Londonderry field hockey regroups in second half to beat Salem (video)

SALEM - Consistency has been a focal point for the Londonderry High School field hockey team all season.

The Lancers found it in the second quarter of Tuesday night's game against Salem, but then lost it in the final minute of the first half and gave up a goal to go into halftime tied.

After refocusing during the break, Londonderry wasted little time retaking the lead and holding off Salem down the stretch for a 3-1 win in a Division I contest.

Morgan Ayotte scored two goals and Lindsey McKinnon had another for the Lancers (13-2, No. 3 in the New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center/NHHSSports Coaches Poll) as they clinched no worse than the No. 3 seed in the D1 playoffs. That means Londonderry will get a first-round bye and host a quarterfinal on Oct. 24.

"When we’re on, we’re on, but then we have those moments when we’re not," Londonderry coach Nichole Treadway said. "Consistency is a big thing, and that was something at the beginning of the year, when the girls did a mindfulness thing, and they asked what are the goals for the team, and consistency was one of those. Recentering that with them before we go into playoffs is probably a good thing to do."

Alison Chambers, Lexi Padykula and Annika Lewis each had an assist for Londonderry and Molly Tharrington finished with two saves, but both came at key moments.

The Blue Devils (7-8) were awarded a penalty stroke with 7:33 left in the first quarter, but Tharrington was able to a hand on the attempt by Salem's Heather Lee O'Rourke to keep it a scoreless game.

Londonderry controlled play for most of the quarter after that, getting four penalty corners, but couldn't capitalize. Salem opened the second quarter with a quick scoring chance, but Tharrington again came up with the save.

"That’s a big call in the first quarter of the game, so I think everybody was a little shocked," Treadway said. "When Molly is on, she’s so good. We have all the confidence in her. It’s always nerve-wracking (defending a stroke)."

Salem goalie Nathalia Garcia did her part at the other end, keeping Londonderry off the board with a handful of saves in the second quarter. But the Lancers finally broke through on a corner, when a shot went off Garcia's pads right to Ayotte, who put the ball in for a 1-0 lead with 5:45 to go until halftime.

It looked like Londonderry would take that lead into the break, but with under a minute to play, the Blue Devils started a breakout and Nicole Ringdahl scored off a feed from Brooke Morse to tie the game with 25 seconds remaining.

"The girls, they see the opportunities, and it’s just a matter of putting the ball in the net now," Salem coach Mikayla Ramsdell said. "It’s not like we’re sitting there and not playing on our offensive end at all.

"To score and come back, I’m super proud of my girls, against a team that has been doing well this year in Londonderry."

Any momentum Salem picked up didn't last, as Londonderry stormed out of halftime, getting another goal from Ayotte just 1:39 into the third quarter for a 2-1 lead. McKinnon made it a two-goal lead with a reverse shot on a corner with 11:45 to play.

"Lindsey had a beautiful reverse shot," Treadway said. "We executed a couple of corners pretty well.

"Our halftime talk was about what we needed to do to adjust, but also that refocus. We need these wins for where we want to be."