It isn't too often that a two-time defending state champion is overlooked.

But that has happened to the Varela boys' soccer team after it lost 15 seniors and experienced a coaching change.

During a Region 4-6A quarterfinal Thursday, Varela showed it is still the team to beat.

Goalkeeper Brian Medieros, who is one of two senior starters, thwarted an aggressive Ferguson offense, and leading scorer Jhonny Vidales had three goals -- the last within the first minute of the second overtime -- to lift Varela to a 3-2 victory.

Varela (14-6-3) will advance to a regional semifinal against Killian -- which defeated Columbus 2-1 -- at Southridge on Tuesday.

''Nobody really gave us a chance, and I think that's been a theme that I've established with this team,'' Varela coach J.C. Gonzalez said.

``They're believing, and they're stepping up. It's hard to sell [the underdog role], especially when you come back from a national championship, but they understand, and they stepped up. Luck has to do with it. But that's how it is -- championship teams have luck.''

Varela had a bit of luck down the stretch Thursday.

But early in the match, Ferguson dominated.

Johnathan Lima gave Ferguson (14-3-2) a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute with a lob over an outstretched arm of Medieros.

Vidales made up for that, and more, in the second half.

Vidales, a junior, tapped the ball over Ferguson goalkeeper Juan Dorado in the 55th minute to tie the score, then gave his team the lead three minutes later, when he kicked the ball in from the top right corner of the goalie box.

Early in the second 10-minute overtime, Vidales got a great pass from teammate Andres Cardona in the right corner, kicked the ball off the right post of the goal and into the net.

''I just started running like crazy,'' Vidales said about his post-goal celebration, during which he ripped off his jersey, sprinted to the other end of the field and was mobbed by teammates.

The most crucial stretch of the match came within the last three minutes of regulation, when Ferguson had three great scoring chances in front of the net, but Erik Baltrusch's tapper and a direct shot and header by Esteban Castro just missed going in.

Ferguson won its first district championship last week, and coach Jose Aguilar claimed that it was time for his team to take control in South Florida, after Sunset and Varela dominated in recent years.

On Thursday, he said the bounces just didn't go his team's way.

''You know how many shots hit the pole?'' Aguilar said, rhetorically. ``It just didn't go in, man.

``We had like seven chances -- clear chances -- of putting it away, and it just didn't happen.''

• Killian 2, Columbus 1: Jeffrey Stezovsky's goal off of a free kick with seven minutes remaining helped Killian (18-1-5) to end a slide in which it was eliminated in the regional quarterfinals from 2003-07.

With the score tied at 1 in the 73rd minute, Killian was awarded a free kick in front of Columbus' goalie box. Stezovsky sent a shot to the top left of the goal and just out of the reach of Columbus' goalkeeper. Columbus finished 18-6-3.

''He's done that all year long,'' Bruce said of Stezovsky, a junior. ``He's solid in the back, and on set pieces he's solid just like what you saw [Thursday night].''

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