DANVERS — In an expected matchup, junior forward Ryan King scored the deciding goal on a throw-in in the final minutes as fourth-ranked St. John’s Prep punched its ticket to the division. 1 men’s soccer semifinal with a dramatic 2-1 victory over defending champion Concord-Carlisle.

“Second half team,” St. John’s Prep coach Dave Crowell laughed. “We’ve done it all year. We got off to a bad start. To Concord-Carlisle’s credit, they knocked us out of the game, probably for the first half hour of the game. We kept playing long balls, and that’s not our game. Once we settled in, I thought we controlled the second half.

Concord-Carlisle (13-3-3) drew first blood in the 23rd minute on the foot of Jameson Velez. The senior forward raced past a few defenders after gaining possession, then fired an unassisted shot inside the right post to put the Patriots ahead, 1-0.

The score would hold until late in the second half, when Concord-Carlisle was whistled for a handball inside the box. Next it was the turn of junior James Minor of St. John’s Prep (16-1-4), and he succeeded. The forward fired a penalty into the bottom right corner of the net, and the Eagles equalized in the 57th minute.

With the game on the line in the 74th minute, senior captain Romen Hlatshwayo stood on the sidelines, analyzing his options. The defensive back dropped back a few more yards, then threw a throw-in toward a crowd of players rushing into the Concord-Carlisle box. The attempt ricocheted off Garrison Murphy’s head and floated toward King as he tangled with a defender.

“I told Garrison in the first half that the first position wasn’t working,” King said. “So, I was going to go to the back.”

It wasn’t a clean header per se, but King managed to get just enough contact with the ball after swerving with his chest. He skipped the junior and bounced harmlessly into the net to give St. John’s Prep the lead in exciting fashion.

“It worked,” King said. “He looked through it, I saw him go by and I jumped on it.”

The Eagles were able to close the deal from there and erupted with their fans in raucous fashion as they earned a return to the Final Four.

St. John’s Prep will now face No. 8 St. John’s (Shrewsbury).

Crowell found out about his group’s semifinal challenge shortly after the match.

“Well, it’s déjà vu all over again,” Crowell laughed. “Two years ago we played them in the state semifinals. Again, we parted ways with them this year. They’re the only team that beat us so, wow, it’s going to be a great game. If we can execute, stay the course and be within striking distance in the second half, or have a lead? That would be good. This is going to be a real upheaval. One-goal game, as they all were.