Nothing on the Hamilton boys soccer team’s projected path toward a third consecutive Section III Class D championship would prove easy to attain. Though it had the no. 2 seed for the Class D tournament, the Emerald Knights, as part of a 15-team field, would have to win four times to keep the banner. That quest began in Wednesday night’s opening round against no. 15 seed Watertown IHC, where Hamilton was in charge most of the way and eliminated the Cavaliers 3-1. Off a missed IHC chance in the 14th minute, Hamilton forced a free kick from the corner, where Drew Thompson fit the ball into the middle and Sam Hale redirected it into the net. The lead grew to 2-0 in the 26th minute when Brendan Thomas took the rebound of Thompson’s hard free kick and put it home. IHC didn’t melt away, though, as Matt Guyette converted in the 32nd minute, and it was 2-1 going into halftime. Less than 10 minutes into the second though, the Emerald Knights restored the margin as Dan Kraynak, denied in other close-up looks earlier in the game, finally got a goal as, again, Thompson offered up the key pass. Hamilton’s defense did the rest, and it advanced to Friday night’s Class D quarterfinal against no. 7 seed Old Forge, who toppled Alexandria Bay 2-1 in its opening-round contest. Just when it was needed, the Emerald Knights’ attack returned at full power, as it used a huge first half as the springboard for a 5-1 victory over the Eskimos. Just 50 seconds into the game, Hamilton led, 1-0, as Sam Owens converted off nice passes from Thompson and Sam Reilly. Old Forge tied it six minutes later with Ben Hannah’s goal, but it wouldn’t stay even for long. Within a 21-minute span of the first half, Hamilton would net four unanswered goals.Owens set up Devin Askew’s tally in the 11th minute. Then Thompson put together a long run and crossed to Reilly, who converted after Eskimos goalie Patrick Venetz could not handle the cross. Kraynak delivered his own goal in the 25th minute, and Reilly returned to put home a rebound goal to give Hamilton its final margin – and all of this before halftime. The rest of the game turned physical, with seven yellow cards handed out, but Old Forge could not catch up. Hamilton advances to face no. 3 seed McGraw in the Class D semifinals.