De La Salle’s Jahir Anaya plays with exuberance and an unmatched intensity.

By his own admission, the junior goalkeeper knows he can take his brash style a step too far.

“It was a very selfish move by me,” said Anaya, who was ineligible from playing in Saturday’s sectional championship game due to a red card. “I’ve been apologizing for the whole week.

“I was able to step up (Tuesday) and do it, but mostly I thank my team because the whole time I was out, they were comforting me and made sure I knew they had my back.”

Anaya was back between the posts Tuesday night, making six saves for the host Meteors in 3-0 victory over DePaul Prep in the Class 2A De La Salle Supersectional in Chicago.

De La Salle (26-1-3) will play at 3:15 p.m. Friday against Prairie Ridge in a state semifinal at Hoffman Estates. It will be the first appearance at state in program history for the Meteors.

Anaya recorded his 17th shutout as De La Salle extended its unbeaten streak to 27 straight games (24-0-3). The only loss came Aug. 31 against Lemont in the Windy City Ram Classic.

Senior forward Alex Panduro maintained his torrid scoring run Tuesday by tallying goals in the 45th, 49th and 63rd minutes. He pushed his season total to 34 goals, including seven of the Meteors’ last eight dating to a 3-2 win in double overtime over Solorio in the sectional semifinal.

At the end of regulation in that game, Anaya earned a pair of yellow cards for running into the stands and then kicking a garbage can in response to the original caution.

“My attitude has always been if you’re going to do something, do it 100%,” he said. “If you’re not, don’t do it. I was just so full of adrenaline and passion. I saw the garbage can, and I just kicked it.

“As soon as I realized what happened, I broke down crying because I felt like I let my team down.”

But Panduro scored three goals Saturday to ignite the comeback in another double-overtime victory, this time a 4-3 win over St. Ignatius. And then Anaya made the most of his second chance.

Anaya was spectacular in the first half Tuesday night, coming off his line and aggressively challenging DePaul’s attacking players.

“We had a ragged start, with nerves and this being our first supersectional,” he said. “I saw my team starting to get down, put their heads down, and I just had to yell at them to lift themselves up.

“I had to make some big stops, and that’s what I did.”

Anaya and Panduro have been close friends and teammates since grammar school.

“He really stepped it up when we really needed it the most,” Panduro said of Anaya. “He does a lot of great things out there. He’s very loud, he’s very passionate, and he’s very into the game

“He loves to get into people’s heads. It’s funny sometimes because it works with some players.”

Senior midfielder Mario Ramirez, who played goalkeeper in a pinch again Saturday, said Anaya was helpful and instructive.

“I was nervous and he talked me through everything,” Ramirez said. “He helped make me calm.

“I’m so excited he came back. He put in all of his energy. He forgot about the mistake he made and really made it happen out there with his hustle and determination.”

Anaya, who has registered 125 saves, has allowed only 12 goals in 1,790 minutes this season for a superb goals-against average of 0.54.

“My dad, Jose Luis, he was a forward,” Anaya said. “He was my biggest influence growing up. I started playing around the age of 3. Even though I was small, they put me in the goal.

“I started blocking shots, and I stayed there ever since. People doubted me because of my size, but that just made me want to fight for something even bigger.”

Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.