HAMPDEN – Before taking her biggest shot in Tuesday’s Class A Northeastern division semifinal, Emily O’Connell took a picture.

No, she didn’t pull out a camera and asked her Hampden teammates to pose. Instead, O’Connell made a mental picture of the field.

With the ball at her feet, O’Connell waited for a second and watched. Defenders moved. The penalty area opened up. And O’Donnell booted the ball hard into the net, helping the No. 1 Broncos earn a 2-0 victory over the No. 4 Wildcats at the Reeds Brook field.

The Broncos, now 16-0, will play in a regional crossover game Saturday in Hampden against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Messalonskee of Oakland and Waterville.

Presque Isle finishes its season at 10-4-2.

O’Connell netted the eventual game-winning goal with 29 minutes left in the first half. The score came on a Katie Lindemann cross.

“[Hampden assistant coach Gary Walker] is always talking about taking a picture,” O’Connell said. “I saw the goal, I saw the goalie was on the other side, so I just stuck my head down and shot as hard as I could.”

Erin Campbell put in Hampden’s insurance goal in the second half. Amanda Shaw passed the ball to Campbell, who dribbled into the penalty area and chipped the ball over PI goalie Melissa DeMerchant (nine saves).

The Wildcats were one of the few teams to score on the Broncos in a regular-season game this year, so Hampden had to be extra diligent on defense.

“We knew they were going to play physical and we play that way too,” Hampden senior Samantha Kingsbury said. “We had to stay together as a team. Presque Isle gets up for the games and we had to be ready for that.”

Bronco defenders Kingsbury, Meg Magoon, Jillian Campbell and Amanda Shaw allowed Presque Isle just five shots on goal and few opportunities to get its offense in position.

Hampden held possession for most of the game and racked up 27 shots but got off just a few good chances.

“I think we were getting a little bit flustered because they added an extra person,” O’Connell said. “They were packing it in [on defense]. It was also hard getting the crosses because of the win, but they have a really good defense.”

Presque Isle defenders Autumn Tuttle, Missy White, Julie Chasse and Sarah Gahagan did a good job of stopping Hampden in the penalty area. Early in the game center midfielder Sarah Belden also played back with Tuttle, who is the sweeper.

“We thought if we could get them to 0-0 at the half then they would have to start to press and try to score a tough goal,” Wildcat coach Ralph Michaud said. “But they scored on two great goals. What are you going to do about it?”

And PI’s Bailey Hovey kept Kim Stephenson, Hampden’s leading point-earner, from getting involved in the scoring.

Hampden’s Emmy Russell made three saves in her fifth shutout.