Windham field hockey rallies in second half to beat Londonderry (video)

LONDONDERRY - There was plenty of opportunity for the Windham High School field hockey team to get frustrated during Wednesday's game against Londonderry.

The Jaguars had been able to keep play in the Lancers' end, getting eight penalty corners through the first 20 minutes of the half, but hadn't been able to break a tie.

Finally, after Londonderry had its best second-half opportunity, Windham was able to get out in transition and Livi Manchester redirected a pass from Maddie O'Hare to give the Jaguars a 2-1 win in Division I action.

It was Manchester's second goal of the half and Windham (6-1) was able to hold off a late threat by the Lancers (7-1) to preserve the win.

"It doesn’t always work out the way we want it to," Manchester said of the corners. "We keep our heads down and keep playing because we know if we keep working hard, and make the right decisions, it’s going to happen.

"Maddie O’Hare got an amazing pass from Amy (Lanouette), carried it down and it was the smallest little pass. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep it simple and our corners can be a little too complicated."

Manchester also scored on a penalty stroke 7:09 into the second half to knot the score at 1. The Jaguars ended up with 13 corners and goalie Kayla Antonucci made three saves.

Londonderry got its lone goal with 13:04 left in the first half when Kayla Miles knocked in a feed from Grace Holland. Riley Walter finished with six saves for the Lancers, who had just three corners, all of which came in the game's final eight minutes.

"I think we had a slow start (Wednesday), but then at halftime, we made some adjustments that were good," Windham coach Katie Blair said. "With the adjustments, it gave us momentum and we went back to our style of play. We got fast, we took quick restarts and we moved up the field nicely and we had a good amount of corners in the second half. We seized off an opportunity and put one."

After not allowing a goal through the first four games of the season, Windham found itself down 1-0 at halftime for the second time in three games. But unlike last week's 1-0 loss to Pinkerton, the Jaguars took control at the start of the second half, trying to get that tying goal.

"We really just wanted to come out with a fire," Manchester said. "We had to have (the coaches) light a fire underneath us. It’s unfortunate when that needs to happen, but we got the job done. We had to point out what we weren’t doing correctly and say how we were going to improve it."

Windham got its first corner of the half just two minutes in and Londonderry's Tara Wright was given a green card during the play, putting the Lancers down a player and giving the Jaguars another corner. Windham was awarded the stroke on the ensuing play and Manchester lined up to take it.

"I took a few in preseason scrimmages, but this was the first one in-season," she said. "It’s a little nerve wracking. I’m trying to think about keeping myself calm and faking the goalie out with where I’m looking."

Manchester went high with the shot and it got over Walter's outstretched arms, tying the game 1-1. From there, the Jaguars kept hammering away at Londonderry's defense.

"We just aim to get as many opportunities as we can every game and make the most of them," Blair said. "We tell them the game is 60 minutes and you’ve got to play that whole time until the clock hits zero."