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# Keene holds off Dover to win D1 field hockey title, first in program history (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/keene-holds-off-dover-to-win-d1-field-hockey-title-first-in-program-history-video/
- Published: 2024-11-03T23:40:11.000Z
- Updated: 2024-11-03T23:40:11.000Z
- Description: BEDFORD - Nerves weren't going to be a problem for the Keene High School field hockey team playing in Saturday's Division I championship game. If anything, coach Michelle Tiani thought the Blackbirds were going to be too ready to go. But once the game started, top-seeded Keene did its thing, playin
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, championship, Dover, field hockey, Keene, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

BEDFORD - Nerves weren't going to be a problem for the Keene High School field hockey team playing in Saturday's Division I championship game.

If anything, coach Michelle Tiani thought the Blackbirds were going to be too ready to go.

But once the game started, top-seeded Keene did its thing, playing the game it's played all season, as the Blackbirds controlled the final almost all the way through for a 1-0 win over No. 2 Dover at Bedford High School. It's the first field hockey title for Keene in its first title-game appearance.

"Not so much nervous as overly enthusiastic," Tiani said of how the team looked pregame. "Just amped up, a little too fast with things at times. They were just ready to go. They couldn’t get off the bus soon enough. They couldn’t leave Keene soon enough. They were so amped up for this moment.

"We didn’t change our preparation. No crazy new strategy, we just did what got us here. We just remembered to play our game, stay together, and they just did what they did."

While the game remained scoreless into the fourth quarter, the Blackbirds (18-0-1) dictated play for long stretches and limited the Green Wave (15-3-1) to just a handful of chances.

But one of those opportunities came on a penalty corner with no time left that could have sent the game to overtime, and the fact that the Green Wave had done that in the semifinals was not lost on the Blackbirds.

Instead, Keene held it's ground by getting into the right spots defensively and forcing Dover into a game-ending miscue.

"I was definitely really nervous," Keene goalie Lilly Rowell said. "I know how bad we wanted this win and we’d be making history. My teammates were there. We had to hold our space and we couldn’t let up because we knew Dover came back in the (semifinals). We knew there was a chance of that."

Olive Thatcher scored the game's only goal with 11 minutes remaining in regulation. A shot by Mckenna Nelson was stopped by Dover goalie Scarlett Gray, but the rebound went to a spot where Thatcher was able to bury it into an open goal.

"It was all a blur," Thatcher said of the goal. "I saw the ball, it was a rebound off her pads, and I just pulled it quickly around. It was an open net from there."

Rowell could see the whole play from the other end of the field and felt like that could be the difference for Keene.

"I was so excited," she said. "I don’t know how to explain the feeling. I’ve never been that excited for my team before and it was a great moment."

Rowell finished with three saves, two of which came at the end of the first half, when Dover had three corners in the final minute. At the other end, Gray had four saves, including a big one on a reverse by Sofia Miller midway through the third quarter to keep it scoreless.

"I think our defense, and our goalie in particular, played fantastic," Dover coach Sarah Michaud said. "It was a great game, we just couldn’t generate the offense we normally do. I feel like their backs were very strong and stepped to the ball really well. We had more turnovers than we normally do. It just was one of those games. We were like one step off."

After graduating nine seniors from last year's championship team, Michaud felt it was a good sign of the program's depth to return to the final a year later.

"We always focus on the depth within our program," she said. "To come to the championship two years in a row, I think is a pretty great accomplishment."