KENLY - Just as it had seven years ago, the North Johnston boys' soccer team fell in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2-A playoffs to the Durham School of the Arts on Wednesday night.

Although the 5-2 final in overtime was not indicative of a competitive first two halves, a staple of coach Brent Walston's teams since the former Hunt coach came to the school in 2003.

"I said seven years ago, DSA beat North Johnston 8-0," said Walston of his post-game talk. "For 80 minutes, it was 2-2. That's the gap that we've closed in seven years."

In the eighth straight year of playoff soccer in Kenly, the first installment of the 2-A postseason was ended abruptly with a hat trick from Bulldog senior Matthew Brondoli, who netted two goals in the overtime session.

Alex Jones added his 16th and 17th goals of the season as DSA advanced to the second round.

North Johnston, who finished second to Roanoke Rapids in the Northern Carolina Conference during the regular season, finished the year 11-7-3.

Harrison Grady tied the game for North Johnston on a free kick spotted 40 yards out near the left hash mark with 1:50 left in the first half. Grady placed the ball perfectly in the top right corner of the net outside the reach of Bulldog goalie Xavier Klonowski.

Brondoli got his first tally on a penalty kick 18 minutes in after North Johnston was called for tripping in the goal box for a 2-1 DSA lead.

Both teams played a scoreless second half with the Bulldogs hitting the post and the crossbar just seconds apart during one sequence. DSA kept North on its heels throughout with a 13-3 shot advantage.

"The difference was that we finally came alive and got the job done," DSA coach Amy Green said. "It took a little waking up, but we played a good team.

"We started playing together, and our forwards and midfielders finally started connecting."

The Bulldogs controlled play throughout both 10-minute overtime sessions with Brondoli getting the game-winner in the fourth minute. Jones added an insurance goal three minutes later with Brondoli earning his third goal late in the second extra session.

Senior goalie Jake Whitton had four saves in his final game as a Panther.

"We were dodging bullets all night," Whitton said.

"We came back twice, but luck didn't help in the overtime."

North Johnston was without a pair of senior contributors in Rey Reynoso and J.T. Taylor, who were serving a suspension after receiving a red card in a recent match.

Austin Winstead got the Panthers on the board in ninth minute of play with a goal assisted by Maurico Cortes. Junior Hunter Brame led the Panthers in goal-scoring on the year with 20. Grady's goal was his 16th of the season.

DSA (11-8-1) will now play Trinity, the No. 1 seed out of the PAC-6 on Saturday.?

"I can't say to the boys that they outworked us or out-hustled us," Walston said. "They outscored us in the last 20 minutes. They did what they had to do in the last 20 minutes."

North seniors Whitton, Cortes, Reynoso, Taylor, Austin Coates, Raul Olvera, Travis Phipps, Luis Perez, Patrick White and Adrian Zuniga all finished their careers on Wednesday night.