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BULLETIN FILE PHOTO

Breanne Moreau has been named the Daily Hampshire Gazette Player of the Year for girls soccer.

Belchertown girls soccer star Breanne Moreau has proven that experience is overrated.

In just her second varsity season, the sophomore midfielder earned just about every honor that can be bestowed upon a high school athlete, and also helped lead her team to its second consecutive Western Massachusetts Division 2 title.

She was one of only four girls from western Massachusetts to be named to the All-New England team, with two of the other three being seniors. She also joined her twin sister Brittany and junior Natalie Caney as Orioles who made the Division 2 All-State squad.

Breanne Moreau has also been named the Daily Hampshire Gazette Player of the Year for girls soccer.

"I didn't imagine I'd be this successful so early in my career, but I have an outstanding team that helped me get to where I am," Moreau said. "I think that I just grew more confident going into my sophomore year after contributing as a freshman.

"I am actually quite surprised I got these awards, and I'm extremely grateful to have received them," Moreau added. "I certainly could not have gotten these awards without the help of my teammates."

The Orioles flew through the sectional tournament, defeating Monument Mountain, Southwick and Wahconah Regional by identical 4-0 scores. They then lost to Auburn 1-0 in the state semifinals.

Belchertown's ball-possession game was spearheaded all season by Moreau, who displayed her tremendous skills whenever she got a touch on the ball.

Moreau led the team with 15 goals and 20 points in 21 games. She had a pair of hat tricks on the season, and scored twice in Belchertown's semifinal victory over Southwick.

"We didn't know who would be our goal scorer this year, but Breanne transitioned effortlessly into that role and established herself as our best goal-scoring threat," Belchertown coach Chris Mogavero said. "Every time she gets a touch on the opponents' half of the field she can create a dangerous goal-scoring opportunity for either herself or any of her teammates."

Mogavero described Moreau as relentless, with the desire and determination to excel, as well as clearly being a technically gifted player.

"She always has a ball at her feet and she is her biggest critic," he said. "Breanne is never satisfied with her performance and is always working at training to make herself better. She knows her weaknesses and is constantly trying to improve in those areas."

Moreau said, "I describe myself as an attacking player who will do anything necessary to help our team win. Without our overall team success, what I do as an individual player wouldn't mean much."

With two varsity seasons remaining, Moreau is focused to maintaining the team's success before any personal goals.

"In the future, we as a team hope to remain western Mass. champions and shoot for a state title, which we've been so close to achieving," she said. "We'd also like to go undefeated for a whole season. For myself, I would like to continue to make All-State and All-New England, and my ultimate goal would be to become an All-American."

Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.