ROCHESTER — Connor Bubak and Charlie Jepsen watched the first 100 minutes of Tuesday night's Section 1, Class 3A boys soccer championship from the sidelines.

For all 80 minutes of regulation, plus 20 more minutes of overtime, the two cheered on their fellow Mayo High School teammates as the Spartans battled intra-city rival Century for the right to go to state.

But when the stakes were at their highest in the form of a penalty shootout, the two were ready when coach Tim Jennings called their number.

And they didn't waste the opportunity.

The backup goalkeeper Bubak made a pair of saves, including Century's fifth and final shot, to give Mayo a chance to end it.

It was then up to Jepsen.

Jepsen, a seldom-used senior defender, was as cool as the other side of the pillow as he walked up to the penalty spot. He didn't miss, drilling a shot to the right of the Century keeper to send No. 2-seeded Mayo to a 2-2 (4-3, PK) victory over top-seeded Century in front of over 500 spectators at Century High School.

"This is the best feeling ever in my life," Jepsen said. "Probably the best day of my life if I'm being honest with you."

Even Hollywood couldn't have written a better script on Tuesday night.

Bubak is in just his second season of soccer. Ever. He had never played before trying out for keeper last year. Well outside of recess.

"I always had fun playing goalkeeper at recess in middle school," Bubak said. "I just decided freshman year, what the heck, I'll try out and I've had a blast so far."

Bubak stopped Century's second attempt with a dive to his right, just getting a hand on the ball to knock it off the post and out of the goal. With the shootout tied at 3, Bubak then dove/slid to his left to give Mayo the game-winning opportunity.

"Even sitting still for 80 minutes, I was just super confident," Bubak said. "Happy that my team got me where I needed to be, and I just get those going and seeing the ball into your hands, it's just an amazing feeling as a goalkeeper. I was ready once I stood on the line."

Bubak earned the opportunity through his work in practice. And when push came to shove, there was no doubt in Coach Jennings' mind who he would choose in the shootout.

"We work on penalties when we get to the end of the season just for reasons exactly like this," Jennings said. "Connor's been incredible in our shootouts. We told him, be an amazing goalkeeper. You just need to save one, and he saves two. Just incredible."

Jennings had just as much confidence in his five-man penalty takers lineup. Tip of the cap to sophomore Gerard Torres, who drilled Mayo's fourth attempt, which came before Jepsen, and just after Century keeper Aiden Brown had stopped Mayo's third attempt.

Jepsen followed Torres' smooth effort with one of his own.

He hit the perfect penalty, slotting it into the right side of the goal. Next thing Jepsen knew, he was celebrating with the Mayo student section.

"I did a lot of practicing to get to this moment," Jepsen said. "I took so many PKs leading up to this day. Every practice. I knew what I had to do, and I just slotted it."

"Ice in the veins," Jennings said of Jepsen. "Ice in the veins."

It was a bitter ending for Century (15-3), which had reached the state tournament only once (2005) in program history.

It looked like the Panthers were on their way to snapping the program's section championship drought when Carson Niven appeared to score with 2:38 left in the second half of overtime. In fact, the whole Century sideline sprinted to the opposite corner to celebrate, dogpiling on top of the senior standout. But the officials waved off the goal, calling a handball to keep the game level at 2.

"It's unfortunate, and it is what it is," Century coach Andre Bailey said. "But PKs are a way to end the game, and we needed to end it. We went to two overtimes. That call is 50-50. We told the guys after the game, 'You guys laid the blueprint for starting some success at Century.' Only a handful of teams have gotten to this section game. One team's made it to state in Century's history. Maybe that's the legacy: they kind of got a new era of soccer here."

The game went to overtime after the two teams combined for four second-half goals.

Mayo (13-3-2) held a one-goal advantage twice during those 40 minutes, but Century answered back within 80 seconds each time. Amani Gupta scored with 36 minutes left to put the Spartans up 1-0 before David Li came through exactly 60 seconds later. The sophomore got just enough of a bouncing ball inside the box to trickle it past the goal line.

Mayo went up 2-1 with just over 10 minutes remaining when Kyle Thackeray scored his first varsity goal with a slick shot from just inside the box. Carson Niven answered 80 seconds later when his shot avoided three Mayo defenders and tucked itself into the left, bottom corner of the goal.

In the end, it was exactly what a section final should be: Two great teams throwing punch-for-punch, refusing to stay down. Mayo just ended up having the knockout blow.

"I could not be more proud of all the players who stepped up," Jennings said. "That's really what this team is. Even if you're not getting on the field in regulation, we know we can count on you."

Mayo is now waiting for the state brackets to be announced on Friday for its next steps.

For the time being, they will enjoy this one together.

"The community is great, my teammates," Bubak said. "It's basically a family. It's been a great experience."

No. 2 Mayo 2, No. 1 Century 2 (4-3 PK)
Mayo#0#2#0#0#—#2
Century#0#2#0#0#—#2
Mayo: Anton Gupta 1 goal; Brennan Zeone 1 assist; Kyle Thackeray 1 goal; Finn Slama 1 assist. Goalie: Kassiano Kassiano 4 saves.
Century: David Li 1 goal; Carson Niven 1 goal; Timmy Kappes 1 assist. Goalie: Aiden Brown 6 saves.
Penalty kick shootout
Mayo#1#1#0#1#1
Century#1#0#1#1#0