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By Savannah Milner and Rhiannon Thomas
ALACHUA — The Santa Fe Raiders boys lacrosse team won in the quarterfinals of the 1A-District 3 tournament, 11-8, against Newberry on Wednesday.
The four seed Raiders (9-7) will play at top seed Oak Hall (13-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Back-and-Forth Battle
Five seed Newberry (7-6) set the tone quick, starting the match with a goal from junior Ryan Murphey.
Santa Fe responded with back-to-back goals from senior Liam Mscwain. The first quarter ended with a score from the Panthers’ Steven Rubert and the Raiders’ Troy Butler, bringing the score to 3-2 Santa Fe.
The boys brought the same energy into the second quarter. The Panthers started with a score from team captain Reymar Basol. Santa Fe’s Mcswain responded with another goal in less than a minute.
Newberry scored three consecutive goals, all from team captain Colton Hiers. With a minute left in the quarter, Mcswain scored two more goals for the Raiders to tie the contest at 6-6 going into halftime.
Second-Half Success
The third quarter didn’t see much action, with each team scoring a goal and keeping the game tied (7-7).
The Raiders pulled away in the fourth quarter with goals from Jaxson Phillips, Kaden Rowell and Mcswain.
The Panthers were able to get one more point on the board, the third of the night from Rubert.
The Raiders closed the game with Butler’s second goal in the final seconds.
