It was a simple play by soccer standards, but like the pick-and-roll in basketball, the throw-in can be a dangerous soccer weapon when done right.

What most teams can do with a corner kick, the Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers do with throw-ins. Getting a goal with under a minute to play in overtime Tuesday on a perfectly executed throw-in play, the host Bucs (13-2-2) upset Notre Dame, 2-1, to advance to the Region 3-A/AA championship.

They will have a rematch with Arts & Sciences on Thursday at Boyd-Buchanan for the title. The Bucs defeated CSAS 4-3 in last week’s district final.

Ben Beasley was the trigger man on the winning play. His throw-in traveled all the way from the sideline to right in front of Notre Dame keeper Eric Heider, who stepped out to intercept the ball. Instead, Blake Griffin went high enough to head the ball to his left, where the opportunistic Taylor Shull finished off the play, and the Irish.

“With our fullbacks, we know we can attack the goal like it’s a corner kick,” said Shull, who had two goals in the win over CSAS. “We work on that so much in practice and we catch people by surprise all the time by how far they can throw it. Blake did a great job of heading it to me, and all I had to do was give it a little tap.”

Notre Dame coach Jim Schermerhorn thought his keeper may have been fouled on the play.

“I’m not criticizing the officials or anything, but on that play our keeper came out and collided with a guy and fell down, so it was questionable to say the least,” he said. “I thought it should have been a foul. That’s just the way I saw it.”

The highly entertaining match began with a bang as Griffin, who scored the game-winner vs. CSAS, chipped in a shot just 12 minutes in. The Bucs controlled action much of the first half, putting four shots on goal to two for the Irish. Neither team, however, would get a clear scoring shot as such Bucs as Drew Zumbrun and Reece Davis and Notre Dame’s Winston Lee and Oscar Rios played sterling defense.

The Irish (9-8-2) came out firing in the second half, putting seven shots on goal and keeping play on the Boyd-Buchanan side of the field. The momentum finally paid off with just under 25 minutes remaining when Matthew Keaney chipped the ball ahead to himself, gained control past a Buc defender and buried the tying shot past Jake Lockert.

The Bucs had a great shot to regain the lead five minutes later, but Heider saved Alex Kuhne’s point-blank shot. Notre Dame’s last good chance was stopped when Bucs co-captain Trey Driggers headed a ball out of the box on a rebound with keeper Lockert on the ground after making a save.

After a scoreless opening 10-minute overtime half, the Bucs started pressing the attack, getting two good shots on goal before Shull’s game-winner.

“Notre Dame is a skilled, excellently coached team,” Boyd-Buchanan coach Jason Owens said, “but I just believe my guys wanted it more. My guys play with so much heart, and they just attack. These guys, individually, aren’t the most talented players, but they work as a team. We’ve got seven sophomores who start, and they just believe they are going to win.

“We know, after this win, that we’re going to the sectionals for the first time in probably 10 or 15 years, and that’s a credit to how hard they work. I know this, whoever we play, no matter what their ranking is, we’re going to take it to them.”

Notre Dame’s Schermerhorn was left thinking about the chances that his team didn’t take advantage of.

“We had a lot of chances, but we just couldn’t put them away,” he said. “We played good enough to win, but they played just a little better.”