Mounds View boys’ soccer players and coaches could savor the waning seconds of their Class 3A state tournament semifinal victory Wednesday thanks to the fleet feet of junior midfielder Simon Greer.

Trailing 1-0 late in the second half, Rochester Mayo’s desperation to find a late equalizer off a corner kick meant virtually the entire team, even senior goalkeeper Jack Hobday, positioned themselves deep in Mounds View territory.

That left the Spartans vulnerable to plays such as the pass Max Turchin sent toward Greer. From there, Greer streaked about 70 yards, beating a Mayo defender unable to get the angle and filling the empty net with nine seconds remaining in a 2-0 victory.

“I was so happy,” said Mustangs’ senior forward Sam Hoyt, who scored the game’s first goal in the 43rd minute. “I had already put my hands in the air as he was dribbling by him. The defender was tired and Simon is super-fast. I knew he was going to take him. I knew the game was over.”

No. 4 seed Mounds View (15-5) ended unseeded Mayo’s remarkable late-season surge. Ranked teams scattered like leaves as the Spartans blew through the playoffs. They dropped 10th-ranked Rochester Century, followed by No. 2 Lakeville South and No. 5 Minneapolis Southwest — the top seed in the state tournament.

Hobday said this Mayo team (15-4) wasn’t one of the program’s most talented. But it was players’ connections to each other that produced a memorable payoff run.

“We proved a lot of people wrong,” Hobday said.