The Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders varsity soccer team has been continuing its successful playoff run over the past two weeks.

On Tuesday Nov. 3, they began the playoffs with a convincing 5-0 win against Flowers High School in the regional quarterfinals. 

The Raiders struggled to put their chances away in the first half, only taking a 1-0 lead to halftime, but were able to tire out Flowers in the second half and extend their lead. Sophomore Baxter Hamilton scored twice, with senior Ben Mast, freshmen Brayan Marcia, and senior Roshawn Panton also scoring. The dominant second half effort by the Raiders was enough to end the Jaguars’ season.

“We could do better and finish more chances, but it was a good team effort,” Hamilton said. Flowers did not have any subs on the bench, and the team, according to Hamilton, “could have kept the ball in full possessive mode to tire them out.”

Junior midfielder Tony Leon said that in the second half the team had “control, momentum and possession, but didn’t have control the whole game.” “Flowers had chances they should not have had, and we cannot allow this to happen when we play Bowie, because they are a stronger team,” said Leon. 

On Friday, Nov. 7, the team dominated Bowie High School with another 5-0 scoreline in the regional semifinals.

“In the first 15 minutes we were better than [ERHS],” said Bulldogs’ senior Cheick Traore. But then, the Raiders went ahead with a goal from Hamilton, when he collided into the goalie and placed a shot into the net. The Raiders kept this lead going when junior Lovet Cheg scored off a pass from a teammate. Before the half ended, senior Roshawn Panton scored a goal on an assist from Cheg to put the Raiders up 3-0.

For much of the second half the ball went back and forth with neither team scoring right away. With 13 minutes left in the game, senior AJ Smith scored the fourth goal. Junior Joed Ngangmeni put the nail in the coffin by scoring the fifth and final goal with three minutes left on the clock. The game ended with a final score of 5-0 and a celebration by the Raiders.

Sophomore Alex Pagan felt that “we played hard against Bowie,” and that the team “didn’t let [Bowies’] negative statements get into their minds.”

The win put the Raiders into the 4A South regional final game against Parkdale on November 10.

The Raiders found themselves down 2-0 in the second half. Soon after, they saw their deficit grow even more as Leon was given his second yellow card, resulting in a red card and bringing the Raiders down to 10 players.

With their season flashing before them, the Raiders fought hard to come back with two goals from Hamilton. With less than one minute to go, Roshawn Panton sent in a free kick that senior Ben Mast headed in for the game winner. The Raiders celebrated emphatically as they won the game 3-2, and moved on to the next round of playoffs.

The Raiders now will face off against Perry Hall in the state semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Richard Montgomery High School at 5:00.