Francis-Mezger now at Hampden Forward adjusting to quicker, more physical nature of Class A soccer

It’s easy to catch a glimpse of Nori Francis-Mezger on the soccer field – just look for her orange soccer shoes.

Except this year, the standout forward won’t be on the field for Eastern Maine Class C Searsport. Francis-Mezger transferred to Hampden Academy right before the school year started, and has already made a big impression in her jump to Class A, where enrollments can be double what they were in Class C.

Francis-Mezger, whose father lives in Winterport, said the main reason she decided to transfer to Hampden was she wanted a tougher academic schedule.

She’s also found making the transition from Class C athletics to Class A has been tougher, too.

“Everything’s a lot faster paced and quicker,” Francis-Mezger said after a recent practice. “Everybody’s a lot more aggressive and physical. [Class C players] use more technical skills to get around people than using their bodies [combined with] the technical skills. It’s a little more balanced in Class A. You have to move to the ball quicker.”

Before finalizing her decision to attend Hampden, Francis-Mezger said she learned to cope with the physicality at a soccer camp she attended this summer at the University of Central Florida.

She’s also played in the offseason at the Maine Sports Complex’s “Bubble” in Hampden and has attended camps at the Dutch Soccer Academy, which is based in Limestone.

“It wasn’t so much technical things I learned [in Florida] as it was dealing with aggressive people,” she said. “If I hadn’t gone there I don’t think I’d be doing half as well as I am here. In Florida I played against Division I recruits and they were just hammering me. It was scary.”

Francis-Mezger had an impressive debut with five goals in a 6-4 win over Skowhegan on Sept. 2.

She hasn’t experienced the same kind of explosive offense since – it would hard for anyone to repeat a five-goal effort – but coach Dewey Martin said Francis-Mezger has made the adjustment to Class A.

“What’s most impressive to me is that she’s such a great kid and so coachable,” he said. “She’s always smiling all the time and a little self-effacing for somebody who scores so many goals.”

Martin had heard Francis-Mezger’s name in the past – she was Maine Soccer Coaches Association Eastern Maine Class C all-star and was named to the Penobscot Valley Conference Class C first team – but was surprised to get an e-mail from her out of the blue during the first week of Hampden’s preseason workouts.

She came to the first practice she could, which was almost a full week into the preseason.

Martin said he had questions about Francis-Mezger, who last year set Searsport’s single-season scoring record.

“We didn’t score many goals last year and I knew she was a scorer for Searsport,” he said. “But of course you never know how good somebody’s going to be at scoring when they step up to a Class A level. … In our preseason she scored goals against our own defenders, so that was pretty impressive.”

As for the academics, Francis-Mezger jumped right in with an advanced placement class physics.

“That class is so hard,” said Francis-Mezger, who wants to be a pre-veterinary major in college next year. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Brewer posts big win

Despite an 0-4 start, Brewer boys soccer coach Darren Hall always felt his Witches were better than their record.

Brewer has taken to proving him right lately. The Witches beat Nokomis of Newport 5-2 Thursday and, two days later, picked up a 2-1 win over defending Eastern Maine Class A champ Hampden.

It was Brewer’s first win over Hampden since 2002, the Witches’ first win on Hampden’s artificial turf surface, and the first time Brewer has won back-to-back games in at least three years.

“I think it’s going to be a big confidence boost for them,” Hall said. “I’ve been trying to convince them that they have the opportunity to be a great team. We’ve shown flashes of playing well, but we haven’t been able to sustain it. I think they believe in themselves a little more now.”

Brewer will try to keep things going tonight with a game at Old Town.

“I expect [Old Town] to be at their best,” Hall said. “It’s going to be a really good game. We have a glimpse of what we can do. Now it’s a matter of sustaining and building on that.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.