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Penalty kicks send Portsmouth to state championship game

Wednesday, November, 04 By Kyle Gaudette

Exeter NH- For a hundred minutes of play, Portsmouth and Windham ran up and down Bill Ball Stadium to a combined zero goals; the last five minutes, however, produced eight.

Scoring on all five of their penalty kick opportunites, Portsmouth took out top-seeded Windham to advance to the Division II champioship game. Portsmouth goalkeeper Wiley Hundertmark dove to his left to stone defenseman Jon Ferri on Windham's first pk attempt. The save proved to be the difference maker, as the remaining Portsmouth penalty kickers continued to score.

After regulation ended with the scoreboard reading 0-0, the teams played two ten-minute overtimes. While regulation play was balanced, Portsmouth applied the majority of the pressure in the overtimes. Windham got the help of a crossbar to keep the game alive, but were unable to get any such luck on the offensive end.

"We feel we didn't play our best game," said Windham head coach Mike Hachey. "At some point it was suppose to turn, and we just never really seemed to get into it. It wasn't a typical game. It certainly is not what we were expecting to see today, and you give credit to Portsmouth for putting up challanges that we had difficulties responding to."

A key play came in the first overtime when Portsmouth forward Ian Stratos fought past his defender for a loose ball in the box. Windham goalie Tannor Arnorld coralled the ball, but Stratos had already gone airborne and the result was Arnold taking a foot to the face. The play was not dirty by any means, but it took Arnold out for the rest of the game, and forced backup Ryan Lanouette to finish in net. 

Portsmouth came in to the semi-final matchup as the tweth seed, but showed no fear playing against Windham. The Jaguars finished the season with a 14-2 record, and advanced to the semis with a 1-0 over John Stark. 

Windham had been a jougernaut all season, but Portsmouth played a lockdown defense that frustrated the Windham forwards. Forwards Max Souter and Connor O'Neil tried to spark the Jaguars offensively to no avail. To their credit, Portsmouth goalie Wiley Hundertmark played a spectacular game in net; recording four saves, and a cluth penalty kick stop.

For Windham, their season is over. Portsmouth, however, will play Oyster River for the Division II championship on Saturday.