WESTHAMPTON — A scoring burst pushed the top-seeded Hampshire Regional boys soccer team past No. 8 Palmer, 3-1, in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament quarterfinal, Tuesday.

After a competitive first half, the Raiders pulled away from the Panthers early in the second with three goals during a five-minute span.

With the victory, Hampshire (14-2-1) will face defending sectional champion and No. 4 seed Frontier Regional (11-3-4), Thursday at 7 p.m. at South Hadley High School.

Frontier beat No. 5 Pope Francis, 1-0 in overtime, during its quarterfinal match.

For Hampshire, Brody Dean got the offense going after scoring an unassisted goal within the box.

Shortly after his goal, Dean sailed a corner kick that landed in front of Palmer goalie Jake Riel. Dillon Pooler took advantage of the corner kick and shot the ball to the right of the goalie to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.

After the second goal, Palmer’s defense was falling apart and couldn’t match the speed of the Raiders’ offense.

Just 30 seconds after Pooler notched his goal, he found the back of the net again. This time on an assist by Harry George.

“He scored two goals,” said Hampshire coach Dan Moynahan. “But more than that he was winning 50/50 balls in midfield, connecting on his passes and communicating with his teammates.”

Palmer’s lone goal came on a penalty kick by Matt Remillard with nine minutes left. Hampshire’s goalie Mike McColgan guessed the wrong side as the Panthers cut the deficit to 3-1.

McColgan picked up five saves on the night.

After a scoreless first half, Moynahan regrouped his players to make sure they were on the same page.

“Be disciplined and stick to our game plan,” Moynahan said he told his players at the half. “Trying to control the center of the field and connecting some passes and that’s what led to scoring chances.”

Pooler was a key player when it came to controlling the middle. During the first half, Pooler was playing on the left side before his changed positions.

Moynahan “realized that he needed me in the middle to control the game,” Pooler said.

Hampshire’s playoff victory was its first in three years.

“It’s a weight off our shoulders to get passed this round,” said Pooler. “Now that we got passed it, I feel that we can go all the way.”