Windham comes back in fourth quarter to beat Dover in D1 field hockey championship (video)

DURHAM - The Windham High School field hockey team found itself in a scary spot.

After not allowing a goal all season, the Jaguars gave up three through the first three quarters during Friday's Division I championship game against Dover. It was also the first time Windham had allowed more than one goal in a game in almost two years, and the first time all season that it had trailed.

With a title on the line, the Jaguars came out determined to turn things around in the fourth quarter. Windham controlled possession for most of the frame before scoring twice in a two-minute stretch to rally for a 4-3 win over the Green Wave at Oyster River High School.

Sophia Ponzini had two goals, including the game-tying tally with 5:13 to play, and Cecilia Ponzini, Sophia's older sister, scored what proved to be the game winner, deflecting in a shot by Maddi O'Hare with 3:16 remaining. O'Hare also had a goal and two assists to help the Jaguars (11-0) win their second straight D1 title and fifth overall.

"We had to keep fighting and play from behind," Windham coach Katie Blair said. "It was the first time this season that we had to play from behind, but the girls stepped up. We had good adjustments made by our coaching staff, especially (assistant coach) Casey (Pohlmeyer). The girls handled it very well.

"It was do-or-die. We told them this is it. Do we want to go out on top? They just responded."

Dover (8-3) got two goals from Audrey Carter, the second of which came on the seventh of eight penalty corners in the third quarter for the Green Wave. A shot by Jeannine Turgeon hit the pads of Windham goalie Kamdyn Clementi and went right to Carter, who knocked it in to give Dover a 3-2 lead going into the third.

But with all the opportunities the Green Wave had in the third, coach Sarah Michaud felt her team needed to have capitalized on one more.

"I wish we could have put one more away," Michaud said. "I think if we could have scored one more time, it would have kept the momentum going in our favor. Once you tie it, you have that shift, and you have that confidence. I think the fourth quarter was the shift. We played hard, but we weren’t quite stepping to the ball as we were in other quarters."

After a feeling-out period for both teams to start the game, Dover started to control possession, getting four corners and scoring on two, the second of which came with no time left in quarter and ended with a goal by Trixie Williams that made it 2-1.

Windham tied the game at 2 with 11:29 let in the first half on O'Hare's goal, but the rest of the quarter was spent in the midfield.

The Jaguars opened the second half with back-to-back corners, but couldn't capitalize, and the Green Wave took control of the game.

"Mark up on defense and carry out the ball wide so we don’t give up another corner," Blair said. "They’re resilient. Our girls fight so hard and they know they have to fight until the clock hits zero. We’re proud of how they responded to it."

Clementi came up with a handful of saves during Dover's stretch of corners, but perhaps the biggest stop came from senior Amy Lanouette, who laid her stick down on the turf to make a save when Clementi got caught to one side.

"Amy Lanouette had an amazing defensive save, too," Blair said. "Our goalie stepped up for us in the second half. The seniors fought so hard. They deserved to go out on top. They had no quit."