‘We’re not done.’ Douglass exacts revenge in ousting defending state soccer champ Dunbar.

Ousted from the last three boys high school soccer 11th Region Tournaments in penalty kick shootouts by Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frederick Douglass exacted its revenge Thursday night at Great Crossing High School.

And the Broncos did it in the only way fitting — via a penalty kick shootout that toppled the three-time defending region and two-time defending state champions.

“All heart. All gas. No brakes,” Douglass coach Omar Shalash said with his arm around goalkeeper Delfin Iteriteka, who saved one of Dunbar’s five penalty shots and benefited from a miss on another. “This is the reason. He’s got our back. … He stepped up. But we’re not done.”

The Broncos’ 2-1 (4-3 PKs) win over Dunbar advanced the 42nd District champions to face 43rd District champ Lafayette at 2 p.m. Saturday back at Great Crossing for the region title and a berth in next week’s state soccer tournament. Lafayette defeated Henry Clay 4-2 in Thursday’s first semifinal.

It will be the first region finals appearance for Lafayette since the Generals were in the old 14th Region back in 2007. For Douglass, it will be its second region championship game in a row.

Douglass dethrones Dunbar

Perhaps undersized for his position at just 5-foot-6, no player came up bigger for his team with the season on the line than junior Douglass keeper Deflin Iteriteka.

“I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and I did a little bit of research,” Iteriteka explained. “I just had to stand my ground like I did in the last game and the game before that and the game before that.”

Douglass midfielder Keegan Nash broke a scoreless tie five minutes into the second half with a thumping volley from 20 yards out that rifled over the Dunbar keeper’s save attempt.

After going down a goal, Dunbar stepped up its pressure in the second half.

Iteriteka appeared to save a bounding ball hammered at the goal twice off a corner kick with just over 14 minutes left, but Dunbar midfielder Gio Chavez got a toe to it and kept the play alive for a third and fourth stab. The last shot hit the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.

The moment could have deflated the Broncos, but Douglass rallied around their keeper and settled back into the game.

“They picked me up. They give me my energy, especially my coach,” Iteriteka said. “When we conceded, it just gave us more reason to work harder and fight back.”

Each team had chances to end the game in the two overtime periods but, ultimately, a fourth straight postseason penalty kick shootout between the Bulldogs (15-4-5) and Broncos (16-2-3) would be the decider.

“I told them ... they (Dunbar) are the back-to-back state champions. They have won this region three years in a row. You have to dethrone them,” Shalash said. “You have to end their streak.”

After Chavez hit his PK to open the shootout, Dunbar keeper David Betancourt saved the first Douglass PK attempt by Cooper Ranvier. Then Ryan O’Hara missed Dunbar’s second PK high over the bar.

Iteriteka had his save of the next Dunbar shot ruled an infraction, allowing Kasen Johnston to put home his retake and keep Dunbar in it at 2-2 after three attempts each.

Iteriteka responded by saving Dunbar’s fourth attempt.

“I had one pulled back, but I had another one in me,” Iteriteka said, pounding a fist to his heart. “So, I stopped the next.”

Brayan Martinez put Douglass back in front 3-2 with one attempt left for each team.

A Dunbar make put Logan Atkinson at the spot with a chance to end the game with a make or extend the shootout with a miss. Atkinson did not miss and the Douglass celebration was on.

Hat trick helps sends Lafayette to finals

Lafayette junior forward Alecx Castro scored three goals to help lift the Generals to a 4-2 win over Henry Clay in Thursday’s first semifinal match.

Castro’s first score in the first half might have been the most important, he said.

That’s because Henry Clay took a 1-0 lead with about 15 minutes left until halftime when James Clay’s long-range shot needled its way into the left corner of the goal from 30 yards away.

Castro answered on a putback shot three minutes later.

“It had to be immediately, man,” Castro said. “If we don’t score that first goal in the first half, I don’t know what happens.”

Lafayette coach Chris Grimm praised his team’s resiliency in that moment.

“A lot of the coaches talk about how hard our district is, how hard our region is, and when you play other region teams, it prepares you for moments like that,” Grimm said. “Our guys didn’t get rattled. We said, ‘Hey, we’re good. We’re OK.’”

Lafayette took control of the game quickly in the second half. Angel Montiel volleyed in a corner kick that fell to his left foot off the keeper’s hands just two minutes into the period. Two minutes after that, Lafayette was awarded a penalty kick that Castro struck to put the Generals up 3-1.

But Henry Clay (12-7-3) answered that score quickly with a Daniel Grider goal to cut Lafayette’s lead to 3-2 with still more than 32 minutes left in the game.

Henry Clay kept pressing for a tying goal as the clock wound down, but Castro got the ball on a counter attack and beat his defender along the end line to get himself open for his third goal of the game and put Lafayette up 4-2 with under three minutes left.

Grimm said Lafayette’s path to the region finals has not been easy. The Generals (16-3-1) lost starting defender Michael Matsakis to a broken arm last month. Another starter quit the team around the same time.

“That kind of stuff can really pull a team apart or maybe set you back a little bit,” Grimm said. “And these guys? It seems like every time we had a bit of adversity it just brought them closer together and made them tougher.”

Boys 11th Region Tournament

Saturday’s finals

At Great Crossing High School

2 p.m.: Lafayette (16-3-1) vs. Frederick Douglass (16-2-3)