Hampden posts shutout of Riots

HAMPDEN – The Hampden Academy field hockey team continued its offensive tear Wednesday night.

The Broncos also showed off their scoring depth and ability to make things happen on penalty corners, as three different players scored for Hampden in a 3-0 win over Orono at the Weatherbee Complex’s artificial turf field.

Tini Lumino, Paige Clifton and Alisa Hamilton each put in a goal for the Broncos, who are now 3-0. Lumino scored the final goal of the game, Hampden’s 14th so far this season.

The Broncs scored five in their season opener against Hermon and another six against Old Town.

Clifton came off the bench to score her goal, which she knocked in after a penalty corner almost two minutes into the second half.

She was all alone near the left side of the box, which made it relatively easy to score off a pass from Lumino.

“Nobody really came over to cover me,” said Clifton, who is a senior. “We’ve had a lot of people really prepared, really all over the corners, and a lot of nice sends from the mids right towards the goal.”

The Broncs have had some success on corners this season.

“More than in past years,” said senior center mid Sarah Hessert.

Clifton was able to poke in her shot because Orono goalie Kristin Kittridge was focused on the action to her left, with Clifton alone to her right.

“I had asked the girls to mark up and see [Clifton], and we had talked about her being on the post,” Orono coach Samantha Runco said. “But Hampden does a beautiful job on their field, they passed off the ball and our goalie overcompensated and left the goal open. It’s a learning experience for our team.”

Hamilton’s goal with 10:23 left in the first half was the game-winner. Lumino added another goal, her third of the season, with 12:39 remaining in the game.

It was the first shutout for the Broncos, and it came against the speedy Red Riots (1-2).

The two teams hadn’t played in the past, so Hessert said Hampden wasn’t sure what to expect. The Broncos just made sure to anticipate what Orono was going to do as the Riots moved the ball up the field.

“You have to watch for the passes because a lot of the time they give away their pass,” Hessert said. “Every team does that because you have to look where you’re going to pass it. But you have to cut to the ball and keep communicating. That is the key.”

Katherine Hessert earned the win with eight saves on 11 shots, while Kittridge made 11 saves on 16 shots.

Runco was pleased with the effort shown by her squad, especially because it was the Riots’ first game on artificial turf.

“We don’t play on turf, ever, and we did a great job,” she said. “It’s a much faster, more stick-to-stick, and communication is a big thing, which has been a problem for us this year. But we did it well tonight.”