CAPE ELIZABETH — The Cape Elizabeth High boys’ soccer team had tried a variety of inventive set pieces.

Midway through the first overtime Saturday, with Freeport still showing plenty of tenacity, it was time to try something simple: As forward Connor Thoreck described it, “We all just line up on the goal line and I guess whoever gets it, gets it.”

Stationed at the far post, Thoreck got a firm header onto Matt Concannon’s corner kick with 6:27 left in the first 15-minute overtime to give seventh-seeded Cape Elizabeth a 2-1 victory against 10th-ranked Freeport in a Class B South prelim.

“We have a couple of good (plays) that work every once in a while but the simple ones work the best, I guess,” Thoreck said.

“Connor’s right, you just have to go find that ball, hunt it, get over your man and knock it in,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond said.

Cape (8-7), which beat Freeport 5-0 in the season opener, advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday at second-seeded Yarmouth (12-1-1). Yarmouth beat Cape 4-0 and 5-1 in the regular season.

“We can take a lot away from this game,” Raymond said. “Knowing that all you’ve got to do is keep it close for long enough and the team that’s supposed to win starts getting more nervous, and balls stop bouncing their way.”

Cape produced significantly more shots (23-7) but only slightly more quality opportunities. For most of the game the Falcon defense, led by center backs Quinton Libsack and Nate Smail, frustrated Cape by blocking shots by Thoreck and R.J. Sarka before they reached goalie Joey Burke (13 saves).

Across the field, Freeport (4-9-2) was stepping to balls with determination and producing dangerous counter-attacks, usually with Chandler Wyman in the mix.

It was one such play that led to Wyman’s goal that put Freeport up 1-0 in the 28th minute.

Wyman attacked up the left wing and drew a foul. Caiden Shea’s direct kick was bounced around in the box and Wyman finished it with a ball that barely eluded goalie Marshall Petersen (4 saves).

“We came into this game and we thought we were going to win, and I think that belief certainly showed in the way they played,” Freeport Coach Joe Heathco said. “The way we played the last five, six games of the season, this is what we were doing.”

Nicolai Sabatini tied it with a hard, skipping shot from 20 yards in the 31st minute.

With 6:22 left, it appeared Freeport had scored. Evan McKittrick curved a left-corner direct kick near the far post.

Petersen jumped and snagged the ball with both hands. Players from both teams crashed into Petersen, dislodging the ball and it rolled in.

The referees ruled Petersen had been fouled and, therefore, there was no goal.

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