Luke Follen and Jason Proenca additionally scored on their makes an attempt — however it was senior goalie Casey Flynn who actually set the tone within the shootout.
After developing with a few clutch saves in time beyond regulation, Flynn stopped the primary penalty kick with a dive and noticed the second try from Wellesley (9-5-3) harmlessly clang off the submit.
“It was fairly massive,” Flynn mentioned of his save within the shootout. “My coronary heart was pounding a bit earlier than. However I obtained calm. Going up by one, I get that cushion, it’s very nice.”
The Panthers additionally fought off an early deficit as Enzo Desviat Ruiz headed in a nook within the sixth minute. Franklin answered a minute later when a throw-in from Josh Rappa deflected to the again submit for Proenca to faucet in.
The Panthers jumped in entrance within the twelfth minute when Aidan Arujuo blasted dwelling a failed clearance, however that benefit didn’t stand with Brayden Boecher netting the equalizer for the Raiders early within the second half.
Wellesley carried play over the ultimate 40 minutes of regulation and time beyond regulation, however the Panthers, who reached the state quarterfinals final season as a No. 22 seed, held on simply lengthy sufficient to maintain their probability at one other underdog run alive.
“We simply imagine in ourselves and we actually embrace the concept of being a staff,” Franklin head coach Nick Goldman mentioned. “It’s only a collective group transferring in the identical course, working their butts off for each other and it appears to work out within the playoffs.”
