Exeter field hockey storms into D1 final with win over Winnacunnet (video)

EXETER - The nerves were front and center for the Exeter High School field hockey team Wednesday night.

With the Blue Hawks playing in the Division I semifinals for the first time in eight years, Katelyn Varney could see that a lot of her teammates were feeling the moment, herself included.

Varney helped No. 1 Exeter shake those nerves early, scoring the first of two goals a little more than five minutes into the game, and teammate Mackenzie Babine added one of her two just 2:10 later as the Blue Hawks rolled to a 5-0 win over No. 4 Winnacunnet at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

The win puts the Blue Hawks in the final for the first time since winning the championship in 2013. Top-seeded Exeter will face No. 3 Windham at 11 a.m. Sunday at Bedford High School.

"It’s amazing," Varney said. "A lot of us were pretty nervous coming into this game. They’re our rivals, they’re a pretty good team, they have a lot of skill. I think we played as a team. We really wanted this and I think we showed that on the field."

The senior did, scoring twice in the game's first 21 minutes to help the Blue Hawks (17-1) take a lead that felt insurmountable. Babine also had an assist to go with her two goals while Isabelle Steiner added a goal in the second half, not long after her twin sister, Garen, was hit in the face with an errant stick and had to go to a nearby hospital. Her status was unavailable after the game.

"It was special that she did it," Exeter coach Deb Grott said of Isabelle Steiner's goal. "She plays in that second line that comes in offensively, so she was in the right position.

"It’s crazy, it’s amazing, but they deserve this. They deserve it because they are a good field hockey team. It will be fun to go up against Windham again one more time, because that was our only loss during the season. It will be a great game (on Sunday)."

Exeter played one in the semifinal, starting with Varney, who gave the Blue Hawks the only goal they'd need with 9:20 to play in the first quarter. Winnacunnet (13-5) had cleared the ball out of the circle on a penalty corner moments early, but Exeter kept the pressure on, and Varney knocked in a ball from Addison MacNeil to make it 1-0.

"Definitely, getting the first goal in was good for us," Varney said. "When we originally played them during the regular season, they lead. Getting the first goal in and keeping it going was great for us. After I got in the first one, I started to settle in a little bit. The rest of my team picked it up from there and we played a good game."

The Blue Hawks got the ball back in the Warriors' end moments later, with Babine making it 2-0 with 7:10 to play in the first, and Varney made it 3-0 with 9:51 to go in the first half.

"She has studied this position for the last years and she knows where to be at out there," Grott said of Varney She knows what to do with her stick. She’s just in the right position at the right time and knows that that ball is going to come across and gets a hold of it, and it goes right into the goal."

Steiner's goal made it 4-0 just 2:02 into the second half, but Winnacunnet responded with its best scoring chances of the game after that. The Warriors came close moments after the goal, had three corners in the frame, and in the final seconds, started a breakaway that looked promising but Winnacunnet ran out of time.

"You have to be on-point defensively," Grott said. "We move our defense up the field, but know that we need to be in a good position on the field once they turn around. Our goalie (Clara Gorman) is the anchor of all of that, and our center back, Hanna (Garrity), they make sure the other two are in good position and they’re ready. They don’t get complacent back there."

Exeter's offense didn't get complacent either, as Babine deposited a centering pass from MacNeil into the cage with 9:37 to go in the game to make it 5-0.

"Our main goal was to play as a team, use each other, get good passes in," Varney said. "A lot of teams at Exeter have failed to do that, work together as a team, and that’s something we’ve really taken pride in this season and it’s worked out for us every game."