Diego Stradi, Randolph’s foreign exchange student from the city known for its Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars, made the pitch in Randolph his own personal playground Thursday afternoon.

Stradi played a part in all but one of his team’s goals as the third-seeded Cardinals beat No. 6 Frewsburg 7-2 in a Section VI Class C quarterfinal.

Stradi had a goal and an assist during a 3-1 opening 40 minutes before he added two more goals and two more assists in Randolph’s four-goal second half.

“We have many guys who can score on this team, not just one guy. In the past, if teams tried to shut down one guy, it was tough for us to score,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “We have five or six guys out there at all times who can score and want to score. That makes us tough to defend.”

Randolph’s Diego Stradi settles a ball near midfield. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Next up for the Cardinals is a 5 p.m. semifinal matchup against No. 2 Maple Grove on Wednesday at Eden High School. The Red Dragons beat No. 7 Chautauqua Lake 2-0 in another quarterfinal Thursday afternoon.

“We both play similar styles. They have some firepower up top, they are very skilled, they are very athletic, they are solid across the board,” Pihlblad said of Maple Grove. “We’ve watched a lot of film on them and we know what they are going to try to do, and they know what we are going to try to do.”

Randolph jumped on top 2-0 early against the Bears.

In the fifth minute, junior Griffin Nelson dribbled through a couple of Frewsburg defenders into the 6-yard box before taking a shot off Bears senior keeper Kenton Dahlin. The rebound popped up in the air toward the far post where Cardinals senior Ryder Smith was waiting to put home his seventh goal of the season.

Stradi picked up his first point of the day in the 10th minute when he sent a ball into space near the top of Frewsburg’s 18-yard box. A Bears defender slipped, which allowed junior Drew Hind an open look to tap the ball past Dahlin for his eighth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

Randolph’s Zak Kachermeyer (7) attempts to get the ball away from Frewsburg’s Brendan Devereaux during Thursday’s Section VI Class C quarterfinal at Weeden Park in Randolph. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“He’s kind of embraced that role as a leader out there,” Pihlblad said of Hind. “Technically he might not be as good as Cooper (Freeman) or Diego, but he works hit butt off all the time.”

Frewsburg got back in the game less than two minutes later as senior Brendan Devereaux rolled a ball in front of the net that fellow senior Gavin Smith made a diving stab at to poke home before Cardinals keeper Dalsin Tallchief could make a play on it.

“It was a good start. The second goal came on a slip,” first-year Frewsburg head coach Scott Seiberg said. ” … We kept playing after that.”

But Randolph regained its two-goal lead in the 21st minute as Freeman found an open Stradi open inside the top of the 18-yard box and the senior powered home his 23rd goal of the season.

“We got the lead and they got that first goal,” Pihlblad said, “which made it really competitive for a while in the first half.”

After halftime, Stradi gave the Cardinals their first three-goal lead of the day when he was taken down in the box and then calmly converted his penalty kick just inside the post to Dahlin’s left in the 45th minute.

Senior Garrett Brink headed home a Devereaux corner kick in the 51st minute to pull Frewsburg back to within a pair of goals, but just three minutes later, Stradi found Freeman open for a left-footed strike and his 35th goal of the season.

“I was proud of the effort,” Seiberg said. “Everybody kept giving their 100% the whole game even though we gave up a few more goals than we wanted.”

Hind put an exclamation mark on the game when he rose high above the Frewsburg defense to head home a Stradi corner kick in the 57th minute.

“He just does freaky things out there,” Pihlblad said of Hind. “That header was insane. It seemed like he rose up 2 feet above everybody else and put it right in the top corner.”

Stradi completed his hat trick with his 25th goal of the season in the 68th minute when Freeman’s crafty pass sent him in alone and he deftly chipped the ball over Dahlin.

“It’s pretty tough when you have a bunch of guys who haven’t played soccer before and you play the No. 12 team in the state in Class C in the playoffs,” Seiberg said. “I think we fought really hard. They have a lot of talent on their team. I wish them all the best going forward.”

While the Cardinals will be playing a higher-seeded opponent Wednesday, Pihlblad doesn’t necessarily think that means there will be fewer goals scored.

“It’s just going to come down to the little things and who puts the ball in the back of the net,” Pihlblad said. “I can see that being a pretty high-scoring game.”

NOTES: Dahlin was credited with 12 saves and Tallchief recorded two. … In addition to Devereaux, Brink, Smith and Dahlin, Frewsburg graduates Zayne Cline, Ethan Patti, Vinny Sanfilippo and Ethan Swan. “I have to put it all on the boys, it’s all their effort,” Seiberg said. “I try to share my knowledge as much as I can to help them improve a little bit, but it all came down to the boys and their attitudes.”