Pelletier's OT goal sends Windham past Bishop Guertin to D1 field hockey final (video)

EXETER - Sophia Poulin has so much confidence in her Windham High School field hockey team, she lets the Jaguars pick their own penalty corners on the field.

It took until overtime Tuesday, but the Jaguars finally decided on the one their coach wanted to see.

Ava Sanchez received the insert from Ella Reeners, and slipped the ball back to her left, to Ava Pelletier.

With the No. 3 Cardinals' corner defense shifting, Pelletier had room to shoot, and her shot hit off a Bishop Guertin stick and found it's way into the back of the cage, giving the No. 2 Jaguars a 1-0 win in the Division I semifinals at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

The win gets Windham (16-1-1) back to the final after having a streak of six title-game appearance in a row snapped. The Jaguars will face No. 1 Dover, which knocked off No. 4 Exeter in the other semifinal, at 4 p.m. Sunday at Bedford High School.

"It feels amazing," Pelletier said. "This has been our goal since the beginning of the season. We have so much talent this year. We have 11 seniors. This has to be the year we make it. We’re so thankful."

Pelletier was also happy to have another opportunity to help Windham advance, after she got a great look early in the third quarter, but put her shot off the post.

"I thought that went in," she said. "It was such a good game. BG played amazing. They are a great team and they put up a good fight."

Sanchez got an assist on the goal and Julianna Vougias made two saves as the Jaguars were able to limit Bishop Guertin's number of shots on goal, even though the Cardinals (15-3) were able to find their way into the circle.

Part of that was figuring out how to slow down Bishop Guertin's Taylor Guibord.

"I felt like they did a good job eliminating her touches," Poulin said. "That was probably a key point in us coming away with that win. I told Sophia Ponzini, and then it ended up being (Sanchez) and (Mia Gallinelli) switching between low-mid and right-mid. They needed to communicate on that."

Ayla Saeturn finished with five saves for Bishop Guertin and the teams were almost even on corners, with Windham holding a 7-6 edge, including one in overtime.

Pelletier's shot that rang off the post was the first great scoring chance for either team after a back-and-forth first half. The Jaguars had another chance a few moments later, but couldn't finish.

The Cardinals came close to getting on the board with about two minutes left in the third, when Guibord got free enough to send a ball into the circle. Addison Daddona tried to tip it into the goal, making a diving attempt, but the ball was just out of reach.

After more back-and-forth play in the fourth, Windham was awarded a corner with about four minutes to play. Bishop Guertin was called for leaving early twice, giving the Cardinals just two defenders and Saeturn back to defend the corner.

But a shot by Sanchez hit one of the Cardinals high and the ball went the other way.

Daddona had another chance near the end of regulation, but couldn't finish and the game went to overtime.

The Jaguars got another corner early in the overtime and huddle to discuss what they would try to do.

"Their defensive corner unit, they’re pretty quick coming out, so we tried to evaluate and see if their running more toward our left or our right," Sanchez said. "That will depend on where we slip it and we looked for the best option to get the shot off."

Windham picked the right direction and Pelletier sent everyone home for the night.

"We noticed that when they were coming out, they had all their girls to our right," she said. "We knew our corner from Ava (Sanchez) to me would work and get a shot off. We were hoping to get a tip. That was the plan."

It didn't exactly to that plan, but the Jaguars were able to get the job done.

"They pick their own corners," Poulin said. "I have a list of corners that they practice. They’re not hearing me shout and yell. I started the season calling their corners, but I trust them to do it. We did tell them, we saw their defensive formation, we said that left slip is going to work. I’m glad that they chose that moment to try it and it was executed well."