Hampden girls soccer team rolling

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With all the running, rolling on the ground and laughing that goes on at a Hampden girls soccer practice, it’s easy to see the Broncos are having fun this season.

The good times aren’t limited to practice – Hampden has given up only two goals in nine games while scoring 60 en route to an undefeated record.

The 11-0 Broncos have scored at least two goals in each game so far.

“We get along really well and we have a great team dynamic,” said Sam Kingsbury, a senior sweeper. “We enjoy playing, we enjoy being together. It’s hard work but it’s fun at the same time.”

A deep bench and variety of scoring options have been the hallmarks of this season. Hampden gets offensive production from any number of players – Tyne Franchi, Katie Lindemann, Kim Stephenson, Jani Bosse, Erin Campbell, Laura Martin and Alex Hudspeth have been the most consistent scorers.

“[The offense] doesn’t come from just one person so you don’t have to count on one person to win it for you,” Kingsbury said.

A team can score all the goals it wants, of course, but the eight shutouts this year have been the result of defense. Senior Emmy Russell credits the Hampden fullbacks for holding opposing forwards at bay, thus limiting the number of shots she faces.

“[The defenders] are really great,” said Russell, who shares time in goal with Gabby Schrage. “A lot of times to keep me in the game they’ll pass it back to me. So I get a lot of work. It’s really fun.”

Holmes’ Lions unbeaten again

The last time a Belfast field hockey team went undefeated in the regular season, it also collected a Class B state championship.

The Lions’ 10-0 record so far this season has 29-year coach Allen Holmes thinking about another state title run.

Holmes led Belfast to that state championship 1985.

Belfast nearly had its undefeated season erased last Wednesday, but a Jen Jackson goal with 3:08 left in overtime lifted the Lions to a 4-3 victory over Leavitt of Turner.

“I wasn’t sure we were going to do it when it was 2-1 at the half,” Holmes said. “But we came through in overtime.”

The Lions haven’t exactly had an easy time of it – they won another close one Sept. 22, a 2-1 victory over Maranacook of Readfield.

Belfast was No. 1 in the most recent Class B South Eastern Heal Point ratings and the wins over Leavitt and Maranacook should give the Lions even more of a boost. The Hornets were No. 2 in Class B Northwestern standings and the Black Bears were fourth in the Southeast.

Belfast plays Leavitt again Thursday.

Holmes has been even more encouraged by his team’s play considering an injury to starting right wing Ashley Bryant, who suffered a dislocated elbow two weeks ago. Holmes hopes she’ll be back for the playoffs.

“We’ve been trying to find a way to put all the pieces together,” he said.

Sample playoff brackets available

With the last countable field hockey and soccer games only a week away, it’s useful to look at how the playoff brackets will look under the new divisional setup.

The Maine Principals’ Association has sample brackets posted on its Web site.

Depending on the number of teams in each division, the top four or five teams would receive a bye for the divisional preliminaries. The rest of teams would play through the prelims, then meet up with the higher-seeded teams for the quarterfinals and semifinals until two teams are left.

Those two teams would cross over to play the two teams that emerge from the other division. For example, the No. 1 team in the Northeast division would play the No. 2 team in the Southeast.

The final Northeast team would play the final Southeast team for the regional championship, and that team would play the winner of the Northwest-Southwest regional final for the state title.

There will be one bracket for volleyball (there are only 13 high school teams in the state).

Final Heal Points will be released on or about Oct. 12.

Also, the MPA has announced that in case of a tie in the divisional standings in the regional crossover and regional final games (Northeast vs. Southeast, for example) home-field advantage goes to the South in odd years and the North in even years.

Jessica Bloch’s High School Report is published Tuesdays. She can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.