Bronco girls lose star Stephenson Torn ligament ends soccer season

For the past three years, teams have always known how tough the Hampden girls soccer team is – the Broncos are blessed with quickness, talent, depth, and center midfielder Kim Stephenson, who has been one of the top players in the state for the past three years.

But for the rest of this season, Hampden will be without its star senior. Stephenson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a game at Old Town and will miss the rest of her senior year of soccer.

Stephenson, who was twice named All-New England by the Maine Soccer Coaches Association, may also have a slight tear in the medial collateral ligament and meniscus.

She had a magnetic resonance imaging exam late last week. The results were read and confirmed Thursday.

Stevenson is set to have surgery Thursday.

“It’s really hard. I was devastated,” said Stephenson, who will finish her career with 46 goals and 48 assists, including 2 & 1 in two games this season.

“I never thought this was going to happen to me.”

Also in question is Stephenson’s future in high school basketball. She is a starting guard for the Broncos and was named honorable mention all-conference in Big East Class A.

But Stephenson’s first love is soccer.

She is a two-time All-New England selection and three-time all-state pick. Her team-high 18 goals and five assists powered Hampden to a 12-3 record last fall.

Last winter she took part in a tournament in Florida where national youth coaches had a chance to watch some of the top young talent in the nation.

By having surgery next week, Stephenson is hoping she can play in some late-season basketball games and spring premier league soccer.

“Basically now I’m just focusing on rehab, getting back to 100 percent,” she said.

Stephenson’s injury occurred early in the second half of what would be a 5-2 win for the Broncos on Sept. 7. She said she planted her right foot and her knee buckled inward.

“I had three kids go down with injuries in that game, all noncontact,” Hampden coach Dewey Martin said. “I walked the field afterwards. The field was fine. It was just one of those freak things. Two of [the players] were fine after a few days’ rest and Kim tore her ACL.”

The Broncos have soldiered on without Stephenson and are now 5-0 after Thursday’s 4-1 win over Nokomis of Newport.

Jenna Shue, a first-string fullback last year who started alongside Stephenson this season, scored three of those goals against the Warriors.

“She’s an outstanding player,” Martin said of Shue. “I’ve been trying hard to get her to take more shots because she was a fullback all her life. But she scored three goals last night. She’s a great defender, too.”

Martin said Stephenson’s absence won’t change the way Hampden plays, but the Broncos know they’ll have to find their big offensive punch elsewhere. Four other players figured into Hampden’s scoring Thursday.

“I think they were thinking, can we score without Kim? Well we had 11 goals last night and maybe now they’re thinking, we can do it without passing to her. We definitely lost some offense … but I have a lot of talent and a lot of depth. I’m playing a lot of kids.”

The Broncs will definitely miss Stephenson’s talent on their restart plays. She took almost all of Hampden’s free kicks and corner kicks because of her ability to place the ball.

Stephenson is acting as an assistant coach – Martin has challenged her to come up with two coaching points at halftime of each game.

Stephenson’s college plans are still up in the air, but not necessarily because of the injury. She hasn’t gotten any scholarship offers but has heard from several schools and plans to visit some campuses this fall.