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BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin men’s lacrosse team doesn’t look for the knockout punch.

“Jab, jab, jab,” junior midfielder Huck Trafton said.

The second-ranked Polar Bears landed a bunch of those on Hope College during an NCAA Division III quarterfinal Friday. Bowdoin was dominant at the midfield dot (winning 26 of 31 draws) and controlled the pace end line to end line on the way to a 20-7 win at Whittier Field.

This is the third straight year that Bowdoin (19-1) has reached the semifinals. The Polar Bears will play RIT (18-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday, again at Whittier Field. They’re seeking their first appearance in a national championship game.

“The first jab was the faceoff, and then we scored. We kind of just built on that momentum,” Trafton said after leading all players with four goals to go along with an assist.

Bowdoin’s jabs started connecting early. Trafton, a York native, scored with a strong shot from the left wing just 44 seconds into the game, and the faceoff unit, led by junior Cam Weitfeldt (8 for 9) and sophomore Alex Choi (5 for 6) won the first eight duels and 13 of 14 in the first half.

A man-up score from Casey Ryan (two assists), goals from Troy Ulisney and Hudson Greene (three goals and an assist each), and scores from Will Byrne and Trafton helped the Polar Bears build a 6-2 lead in the first quarter before the Flying Dutchman (20-1) earned their first face-off win.

“I give a lot of credit to our faceoff unit, who were able to control the game and make sure that if it was going to be a track meet, it was going to be more on our terms than their terms,” Bowdoin coach Bill Mason said. “Cammy and his unit did a great job, and our offense capitalized on some opportunities, so all in all, just really proud of our group, and happy we’ve got another day together.”

Phoenix Kelly-Zuckerman, a freshman, was 12 for 15 on second-half draws, and the Polar Bears matched their best faceoff percentage of the season (83.87% vs. Endicott on March 10).

Starting in the second quarter, four Bowdoin players combined for six straight goals to extend the lead to 12-2 early in the third.

Hope was playing in its first NCAA quarterfinal after upsetting 18th-ranked Ithica and 15th-ranked Bates in Lewiston last week. The 20-7 score represented the most goals Hope has allowed and the fewest it scored all year.

“No one makes the Elite Eight by accident, they’re very skilled teams, so we were just focused on running our sets and getting the ball through X,” Trafton said. “They’re really efficient on the first slide, but if we can get it to the back side, we thought we’d have an opportunity there.”

Hope junior Gibson Heethius helped the visitors find some energy midway through the third with three straight assists, but the Polar Bears answered with four goals of their own and continued the intense defensive effort. Bowdoin sophomore Alec Delgado finished with six saves.

“I just think it’s a unit that has been playing their best lacrosse as the season went on,” Mason said. “And I give a lot of credit to our defensive coordinator, Zack Goorno … He’s just done a phenomenal job with his unit, preparing them, and we play in front of a great goalie as well. They do this awesome job, and you also got to give a shout out to the scout unit guys that prepare them. They are a really elite unit as well.”