Following the No. 7 Hampshire Regional boys soccer team’s 3-1 win over Rockland in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 16 last Friday, the Raiders had a pretty good idea of who they would be seeing in the quarterfinal, although it wasn’t official yet.

“I’ve already heard them talking about redemption, so we’re looking forward to it,” Hampshire head coach Brad Miller said after Friday’s game.

Well, the Raiders are going to have their opportunity to get it, as they travel to Lynnfield to take on the No. 2 Pioneers on Thursday afternoon with a spot in the D4 Final Four on the line. Last fall, Hampshire and Lynnfield met in the state semifinals and Lynnfield hung on for a 2-1 victory.

Miller did some film study on the Pioneers (14-3-3) and showed his team clips of their dangerous players and where they do their damage from. Hampshire briefly went over it again on Wednesday afternoon, but Miller is more so taking the approach of worrying about how the Raiders are going to execute their game plan – not stopping Lynnfield from accomplishing theirs.

The more a team gets caught up in what the opposition is doing, the less it focuses on playing the way it wants to. That’s not going to be the case with Hampshire.

“Whoever we play at this point, it’s totally up to us, inflicting our game on them and not just matching, but exceeding their intensity,” Miller said. “That’s kind of the priority. We’re looking forward to it. We’ve been training since Friday, champing at the bit. It’ll be good to get the guys together on a nice bus ride across Massachusetts, and hopefully we’re ready to rock.”

The Raiders tallied three goals in their Round of 32 victory over Northbridge and three more in the Round of 16 win against Rockland, the two games coming on their home pitch. Junior forward Owen Miller scored twice in both games, with Joe Moro scoring once in each contest as well. Owen Miller has become the clear-cut No. 1 option for Hampshire’s offense, but it also has established unique ways to get others involved.

Brendan Stevenson, Elijah Picard, Eli Fern and several others are threats for the Raiders’ attack.

“Offensively, we've established enough diversity and creativity that we can be dangerous. I think that part will kind of shine through,” Brad Miller said. “But it really is a matter of everybody being on the same page defensively and just being intense and strong through the whole game and not having mental letdowns.”

The defense starts and finishes with senior center back and captain, Jack Wresen. If Hampshire is going to have success and focus on that side of the field, Wresen will be the reason why.

Eight of the Raiders’ 20 games (40 percent) have been shutouts, and in five others they surrendered just one goal. Wresen, defensive midfielder Parker Christy and goalie Colin Holt have all anchored Hampshire’s back six – which is going to be the X-factor on Thursday.

“Jack is a huge part of our success,” Brad Miller said. “He's been our most underrated player, for sure. His performance has been just getting better and better… Our biggest strength has honestly been our back six, which is including Colin Holt in goal. Colin kind of commanding the back line and through our back four with Parker Christy, the organization and leadership that they have in the back filters up through our midfield and our front line. The old adage of defense wins championships is very much evident and the key part of our team.”

If Hampshire’s defense can hold up and stop Lynnfield’s offense, one that averages three goals per game in the tournament, the Raiders believe they have the offensive firepower to win the game. A victory would send them to the Division 4 semifinals for the second straight year.

Miller does want to see his team play smarter with a lead and understand time and score scenarios better by controlling the pace and possession more efficiently. Last game, Rockland cut Hampshire’s 2-0 lead in half and had several more chances to tie it before a last-minute Moro goal sealed the 3-1 triumph.

Regardless of which team finds the back of the net first, the Raiders know they can play with any team in the state.

“We’ve shown that if we do go down that we have the resources to come back and push for a game if we have to,” Miller said. “But just keeping that mindset that we have to see things through if we’re leading or if we’re losing. We always have a chance.

“It’s going to be the hardest game we’ve had yet,” Miller added, “which makes sense at this stage.”

Kickoff between the two teams is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.