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Windham Jaguars Field Hockey '18

Sat, Sep 15, 2018 10:00 AM @ Windham
Team 1st 2nd Final
Pinkerton 1 0 1
Windham 2 0 2

Windham wins thriller over Astros

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WINDHAM – After winning each of the past two Division 2 field hockey titles, Windham has found a move up in class to its liking.

The Jaguars outscored their first three opponents 21-0, but the next two schools on the slate had combined to fill 11 of the 14 combined slots in the state championship matches since 2010. Either Winnacunnet or Pinkerton had appeared in all but one of those seven title games and the two powerhouses colluded to win five of them.

But despite the tough back-to-back foes, Windham is the only one to remain undefeated.

Three days after holding four-time champ Winnacunnet scoreless in a 1-0 overtime win, the Jaguars once again controlled play Saturday en route to a 2-1 victory over visiting Pinkerton.

“It’s been great,” said Windham coach Katie Blair, who built a 72-6-4 record in five Division 2 years. “The girls have worked really hard. They were excited for the challenge of moving up to Division 1. We just tell them one game at a time. We look to the next game on the schedule.

“We have the same goals and sayings we’ve always had since we’ve been here. And that’s been to play one game at a time, and if we try to get better than we were yesterday, it will give us positive outcomes.”

Pinkerton, which had outscored opponents 14-2 in winning its first five games, took an early lead when junior Lauren Lisauskas became the first opponent to find the back of a Windham net this year, scoring an unassisted goal a mere 4:15 into the match.

The Jaguars responded with a pair of goals less than a minute apart. Ryane Farrell connected off a pass from Mary Johnson with 17:15 left in the first and, 54 seconds later, sophomore Kate Blaisdell added another for the final tally.

“It was awesome,” said Blaisdell, who has scored eight of her team’s 24 goals a year after leading the state in scoring with 26. “I am so happy for us. Pinkerton is one of the top teams, so it was really good to show them what we’re made of. I feel they’re pretty equal to us, but we gave it our all. We know how to move up the field, so that helped us beat them, because they’re so physically strong.”

Windham controlled the tempo most of the game, much of which was spent on the Pinkerton side of midfield.

“The defense has been incredible,” Blair said. “They don’t get enough credit for what they do for us. We look to keep possession. When we have the ball, we want to be smart with it and keep it as much as we can for the game.”

After scoring their lone goal, the Astros managed only one more shot on Windham goalie Kayla Antouncci.

“I thought we were doing a great job,” Pinkerton coach Katie Van Nostrand said. “We scored in the first six minutes against a team that had not been scored on all season, so I have to disagree with that statement that our offense struggled. We started off strong, had a little lull in the middle, but came back strong.”

Game Statistics:

Goals: Pinkerton: Lauren Lisauskas; Windham -Ryanne Farrell, Kate Blaisdell

Saves: Pinkerton: Khaliyah Ellis 10; Windham: Kayla Antonucci 2 

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