HAMPDEN – After a frustrating 50 minutes Monday in which the Hampden Academy girls soccer team had outshot Nokomis 25-9 and yet trailed 2-1, the Broncos turned Kim Stephenson loose.

By the time the final 30 minutes had played out, Stephenson had scored three goals and assisted on two more as Hampden rolled past Nokomis of Newport 5-2.

Not that the sophomore hadn’t been a concern during the first 50 minutes. Stephenson had repeatedly threatened the Nokomis defense with darting runs and deft passes. But the 4-0 Broncos decided that passing in the goal area wasn’t getting them anywhere and that a change in philosophy was in order.

“In the second half we really stepped it up,” senior Erin Campbell said. “We said it’s time to get rid of the little passes in the 18 and take all the chances we can get.”

The tying goal came with 29:25 left on a creative run with the ball by Stephenson. She split two defenders and cut by another before slamming a shot from 16 yards that Warriors goalie Tia Beauregard had no chance to save.

Ten minutes later Campbell and Stephenson worked a tricky give-and-go inside the penalty area that Campbell just managed to get a toe on and push by Beauregard to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead.

“We’ve played together for a long time. We just know where each other are,” Stephenson said. “[Campbell] is one of the best outside midfield players in the state. It doesn’t matter where the ball is she’ll always get there on any through ball.”

Stephenson also is quite adept at taking direct kicks. She scored the fourth Hampden goal on one from just outside the penalty box and set up the first Bronco goal in the first half when her free kick from 20 yards slammed down off the crossbar and was put into the goal by Tyne Franchi, who ran onto the ball.

“We knew from the start that [Stephenson] was going to be our worst nightmare,” Nokomis coach Penny Townsend said. “We kept someone on her all the time but she’s fast and she’s got a good food and that makes her kinda lethal.”

Nokomis had taken an early lead on a goal from Lindsey Welch, who broke in and blasted a shot from point-blank. Hampden goalie Emmy Russell managed to make the initial stop but Welch got the ball back from teammate Kristina Gonzalez and slipped it past Russell. Gonzalez gave the 2-1-1 Warriors the lead with a goal six minutes into the second half.

Russell made five saves on 11 shots while Beauregard stopped 14 of 38 shots.