BRUNSWICK – Cameron Libbey scored a pair of first-half goals to lead Hampden Academy to a 2-1 win over Brunswick in an Eastern Class A boys’ soccer game Friday.

Hampden (6-2-1) had a golden opportunity early as a Ben Clark throw-in from the left carried all the way to an open Cooper Antone at the far post, but Antone’s kick was high.

Libbey opened the scoring at the 23-minute mark. Josh Meehan, in the middle of the Brunswick end, pushed the ball slightly ahead to Libbey, who blasted a left-footed shot from 25 yards into the top left corner over a leaping Greg Walton.

“I turned for the ball and it kind of rolled in on me, and I didn’t have time to get my right foot on it,” said Libbey, “so I just went with my left foot and managed to get off a good shot.”

Libbey was in front of the right post when he converted another deep Clark throw-in from the left to make it 2-0 six minutes later.

“His throws are a real weapon for us. It came to me, and I just headed it in,” said Libbey.

“We gave them too much room on the first goal,” said Brunswick Coach Peter Gardner, “and the throw-ins were a factor; but if they do it once, you’re surprised. After that, you shouldn’t be, but we didn’t cover the back post.”

Brunswick (4-3-2) had numerous opportunities in the second half and finally scored after a corner kick taken by Konnor Scarponi.

Ryan Black collected a loose ball in the middle and sent it into the penalty area. Blake Gordon just missed getting his foot on it as keeper Logan Poirier came out to challenge, and when the ball skipped over to Mitchell Black, he had an open goal.

Brunswick’s best chance to tie it came with three minutes left when a shot by Jimmy Kenyon skimmed off the top of the crossbar.

“I can’t fault our effort,” said Gardner, “and we did some good things in the second half. But we’re still not on the same page, especially on offense. Our timing and communication are off. We have the opportunities to correct the problems, but we have to do it as a team, not as individuals.”

“This was just what we needed,” said Hampden Coach Josh Stevens. “It was the perfect medicine after a 1-0 loss to Lewiston. Goal scoring has been our weakness all year, but Cameron came through for us with a couple of nice plays, and on defense, we kept them from finding open space for (Scarponi).

“We’re a senior-heavy team, and the guys have really bought into the system.”

 

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