CARY - When Green Hope was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area midway through the first half Saturday, midfielder Martin Murphy had no doubt what he was going to do with it.

"We were practicing free kicks the day before, so I knew exactly where I wanted to hit it," Murphy said. "I stepped up, and thankfully it went in."

Murphy's 23rd-minute strike catapulted the Falcons to a 3-2 victory against Sanderson in the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A soccer tournament and secured their third regional final appearance in four years. Green Hope will play at Broughton on Tuesday, tentatively at 6 p.m., in the East Regional final.

The goal, the first of two for Murphy, came only three minutes after Sanderson (17-7-4) had taken a 1-0 lead. Spartans midfielder David Shipp took a throw-in in the box from Ben Martin and scored in the 20th minute.

But the Falcons (20-2-2) didn't flinch at the deficit.

"That's what's been so important all year," Green Hope coach Andrew Chadwick said. "It was a matter of when they were coming back. You could tell they were not too fazed by it."

With the ball placed just outside the box, Murphy's right-footed bending shot dipped over Sanderson's five-man wall and into the goal.

"That was huge," Murphy said. "The longer you're down, the harder it is to come back. Everyone was positive, and we just went forward and got the goal. From there, I always felt like we could push on and win."

Murphy struck again in the 38th minute. Ryan Steele sent a long ball into the box. After a defender misplayed it, Murphy pounced on the loose ball and stroked it with his left foot into the goal for a 2-1 Falcons lead.

Two minutes later, the Falcons scored what proved to be the winner.

Kyle Bandy played a ball into the corner for Magnus Sorensen. As it was about to roll out of bounds, Sorensen regained possession and flung the ball toward the goal for Bandy to slip in.

"I kept screaming at him so he'd have to give me the ball," Bandy said. "He cut it back and put it on my foot, and I put it away."

Sanderson's Shipp scored again in the 63rd minute on a goal nearly identical to his first.

"We thought if we got a goal in the first 20 minutes, we had a chance to win the game," Sanderson coach Todd Worley said. "We did that, had some opportunities, but couldn't get [another] in the back of the net."