RUMFORD – It can be extremely difficult being the center of attention, but Jessica Allen has embraced the role.

The Mountain Valley lacrosse team is enjoying its best ever regular season and remains in contention to earn a second-straight berth in the playoffs.

Allen, a junior, and Sam Johnson provide a superb one-two punch that hasn’t filtered down to the younger players.

“Jess brings a great love for the game of lacrosse,” Mountain Valley coach Rick White said. “When she is on the field, the other players look to her and Sam for leadership. She is also the focal point of our offense. We create our offense off her. She brings the ability to give 110 percent even when she’s hurt a little and when she is double teamed a lot.”

Allen realizes her strengths and tries to use them to her advantage. She is aggressive and fast, which explains why she is an offensive threat.

“I try to keep track (scoring), but it is hard,” Allen said. “I’m not really worried about how many goals or assists I get, just as long as the team is playing good and we are winning.”

In girls’ lacrosse, the rules favor the offense because opponents can’t stand in front of any shooter. This has allowed Allen to step forward and get some quality shots directly on goal.

“This usually does help me zero in on the goal,” Allen said. “But if people stand in front of you, then they will get called for shooting space and I would get a free shot on goal. It makes it easier to shoot when there aren’t people standing in front of me. I like when I have a straight-away shot cause I can look at the goalie and see were there is a blind spot for them and shoot, hopefully make it.”

It’s important to have teammates who are capable of getting the ball into the offensive zone. The Falcons’ solid front line includes Allen at center, flanked by Johnson, Ashley Arsenault and Gail Manson.

Mountain Valley (5-6) was ranked seventh in the Heal points standings last week, but lost a critical game Friday to Falmouth.

Allen and Johnson have combined to score more than 85 percent of the team’s 119 goals. Allen has 53 goals, two assists, while Johnson has 41 and five. The tandem netted hat tricks or better in several games.

“Jess has a great drive to score goals,” White said. “Goal scorers work very hard to score. In most cases they are usually double-teamed. She has still been able to score goals even when players are all over her. She still needs to learn not to force the ball at the net when she is double-teamed, though.”

Allen feels her height can be used as an advantage during face-offs.

Allen had a built-in role model to look up to because her older sister, Kristen, was a standout. Kristen was the leading scorer when she played and White believes this drives Jess.

“I think she wants to beat all of Kristen’s stats,” White said. “But she also wants the team to play better. Jess and Sam get very frustrated when things are not going well and they both try to take the whole team their backs and lead us to victory. This has been one of our best years to date, but Jess and Sam remind the players that we need to focus as a team.”