LEXINGTON — They slew the giant in the regional semifinals and dodged a bullet in the regional championship.

Lexington fans better buckle up, because Wednesday’s Division II state semifinal match ought to be another thrill ride.

The fifth-ranked Minutemen (21-1) meet No. 9 Warren Howland (20-0-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Barberton High School. The winner will play for a state championship Sunday at 1 p.m. at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus.

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  • Lexington junior Gabe Hamilton powers the first Minutemen goal on Saturday evening against Lima Shawnee at Port Clinton. The goal tied the score at 1-1 with 5:31 left in the first half.

  • Lima Shawnee goalkeeper Landon Hoehn can only watch the ball fly into the net on Saturday afternoon after Lexington’s Ryan Parker struck a perfect header on a corner kick from Trevor Fehr. The goal gave Lexington a 2-1 with 28 minutes left in the game.

  • Players and coaches for Lexington’s Division II regional championship team gather Saturday night in Port Clinton after a 3-2 win against Lima Shawnee. The Minutemen (22-1) advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2011.

Last week was one to remember for Lex. It started with a 2-1 overtime win over top-ranked Bay and concluded Saturday with a thrilling 3-2 win over Lima Shawnee.

“These guys have played together a long time. They just settled in and we did what we needed to do,” veteran Lex coach Peter Them said Saturday. “At this point in the year, you just gotta survive a little bit.”

Lex got goals from Gabe Hamilton, Ryan Parker and Gavin George on Saturday. George score the game-winners in overtime against Bay and Madison in the district finals.

“It feels amazing,” George said. “There are really no words I could use to describe it.”

Goals may be at a premium Wednesday. Howland hasn’t allowed two goals in a match all season and has surrendered just one goal in five postseason games.

The Tigers have outscored opponents 72-8 and have 13 shutouts. Howland beat Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in a penalty kick shootout in Saturday’s Streetsboro regional final.

Howland is making its first ever appearance in the Final Four. Lex qualified for the state semifinals in 2003 and 2011.

“We’ve never gone this far,” Howland coach Brian Stiles told the Warren Tribune Chronicle after the regional championship. “We’ve been really good for quite a while. I think we were just caught being the smallest team in Division I. Now, we’re Division II, everyone sees what kind of quality soccer we’ve been playing.”