Windham field hockey picks up win over Winnacunnet (video)

WINDHAM - The way that Wednesday's field hockey game started, it looked like Winnacunnet and Windham high school might be headed for a shootout.

Each side scored a goal on a penalty stroke in the first four minutes, and the Jaguars held a 2-1 lead at the end of one quarter.

But Windham would make that lead stand before adding an insurance goal in the fourth and then keeping Winnacunnet out of the cage late as the Jaguars came away with a 3-1 win over the Warriors in a Division I game.

Amy Lanouette scored two goals for Windham (7-1-1), which won its fourth in a row, and Ella Reeners also had a goal, scoring off a penalty corner as time expired in the first. Ava Sanchez picked up an assist on the goal and Annie Mitchell made six saves.

"It was a great game," Windham coach Katie Blair said. "They played hard, did well, they stayed spread and worked on our game. We did a good job of sticking to our game plan.

"We knew Winnacunnet was going to be strong. They score well and they play offense well. We knew they’d bring it to us. We wanted to do our stuff well and we did. We knew they had the fire power to score."

The Warriors (7-4) came in averaging almost five goals a game, but their only one in this one came with 11:27 left in the first quarter, when Abby Wilber converted a penalty stroke. That came just two minutes after Lanouette had given the Jaguars the lead on a stroke of her own.

Marissa Abrahams made eight saves for Winnacunnet and helped the Warriors fend off 11 of Windham's 12 corners.

"We’re a young team, but I think every game, we’re improving," Winnacunnet coach Heidi Hand said. "We still have things we need to work on, but we talked about playing our positions and I think they did a good job of that and really stepping to the ball. It just didn’t fall our way.

"We had our chances. Windham has great sticks. They were down and ready, but I thought the girls really worked the ball well."

The Warriors had a handful of corners in the first quarter, right after tying the game, but couldn't capitalize, and the Jaguars answered with a couple of corners of their own at the end of the frame.

Windham was awarded one in the final moments of the quarter. Sanchez inserted the ball to Reeners, who crushed a shot from the top of the circle that took a hard bounce off the grass and alluded the pad of Abrahams on the its way into the back of the goal.

Winnacunnet was able to get a couple of corners midway through the second quarter, but after the goal, the Jaguars were able to put more pressure on the Warriors.

"Windham really stepped up and we kind of back down a little bit," Hand said. "We’re still young, so we don’t have the experience that we’re used to. The girls are still learning. We were trying to get them to work the shifts."

The Warriors had a chance to tie the game early in the fourth, sending the ball across the front of the goal, but no one was at the far side to try to knock it in.

Lanouette made it a 3-1 game with 7:06 remaining when she fired a shot on goal that Abrahams was able to stop. The rebound went right back to the Windham senior and she put the ball a little further to her left than the previous shot and it found its way into the goal.

Winnacunnet again came close to scoring on a corner in the final minute, but Windham's defense was able to clear the ball out of the circle.

"A lot was asked of them (Wednesday) and they played well," Blair said. "Winnacunnet is a strong team. A lot is going to be asked of them. I’m proud of them."