Nashua North's Allison Frye celebrates her first goal with Kailee Deleo, left, during Tuesday night's Divison I prelim round game vs. rival Nashua South at Souhegan's Calvetti Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – Ahhh, that sister sixth sense.

Especially when it comes to twins.

That’s what helped the Nashua High School North girls soccer team edge city rival Nashua South 2-1 in overtime in the Division I prelims at Souhegan’s Calvetti Field.

Allison Frye scored two goals, but it was the second that came just over six minutes into the first OT, as she headed in a free kick from her twin sister Sarah to send North to the quarterfinals where they’ll face top seed Bishop Guertin on Friday at Rivier University.

After a South foul, Sarah Frye was awarded a free kick from the football 25-yard-line, some 35 yards away from where South keeper Corrine Rivera was waiting. She boomed a ball to the box, Rivera went up for it but Allison Frye got her head on it for the game-winner.

Because she knew what was coming.

“I knew (Sarah) was going to get it in the box, I just had to get my body on it,” Allison Frye said.

“We’ve played with each other so long,” Sarah Frye said, ” I think that helps with the connection.”

In any event, it was the No. 8, 10-6-1 Titans’ first tourney win in their eight seasons under head coach Jacqueline Thompson, whose team suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 9 South (7-7-3) in the Battle of the Bridge.

South coach Curt Dutilley felt it wouldn’t reach penalty kicks. His team fell behind in the 31st minute when Alley Frye broke down left win and put one out of Rivera’s reach. But just over three minutes into the second half, Natalie Thomas took a through ball from Ava Kopicko and buried one past North keeper Nora Ross,who shared net duties with Rachel Gauthier, to tie the game 1-1.

“I was talking to John (Artur) our JV coach before the overtime,” Dutilley said. “And I said that unfortunately this is going to come down to who’s going to get the first direct kick. We have a player (Kopicko) who can do it, and they have a player who can put it in a tight position in front of the net, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Fryes happened.

“We’ve had them for years,” Thompson said of the Fryes. “But the support of their teammates, this team is so tight knit, that have all come together. That they help get the ball to Alli and Sarah… and if they’re marked by four, somebody else is going to get to it. It’s a team.”

Before the start of the overtime, the Titans gathered near midfield in a huddle, arm in arm.

“We said we just had to come out with a bunch of energy,” Sarah Frye said. “We had to work together as a team. We knew coming into this game we had to keep possession, because if we don’t keep possession against South we’re not going to win. So we had hype and we need energy and everyone get to the ball.”

“For them, it was just reminding them it’s their game, and not get caught up in anything else,” Thompson said. “It’s changing that mindset, not ‘I want it’ but ‘I will do it.'”

Both teams had chances in the second half to end it, but North seemed to turn on the motor in the final 15 minutes of regulation and was the aggressor in OT.

“Your energy level when your going that long is going to go back and forth a little bit,” Dutilley said. “There’s going to be waves of energy. And when you’re on the downside, it’s not making big mistake.”

Nashua North’s Mary Pappas makes an off-balance kick past Nashua South’s Ella Bois, left, during Tuesday night’s Division I prelim in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

For Dutlley, it was the end of a season he didn’t even realize he would have a month before it started. Known more as the North girls basketball coach, he has a soccer background and offered to take over when there was a surprise vacancy in late July. Not knowing any of the players, he had the Panthers competitive all season, highlighted by the win over North.

“They’re such a tremendous group of girls,” Dutilley said. “And the seniors, I owe so much to them. I think when a new coach comes in, the senior class dictates how that coach is going to be received by everyone else.”

Meanwhile, next up for the Titans is 14-1-1 Guertin, who beat the Titans just 10 days ago in unseasonable afternoon heat 4-0. It will be warm again on Friday. North will enter the rematch with more confidence. This win was big for the North program, which left Memorial Field in Concord a year ago in frustration, losing in penalty kicks in the prelims.

“We didn’t want to end like we did last year,” Thompson said. “Now they’ve had that experience behind them and our tough regular season schedule has helped prepare us this year.”