Having tied its 5A-Region III semifinal minutes earlier, the Strake Jesuit boys soccer team felt more than a subtle boost of confidence Friday night when with 11 minutes to play, it gained a one-man advantage on a red card.

But Kingwood, veterans of the tournament that they are, instead ended up getting the proverbial shot in the arm.

The Mustangs survived the last 10 minutes, 48 seconds of regulation after Vincent Martinelli got a red card for stomping on Strake Jesuit’s Jamie Garcia-Prats, then Blake Shannon scored the game-winning goal halfway through the first overtime to oust the Crusaders 3-2 at Deer Park ISD’s Abshier Stadium.

It was the Crusaders’ first loss of the season (21-1-5).

Strake Jesuit goalie Jorge Ibarra made two spectacular saves in the first three minutes of overtime, but Shannon snuck the winner to the top right corner of the goal 4 minutes, 37 seconds in.

“We had the ball across the right side, they got a great ball through to me and when I got it I shot it through the right side and we got (a goal),” said Shannon, a junior defender. “It was an amazing feeling. We were here last year and we missed out.”

Last year, Kingwood defeated Langham Creek 1-0 in overtime in the regional semifinal but lost 2-1 to undefeated Morton Ranch in the regional final.

Less than 24 hours after ending one undefeated season, Kingwood (27-1-1) will try to spoil another when it plays Cinco Ranch (21-0-6) – like Morton Ranch an 18-5A and Katy ISD school – in the regional final at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Abshier.

“We’re back in the regional final now and we want to win it and get some revenge for last year,” Shannon said.

He expressed surprise that Strake Jesuit never brought an extra defender up the rest of overtime.

“Luckily they didn’t push anybody else forward so we didn’t have as much pressure as we could have,” Shannon said. “I was surprised they decided not to press someone up so they would maybe get a quick goal and get our heads down a little bit.”

Said Crusaders coach Bill McDonald: “The wind was a factor and we had it in the second half. We just couldn’t get that final pass and put it away. On our restarts maybe we could have done better to be a bit more dangerous.”

Kingwood took a 1-0 lead with 18:42 left in the half when off a corner kick, Cale Haas settled the ball off his chest and finished past Ibarra.

Strake Jesuit tied the game just more than six minutes later off a corner kick. The ball hit at least two Crusaders, one of whom shot wide, before Beau Grenier punched it in amidst a scrum.

Haas put Kingwood ahead 2-1 midway through the second half, punching it into the front of the goal from the left box.

The Crusaders pulled even with 15:10 left, when off a 60-yard inbound kick Roberto Contreras scored.

“We had a fantastic run. To walk off the field for so many games like we did when nobody beat us was amazing,” McDonald said. “Tonight we played the best team we’ve played all year. They pushed us and we couldn’t get the final answer when we needed it.”

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