One team needed 100 minutes and a round of penalty kicks. The other needed just 33 seconds to take a lead it would not relinquish. Regardless of how long it took, the Lincoln and North Smithfield girls soccer teams are both headed to the finals.

Thanks to penalty kicks by Amanda Amaral and Meredith Atkinson and a clutch performance by goalkeeper Adriana Ferreria (nine saves), Lincoln defeated St. Raphael, 2-1 after a shootout, in the first Division III semifinal of the 27th annual MetLife Soccer Classic, earlier tonight at Rhode Island College.

Corinne Sherman’s early goal proved to be the game-winner, as North Smithfield earned the spot opposite the defending champion Lions in the R.I. Interscholastic League Division III Championship - which will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Pierce Stadium in East Providence - with a 3-0 victory over Burrillville in the other semifinal matchup.

Lincoln and North Smithfield, who will be playing in the first of three girls soccer finals Saturday at Pierce, are no strangers to each other. The III-North rivals split their regular-season meetings, with the 11-5-0 Northmen winning the first contest, 3-2, and the 13-1-2 Lions prevailing, 8-2, in the other.