Greenwich High School’s boys soccer team cleared another hurdle on its run to what it hopes is another appearance in the Class LL Tournament final.

The defending CIAC Class LL state champion Cardinals have reached the elite eight, advancing to the quarterfinal-round of the state tourney by working overtime in Thursday’s Round of 16 game.

Senior captain Maximo Ferrario registered a goal seven minutes into overtime, lifting second-seeded Greenwich to a 2-1 win over 15th-seeded Shelton in the Class LL quarterfinals at Cardinal Stadium.

The Cardinals (14-3-2) will host seventh-seeded Glastonbury in Saturday’s 2 p.m. Class LL quarterfinals at Cardinal Stadium. Glastonbury moved on to the final eight teams with a 3-2 victory over 10th-seeded Trumbull.

Following 80 minutes of regulation play, which saw Greenwich possess the ball for approximately 60 percent of the time, the Cardinals and Shelton headed into overtime, which included two 10-minute halves.

In the seventh minute of overtime, 97th minute of play overall, Ferrario was awarded a free kick and from 23 yards out, booted it past Shelton’s goalkeeper inside the right post, giving Greenwich a 2-1 lead.

“I saw the wall and it was not defending the right post, so I felt if I whipped it around, the goalie wouldn’t never get to it,” Ferrario said of his game-winning goal.

Shelton, which edged Danbury, 1-0, in the opening round, made it tough for the Cardinals to score by keeping a good number of players behind the ball throughout the postseason matchup.

“It was one of those games where they sat back and had a lot of defenders back and for us it was frustrating, because we were creating opportunities over and over again and they weren’t going in,” Ferrario said. “But we stayed patient and knew that we had to stay patient and win the game.”

That didn’t surprise the Cardinals, who knew they would have to keep taking their chances against Shelton, which exhibited stellar defensive play.

“I knew they would sit deep, put a lot of players behind the ball and work hard,” said Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam, who guided GHS to the Class LL title one season ago. “We were going to get the ball and try to attack in the wide areas and get the ball behind them, try to get crosses and opportunities that way.”

The Cardinals claimed a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of action. Junior forward Nick Hvatum controlled the ball off a corner kick sent into the box by Ferrario and tallied, giving the home team a 1-0 edge. Shelton scored the equalizer in the second half by converting a penalty kick.

After the visitors knotted the score, GHS threatened to take the lead numerous times before Ferrario notched the go-ahead goal in the 97th minute.

“I was a little frustrated throughout the game, because we felt we were the better team and we had possession throughout the whole game,” said Greenwich junior defender Pietro Carvalho, who helped pace the Cards’ defensive effort, along with senior captains Andrew Meier and Gerardo Guerra. “We just couldn’t find the chance, but it eventually came to us and it was very exciting.”

Said Putnam: “In the state tournament, you have to try to find ways to win games and we did. I’m proud of the boys, we move on to the state quarterfinals and whatever happens at least we can say we didn’t bow out early.”

Fin Junius got the win in goal for the Cardinals, whose season has also included an appearance in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals.

“The first half I thought we played one of the best first halves that we ever played,” Carvalho said. “Our first half, we played very well. We were able to pass the ball around, keep the ball and we were well communicated. The second half, I think we still kept the energy. We were all hungry and the chance didn’t show until the end.”

Carvalho recently returned to action after being sidelined most of the season with an injury. Having him back makes Greenwich even tougher defensively.

“I came back the first state games,” Carvalho said. “It feels great to be back. Just sitting on the sideline and having to watch my team play – it’s very frustrating. But I’m very excited and happy to be back.”

Playing in overtime during the postseason is nothing new to the Cardinals, who played in several such games during their road to winning the 2023 Class LL Tournament title.

“I think last year taught us that the game’s not over until the last minute and you have to keep working until the final buzzer,” Ferrario said. “That’s what we did, we kept working and we didn’t give up. We left everything on the field and it worked out.”