PLYMOUTH, N.H. – A national championship finalist, a record-setting football receiver, a standout men's ice hockey player, an All-American softball player, a championship-winning women's lacrosse coach and one of the most decorated student-athletes in Plymouth State history make up the Plymouth State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2027.
The Class of 2027 includes the 1986 Plymouth State women's soccer team, Paul Belanger '90 (football), Chris Chambers '10 (men's ice hockey), Karen Carpenter '96 (softball), Sandy Bridgeman (women's lacrosse coach) and Sam Brunnette '19 (cross country/indoor and outdoor track & field).
The six inductees will be formally enshrined during the Plymouth State Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday, May 21, 2027, at Plymouth State University.
CLASS OF 2027
1986 Women's Soccer Team
The 1986 Panthers became the first Plymouth State team in any sport to reach an NCAA national championship game, finishing 13-5-7 and advancing to the NCAA Division III national championship game. Plymouth State defeated St. Lawrence, 3-0, in the regional final and Cortland, 3-2, in the national semifinal before falling to Rochester, 1-0, in the championship. The team featured three NSCAA All-Americans and helped launch a program-record nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 1986-94.
Paul Belanger
One of the most productive receivers in Plymouth State football history, Belanger established numerous school records during a four-year career from 1986-89. He finished with 133 career receptions for 2,659 yards and 37 touchdowns, all of which remain program records, while his 1,250 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 1987 also remain single-season records. A three-time NEFC First Team All-Star and 1989 Honorable Mention All-American, Belanger helped the Panthers win the 1987 NEFC and ECAC North championships.
Chris Chambers
Chambers made an immediate impact at Plymouth State and capped his career by being named the 2009-10 MASCAC Player of the Year. He recorded 117 career points on 58 goals and 59 assists and finished his senior season with 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points, leading the conference in all three categories. A two-time ECAC Northeast All-Academic selection and ECAC Northeast All-Rookie in 2007, Chambers continued his career professionally with the Johnstown Chiefs, Mississippi Surge and Bloomington Blaze.
Karen Carpenter
Carpenter was a three-time All-New England selection who earned National Softball Coaches Association (NSCA) First Team All-American honors following her senior season in 1996. She batted .398 with six doubles, three triples, four home runs and 22 RBI as a senior and earned First Team All-Northeast, First Team All-New England and First Team Little East Conference (LEC) honors in the inaugural season of LEC softball. She finished her career with a .333 batting average and then-program records for career games played, at-bats and doubles.
Sandy Bridgeman
Bridgeman guided the Panthers to a 58-27 overall record and a 29-4 mark in LEC play during six seasons as head coach. Her teams made five LEC Tournament championship appearances, won three tournament titles and two regular-season championships, and earned three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 2017-19. Bridgeman was twice named LEC Coach of the Year and went on to conclude a 25-year collegiate coaching career with a 240-148 record, including two NCAA championship appearances during her 13 seasons at the University of New Hampshire.
Sam Brunnette
One of the most decorated student-athletes in Plymouth State history, Brunnette was a four-time All-American across three sports. During his junior year in 2017-18, he earned All-American honors in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. He was a three-time LEC cross country champion and Runner of the Year, won seven LEC indoor titles and five outdoor titles, and qualified for seven NCAA championship competitions during his career. At graduation, he owned the nine fastest 8K times in program history and still holds the PSU record at 24:32.10.
The 2027 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Friday, May 21, 2027. Additional details regarding the ceremony and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
For more information on the Plymouth State Athletics Hall of Fame, visit athletics.plymouth.edu/HOF.
INDUCTEE PROFILES
1986 Plymouth State Women's Soccer Team
The 1986 Plymouth State women's soccer team made history as the first Panthers team in any sport to reach an NCAA national championship game. Plymouth State finished the season with a 13-5-7 record and went unbeaten at home (7-0-1) while establishing a then-program record for victories.
The Panthers made their run through the NCAA Tournament by defeating St. Lawrence, 3-0, in the regional final before edging Cortland, 3-2, in the national semifinal. Plymouth State then faced Rochester in the national championship game, falling by a 1-0 score. Four of the team's five losses during the season came by a single goal, with the only other setback coming against Division I University of Vermont in the season opener.
The team featured three NSCAA All-Americans, with freshman Lindsey Howland earning First Team honors, senior Kathy O'Connor selected to the Second Team and freshman goalkeeper Mary St. Germain named to the Third Team. The three All-Americans tied the program record for the most on a single team in a season, a mark that was matched by the 1988 Panthers.
The 1986 season also marked the beginning of an extraordinary run of postseason success. Plymouth State advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the next eight seasons, making nine consecutive appearances from 1986-94. The program won 16 games in 1987 and a then-program-record 17 in 1988, a mark that remains the school record today.
Six members of the 1986 team – O'Connor, St. Germain, Nancy MacCallum-Doehring, Kristin Dougherty Maskalenko and head coach Phil Rowe – would later be inducted individually into the Plymouth State Athletics Hall of Fame, along with assistant coach Paul Hogan.
The 1986 Panthers, along with their 1993 counterparts, remain the only two Plymouth State teams to reach an NCAA national championship game.
Paul Belanger was one of the most productive receivers in Plymouth State football history, finishing his four-year career from 1986-89 with program records of 133 receptions, 2,659 receiving yards and 37 receiving touchdowns.
After recording six receptions for 91 yards as a freshman in 1986, Belanger exploded onto the national scene as a sophomore. In 1987, he caught 52 passes for 1,250 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 24.0 yards per reception. His receiving-yardage and touchdown totals remain Plymouth State single-season records, while his 24.0-yard average was the best in Division III that season. He also hauled in a 94-yard touchdown reception against Nichols, which was the longest reception in program history at the time.
Belanger earned NEFC First Team All-Star honors in 1987 and helped lead the Panthers to a 10-1 record, the NEFC championship and the ECAC North championship, where Plymouth State defeated Ithaca, 13-12, in the ECAC North Bowl. Belanger caught an eight-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for the game's first points and Plymouth State would never trail. The victory was the Panthers' second bowl win in program history and came against an Ithaca team that had played in the Division III national championship game just two years prior.
Plymouth State carried that success into 1988, winning 20 consecutive games spanning the 1987 and 1988 seasons – a program record that still stands. Belanger earned another NEFC First Team selection and was also named an ECAC First Team All-Star and All-New England after recording 31 receptions for 523 yards and 11 touchdowns despite routinely facing double coverage and playing through a broken hand late in the season.
As a senior in 1989, Belanger earned Pizza Hut Honorable Mention All-American, ECAC Division III New England Second Team and NEFC Second Team honors while leading the Panthers with 44 receptions, 795 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was also named Plymouth State's Offensive MVP.
Belanger's career marks included 133 receptions, 2,659 yards and 37 receiving touchdowns, all of which remain program records. He also established the single-season records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns during his career and finished with a career average of 20.0 yards per reception.
Chris Chambers made an immediate impact during his four-year Plymouth State career, earning ECAC Northeast All-Rookie honors after leading the Panthers in goals, assists and points as a freshman in 2006-07. He finished that season with 17 goals, 17 assists and 34 points while scoring five power-play goals, two game-winners and a game-tying goal.
Chambers followed his freshman campaign with consecutive ECAC Northeast All-Academic selections before producing 45 points as a senior in Plymouth State's first season competing in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). His 2009-10 season included 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points, and he led the MASCAC in all three categories. He was named MASCAC Player of the Year, earned All-MASCAC First Team and New England Hockey Writers Association Division II/III All-Star honors, and was a finalist for the Joe Concannon Award.
The senior also produced one of the most prolific offensive seasons in recent Plymouth State hockey history, recording at least one point in 19 of 27 games and registering 15 multi-point performances. He had five points against Framingham State, a hat trick against Westfield State, and helped the Panthers to a 17-9-1 record and a third-place finish in the MASCAC regular-season standings.
Chambers finished his career with 58 goals and 59 assists for 117 points. He became the eighth player in program history to reach 100 career points and ranked third on the program's career scoring list at the time of his graduation; he remains fifth today.
His hockey career continued professionally following graduation. Chambers signed with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL and recorded a goal and an assist in his first professional game. He later played two seasons for the Mississippi Surge of the Southern Professional Hockey League, helping the team win the 2010-11 President's Cup, before spending a season with the Bloomington Blaze of the Central Hockey League.
Karen Carpenter developed into one of the most accomplished hitters in Plymouth State softball history during a four-year career from 1993-96, culminating in a senior season that earned her national recognition.
After hitting .333 with nine doubles and two home runs in 1994, Carpenter earned All-New England honors while helping the Panthers reach the ECAC New England Tournament. She followed that performance by batting .394 with eight doubles, two triples and a home run in 1995, leading Plymouth State in hits, doubles, triples, RBI and stolen bases. Her performance earned First Team All-New England, National Softball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Northeast Region First Team and New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association Division III Second Team honors.
Carpenter saved her best season for last. In 1996, she batted .398 with six doubles, three triples, four home runs and 22 RBI while scoring 35 runs. She led the Panthers in runs, triples, home runs, extra-base hits and total bases and recorded 13 multi-hit games, including four three-hit performances.
Her senior season earned Carpenter NSCA First Team All-American, First Team All-Northeast Region, First Team All-New England, First Team All-LEC and New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association Division III First Team honors. She was one of the first players to earn All-LEC recognition in softball following the conference's inaugural season sponsoring the sport.
Carpenter finished her career with a .333 lifetime batting average over 129 games and 390 at-bats. At the time of her graduation, she held program records for career games played and at-bats, along with marks of 26 career doubles and seven career home runs.
Sandy Bridgeman guided Plymouth State women's lacrosse to sustained championship success during six seasons as head coach from 2017-22, compiling a 58-27 overall record and a remarkable 29-4 mark in LEC play.
Her Panthers reached the LEC Tournament championship game five times, winning three conference titles and two regular-season championships. Plymouth State also earned three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2017-19 for the first time in program history, a run that included back-to-back unbeaten LEC seasons in 2018 and 2019. Bridgeman was named LEC Coach of the Year in both 2018 and 2022.
The 2019 season produced one of the most significant postseason victories in program history. Plymouth State defeated New England College, 19-3, in the NCAA Tournament, giving the Panthers their second NCAA Tournament victory. The performance established then-program NCAA Tournament records for goals scored and fewest goals allowed. During Bridgeman's tenure, 15 of her 27 losses came against nationally ranked opponents.
Her players collected numerous individual honors during her six seasons, including an IWLCA All-Pilgrim Region First Team selection, three IWLCA All-Pilgrim Region Second Team selections, an IWLCA Senior All-Star, two LEC Offensive Players of the Year, two LEC Defensive Players of the Year, an LEC Midfielder of the Year, 18 All-LEC First Team selections and 11 All-LEC Second Team selections.
Bridgeman concluded a 25-year collegiate coaching career with a 240-148 record. Before arriving at Plymouth State, she spent four seasons at Longwood College, two at Babson College and 13 at the University of New Hampshire. At UNH, she led the Wildcats to two NCAA championship appearances and a conference-record 12 consecutive American East Tournament appearances while earning America East Coach of the Year honors three times and mentoring six All-Americans. She was also named the 2008 womenslacrosse.com Division I National Coach of the Year and the 2004 IWLCA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year.
In 2012, Bridgeman was selected as head coach of the Dutch Women's National Lacrosse Team for the World Championships, adding an international chapter to an accomplished collegiate coaching career.
Sam Brunnette is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Plymouth State history, earning four All-American honors across three sports during a four-year career in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field.
The most remarkable stretch came during his junior year in 2017-18, when Brunnette became an All-American in all three seasons. He finished 25th at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship, placed eighth in the indoor 3,000 meters at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships and finished fourth in the steeplechase at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
Brunnette was a three-time LEC cross country champion and three-time LEC Runner of the Year from 2016-18 after earning LEC Rookie Runner of the Year honors as a freshman. He also earned four All-LEC First Team selections in cross country and became the first runner in program history to win three consecutive conference individual championships. He qualified for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship twice and won NCAA New England Regional championships in both 2017 and 2018.
His success continued on the track. Brunnette was twice named LEC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and won seven LEC indoor championship gold medals, including four straight 3,000-meter titles and three consecutive mile run championships. He was a three-time NCAA Division III Indoor Championship qualifier and earned All-American honors in the 3,000 meters in both 2018 and 2019. As a senior in 2018-19, Brunnette helped the Panthers finish second at the LEC Indoor Track & Field Championship, the best team finish in program history and a mark that still stands today.
Outdoors, Brunnette earned LEC Track Athlete of the Year honors in 2018 and won five conference championships, including three consecutive steeplechase titles and two 4x800-meter relay championships. He won New England regional championships in the 5,000 meters in 2018 and the steeplechase in 2019 and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships twice. His fourth-place finish in the 2018 steeplechase earned his fourth All-American honor.
Brunnette's dominance is also reflected in the Plymouth State record book. At graduation, he owned the nine fastest 8K times in cross country program history, and he still holds the school record at 24:32.10. He also established program records in the indoor 3,000 meters and outdoor steeplechase and remains among the program's all-time leaders in multiple events.
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