Colby Bennett of Camden Hills takes a shootout penalty kick during the Class A championship game against Scarborough on Nov. 9 in Bath. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Colby Bennett knew he would be the offensive focal point for the Camden Hills boys’ soccer team this season after the graduation of his good friend Charlie Pons.

“So I knew coming into the season, I was like, you know, I kind of got to step up here,” Bennett said. “So I kind of prepped for it. I trained during the summer a lot, pretty much every day, kind of prepping for that role.”

The senior midfielder scored 21 goals and had nine assists to help the Windjammers win the Class A state championship.

Camden Hills Coach Ryan Hurley said Bennett slid into that go-to role nicely.

“Like last year, he scored some goals and he created a lot of goals, but he didn’t really always assert himself, you know, he didn’t really kind of take charge,” Hurley said. “And this year, I felt like he really just kind of stepped up.”

For his performance, Bennett is the choice for Varsity Maine Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year.

Hurley said Bennett can score multiple ways.

“Well, he scored a lot of different kinds of goals,” Hurley said. “You know, like when we were at Mt. Blue, he scored two just really amazing goals from like 20-plus yards, and then he also scored a lot of goals where, you know, someone fed him a ball in the box, and he was able to take two touches and finish it. But he also scored a bunch of goals where he, you know, like, he beat three people around the edge of the 18(-yard box) and finished them. And he scored volleys and he scored headers, and like he scored in a lot of different ways.”

Colby Bennett, right, of Camden Hills battles for the ball against Scarborough’s Everett ‘EJ’ Herrick during the Class A championship game Nov. 9 in Bath. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Heading into the season, Bennett said he worked on his finishing skills and free kicks.

“Well, again, it’s preparation,” Bennett said. “Whenever I train by myself, I always try and train as game-realistic as possible. So I kind of put myself in the situations that I think I’ll be in the game. So whether that’s cutting left and scoring with my left foot or cutting right and scoring with my right foot or ripping one from way outside the 18. That’s kind of how I think I had that repertoire of different goals this year, which is preparation and kind of game-realistic training was kind of it.”

Bennett said things really started to click for him and the team midway through the season.

“I think it was when we beat Lewiston 2-0 at home, because they were really the guys that we knew going into the season they were going to be our toughest challenge, especially because they beat us three times last year, and they came out really hot this year,” Bennett said. “So when we beat them there, I was like, ‘Hold on a second, we might have something good here.’ And then me individually, I think I scored the two against Lewiston, and then two games later I scored five goals against Oxford Hills, and then I think that put me on 13 goals and we were like halfway through the season. So I was like, OK, this could be a big season. And everything I did was for the team.”

The Windjammers returned the favor this year by defeating the Blue Devils three times, including the Class A North final that went to penalty kicks.

Bennett had one of the goals in PKs against Lewiston. He also scored in penalty kicks against Scarborough in the state championship game.

“It’s like, incredibly stressful,” Bennett said. “I mean, .. I’m a senior, right? So, in the playoffs, you lose you are out. And as a senior, it’s your last game if you lose. So it’s kind of like, that pressure’s there, right? Because if you miss and we lose on penalties because of your miss, that’s what you leave behind when you leave the school, right? And your legacy is kind of like, the person who missed. So there’s a lot of pressure, especially when there’s a bunch of people there. But, I don’t know, we practice penalties a lot, and you kind of just have to go up there and take it.”

Bennett is looking to play in college and is weighing his options from schools on the East Coast and a top Canadian school.

“So, I don’t know, I’m really considering, because I really want soccer to be a part of my college experience,” Bennett said. “So I’m really looking at that school, it’s the University of New Brunswick in (Fredericton) New Brunswick, but yeah, I don’t know, that’s a potential option, and some NESCAC schools, and some schools in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.”