SCARBOROUGH — Are you sitting down while reading this?

Good, because you may need to. The Kennebunk boys soccer team defeated Scarborough on Wednesday night in the Western Class A quarterfinals, 1-0, after the Rams outshot the Red Storm on penalty kicks.

That’s no typo.

The Rams, the same team that made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, who barely made it past Windham 1-0 in overtime in the preliminaries because of an own goal in overtime, upset the defending state champions and No. 1 seed on a rain-soaked field at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex.

“It feels pretty good,” Kennebunk head coach Nathan Bean said. “We’ve been talking about this for a couple of days now. For a couple of years we’ve played them pretty tough, as tough as anybody. But that was a sweet time to get that first one.”

After 110 minutes of soccer, the decision for the game came down to penalty kicks. Tied at 4-4, Scarborough midfielder Kevin Philbrick lined up for his shot and fired, but hit the right post, giving the Rams an opportunity to win the game on the foot of their fifth and final kick.

All eyes were on Ben Whitney, the Rams senior captain, who calmly whacked the ball into the back of the net, immediately starting the celebration for the rest of the team on the field, and the loyal Rams fans who fought through the rain, celebrating just beyond the fence surrounding the field.

“We made it this far and no one expected us to,” Whitney said. “When I walked out there, I’ll tell you, I had a lot of pressure and I was feeling it. But we had been practicing all week. I was just trying to see this as practice, not like a game.”

Defense was on display for the Rams all night long, as the Red Storm constantly attacked throughout the first half. Kennebunk goalie Christian Elkington played the game of his life, stopping several shots, but most importantly, stopping a flurry of three shots in a row by Scarborough attackers late in the second half, saving the game for the Rams.

“That was so lucky,” Elkington said of the flurry of shots. “It hit me right in the face. But we played really well, and our defense was big all night. I don’t know what happened. I got hit in the face, and the ball got cleared out.”

Bean said Elkington’s play was a key in the win.

“The flurry at the end, where he made a couple of saves, that was a difference maker,” Bean said. “What you ask from your keeper, maybe you don’t handle the ball but three or four times in a match, but you have to be a difference maker, and he did it.”

Momentum began to slowly swing in overtime, as for the first time in the game, Kennebunk began to put more pressure on Scarborough offensively, giving Kennebunk confidence going into penalty kicks.

With the win, the Rams will move on to play the winner of No. 4 Gorham playing against No. 5 South Portland, which is being played tonight at 6 p.m. The game will be hosted by the winner of that game on Saturday. The game time has yet to be determined.

Bean said the Rams won’t have long to enjoy the upset before getting back to work.

“About as long at the bus ride home back to Kennebunk,” Bean said.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318.