Frank Christy was preparing for a change in classification and section for his girls' soccer team.

Christy, the Hampton High School coach, was half right.

His team will compete in a new section, but it has remained in Class AAA.

Christy thought there was a good chance that Hampton would drop a classification, but instead of a Class AA schedule that would have proven to be a little easier to navigate, the Talbots task just got taller.

Hampton's new section will be as familiar to the Talbots as it is challenging.

Hampton will now compete in Section 2-AAA with its neighboring rivals in the northern suburbs, Butler Area, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley and Shaler Area.

"The kids are familiar with those teams," Christy said. "I thought we might drop to Class AA but we were 50 kids away."

The familiarity with the section is not just because of proximity. Christy coached at Hampton in the 1990s when it played in that section and the Talbots got a taste of the section last season in the playoffs when they lost to North Allegheny in a shootout.

"The last time we went through this section in the '90s, the kids responded pretty well to it," Christy said.

"The goal is to try and make the playoffs. To be realistic, that is where we should be looking."

The opponents may change, but this season should still be vintage Hampton soccer in that it is all about the defense.

When people talk about the strength of Hampton's defense, they are not just talking about the goalie and the defenders.

The Hampton defense, which is responsible for 30 shutouts the past two seasons, is as much about the midfield as it is about the defenders and three-year starting goalie Haley McDonald.

"The midfield is the key to it," Christy said. "People always say we are a defensive-minded team. In our practices we work on offense all the time, but we always have that defense-first mentality.

"If you can't play defense, you are not going to win anything."

McDonald is one of the leaders of the team. She was thrown into the fire as a sophomore and has developed into one of the area's top goalies. Senior midfielder Sam Werner is a returning All-WPIAL player who led Hampton in scoring last season.

"She is probably the one a lot of people are going to watch," Christy said.

Another dynamic player is senior midfielder Emily Spencer, a three-year starter. Her younger sister, Amanda, and Vanessa Ceravolo, both sophomores, played together on the under-15 Beadling team that finished third in a national tournament this summer. Christy expects Spencer and Ceravolo to start.

The defense will rely heavily on center back Katie Bergman, the lone returning starter in the back.

Bergman, McDonald, Spencer and Werner were all named to the all-section team last season.

Even with four all-section returnees this season, Christy knows with the new section and the graduation of a talented senior class, his team will face some adversity this season and probably sooner rather than later.

That will be nothing new to this group. A lot was expected of Hampton last year after a 2008 campaign that featured a section title, an undefeated regular season and trips to the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals. But a year after not losing a game in the regular season, Hampton lost three in a row by the middle of September. The Talbots would bounce back and recover.

"It is all about how well we respond to adversity," Christy said. "We did good with that last year. We are certainly going to face a lot of adversity this year. They are really good with dealing with that."

Hampton opens its season Tuesday when it plays Mars Area, a team that dropped to Class AA this season, in a non-section match.

Hampton High School goalkeeper Haley McDonald kicks away a ball in a game last season.

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