After a nail biter of a shootout that included 48 penalty kicks in total, following a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods, the girls soccer team defeated North Reading 21-20 to advance to the quarterfinals of the division 3 playoffs.

The boys’ season ended in a 3-2 overtime loss to Chicopee.

The girls match finished in regulation tied 0-0. Two 10 minute overtime periods followed without a score by either side. Then the penalty kicks began and continued, back and forth, with each side matching the other.

Defense won the girls the game, according to coach Matt Malowski.

“The girls played out of their mind,” he said after the game. “Defensively, they played unbelievable. They just really made it very difficult for North Reading to get any really good, clean shots on goal.”

He shouted out freshman goalkeeper Lucy Doyle for making some huge saves during penalty kicks, and keeping the girls in the game towards the latter half of regulation.

“We were getting a little fatigued back there, and we were having a hard time possessing the ball, so we were under attack a lot. Lucy came up huge with some of those saves,” Coach Malowski said.

He is proud of how the girls played.

“The result of today’s win is what happens when teams play with pride, and you play with and for each other,” he said. “They played with trust and they played for their community.”

The girls team plays Tewksbury Memorial in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at home, beginning at 11:30 a.m.