Salina South’s boys soccer team survived a late Andover Central score at the end of regulation with a goal by Rodrigo Palacios in the seventh minute of overtime Tuesday night to advance to the Class 5A West Region 3 finals with a 2-1 victory.

The Cougars, seeded sixth in the West, improved to 12-5 with the victory and will face No. 3 Topeka West for the regional title Thursday in Topeka. Topeka West (13-2-2) beat No. 14 seed Hays, 6-2, in its semifinal.

“We always like doing the 45 (degree ball),” Palacios said of Montanez’s pass straight across to his right near the top of the 6-yard box. “He played it, my foot was there, and it went in. I was right there to get the goal.

“He’s really dangerous on that left side. He can take on someone one-on-one and finish or cross the ball in.”

South was less than two minutes away from ending the game in regulation when Andover Central’s Jack Sizemore blasted a shot from 30 yards on the right side into the upper left corner for the equalizer. But the Cougars regrouped in overtime and found a winning connection.

The sequence began with Adrian Lara-Castro winning the ball in midfield and sending it forward to Montanez on the left wing.

“He had passed it through, and I just saw space in front of me,” Montanez said of the ball from Lara-Castro, who also scored South’s first goal, in the 50th minute. “I took it and saw him over running, so I saw a little gap, passed it to Rigo and he got the finish.”

According to South coach Trey Crow, it only fitting that the Cougars won it on that combination.

“It’s something we work on all the time, and we’ve finished from either Yaden or Saul (Cabral on the right side) getting down to the goal line and playing that ball several times this year,” Crow said. “I would say probably 40% of our goals, or 30% at least, come off of that.

“Rigo is super technical, and when I saw Yaden play the ball and saw where Rigo was and they had no one on him, I knew it was over. It was just one of those perfect scenarios for us.”

After a scoreless first half, South got on the board 10 minutes into the second on an individual run by Lara-Castro, who streaked down the left side, cut in and buried a shot inside the far post.

South took advantage of a brisk north wind at its back to dominate possession for most of the second half and had several opportunities to break the game open, only to come up empty.

The first chance came in the 55th minute when the Montanez was brought down inside the 18-yard the box for a penalty. Palacios took the penalty kick but was denied on a diving save by Andover Central keeper Connor Scripter, who punched it wide left.

South had two chances to extend the lead in the 65th minute, when Cabral hit the far post from the right side, and seconds later Lara-Castro’s shot from point-blank range went off Scripter, nearly hitting him in the face.

“We had a little struggle toward the end (of regulation), but when we came back, I was just happy that our team scored, being able to move on with my brothers that I’ve played with since I was just a little kid,” Montanez said.

The Cougars already have faced Topeka West, falling 3-2 to the Chargers in the finals of the Salina South Invitational on Sept. 13. Topeka West scored in the opening minute on the way to a 3-0 halftime lead before South rallied in the second half.

SALINA SOUTH 2, ANDOVER CENTRAL 1 (OT)

Andover Central    0        1        0 — 1

Salina South                    0        1        1 — 2

Second half — SS: Adrian Lara-Castro (unassisted), 50th minute; AC: Jack Sizemore (unassisted), 79th.

Overtime — SS: Rodrigo Palacios (assist Yaden Montanez), 87th.