Seeing a red card and going down to 10 players is often the kiss of death in soccer. Seeing a second red and going down to nine players almost certainly results in a loss.

That was the situation the San Rafael High boys soccer team found itself in during its North Coast Section Division IV quarterfinal against Marin Catholic on Saturday night.

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they had a secret weapon.

San Rafael played a man down for 30-plus minutes and two down for most of extra time but dragged the game to penalties then put in freshman goalie Frisly Reyes for the shootout.

Reyes saved three of the four penalties he faced. Teo Cristea, Logan Dean, and Brayan Reyes converted their kicks as the No. 4 Bulldogs won 3-1 in the shootout against No. 5 MC following a 2-2 tie in regulation and extra time.

“Nope. Never. That’s a first,” San Rafael defender Teo Cristea said of winning a game after going down to nine men. “At first I couldn’t even believe we were at nine men. It was a little bit of a shock.”

San Rafael (9-11-3) advances to a section semifinal for the third time in four years. The Bulldogs hit the road to face No. 1 Piedmont (9-8-4) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Frisly Reyes got San Rafael off to a great start in the shootout by diving to his right to save MC’s first spot kick. Cristea slotted his penalty kick home to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. Frisly Reyes then guessed right again and saved another penalty to put San Rafael in full control.

“I have a lot of faith in myself and a lot of trust and confidence in myself,” Frisly Reyes said through a translator. “I knew they were going to shoot that way so I just dove that way and made the saves.”

San Rafael missed its second kick and MC climbed back into the shootout when Charlie Carroll scored to make it 1-1. Dean scored then Frisly Reyes saved his third PK — again diving to his right.

“It was incredible,” Cristea said of Reyes’ performance in goal. “I had no idea he had that in his back pocket to be honest. I knew he was a great keeper and we use him on the outfield because he can do both amazingly but he hopped in goal and he gave us everything. It honestly saved us.”

Frisly Reyes said he has made three penalty saves in a shootout before but he had never played for a team that won after going down to nine players.

Brayan Reyes stepped up to make San Rafael’s fourth kick and send the Bulldogs to the most improbable of victories.

“I was nervous at the same time but I was calm because deep inside, I knew I was going to score,” Brayan Reyes said. “I just tried to be calm and just in the moment. I grabbed the ball, I closed my eyes. I took a big deep breath and I just shot it where I decided to shoot.”

For most of the first half, it didn’t seem like San Rafael would need to overcome such extreme odds. The Bulldogs went ahead 1-0 in the 13th minute when Brayan Reyes curled in a corner kick that deflected off MC keeper Bode Ransom and apparently crossed the goal line before a defender tried to clear it with a bicycle kick.

Cristea made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, slotting home after Daniel Rodas played a pass to him inside the 18-yard box.

MC pulled within 2-1 just before halftime when Enrique Guzman managed to toe-poke the ball past San Rafael’s starting goalie, Maxwell Gatewood.

Guzman equalized in the 65th minute for MC on a play somewhat similar to San Rafael’s opening goal. Guzman headed the ball beyond the keeper and it was again ruled to have gone all the way over the line before San Rafael’s last-ditch clearance attempt.

Four minutes later, the Bulldogs were in dire straits after seeing two red cards — one to a player and one to a member of the coaching staff. Guzman almost won the game for MC in regulation, beating Gatewood to the ball and sending a shot toward goal in the 75th minute. This time Henry Escobar ran the ball down and was able to clear it off the goal line to keep the game tied at 2-2.

San Rafael, which lost a second player to a red card in the 86th minute, managed to keep the score tied despite the two-man disadvantage and got the game to penalty kicks, where the playing field was once again leveled. Shortly before the Bulldogs were set to begin the shootout, it was announced that the San Rafael girls team had just upset El Cerrito on penalty kicks in the D-IV playoffs.

“We want to give a really huge shoutout to our girls program because we’ve seen them work and that’s history right there,” San Rafael assistant coach Jose De La Rosa said. “They’re going into an NCS semifinal and they believed in themselves. Right now we’re practicing around the same time so we see how hard they’re working and they see how hard we’re working and I just want to congratulate them.”

San Rafael High sports teams are enjoying quite a moment right now. The boys soccer team is in another section semifinal. The boys basketball team is in its first section semifinal since 2000. The girls soccer team is in its first section semifinal ever.