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# Windham field hockey shuts out Merrimack to advance to D1 final (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/windham-field-hockey-shuts-out-merrimack-to-advance-to-d1-final-video/
- Published: 2018-10-26T21:31:51.000Z
- Updated: 2018-10-26T21:31:51.000Z
- Description: EXETER - Kate Blaisdell scored three goals and the Windham High School field hockey team recorded its 10th shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Merrimack in the Division I semifinals Thursday night. Blaisdell gave the No. 1 Jaguars (15-1) the lead less than five minutes into the game, then gave h
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, field hockey, Merrimack, playoffs, slider, Windham, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

EXETER - Kate Blaisdell scored three goals and the Windham High School field hockey team recorded its 10th shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Merrimack in the Division I semifinals Thursday night.

Blaisdell gave the No. 1 Jaguars (15-1) the lead less than five minutes into the game, then gave her team some breathing room with two more scores in the second half, as Windham beat No. 4 Merrimack for the second time in less than two weeks. The win sends the Jaguars to the championship game, where they will face No. 3 Winnacunnet at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Bedford High School.

"It’s amazing," Windham junior Ryane Farrell said. "We’ve always had the motto ‘win as one’ and I think we’ve lived and breathed that this whole season. Every day our goal is to get better and I think that has pushed us to where we are now."

After winning the last two Division II titles, Windham moved up to D1 this season, and is one win away from its third title in a row.

"They did a great job," Windham coach Katie Blair said. "They possessed the ball, they passed it well, they moved it. We defended if we lost possession."

Blaisdell gave the Jaguars the lead by scoring off a penalty corner just 4:14 into the game. It was Windham's second corner of the game and the Jaguars would have six more in the first half, but couldn't crack the defense of Merrimack (11-4-1).

"I feel like we weren’t able to connect," Blaisdell said. "We had the momentum and then it became like this ping-pong thing. They’d get the ball and dish it out and we didn’t know how to move off that."

The Jaguars also had a shot hit the post in the first half and Merrimack goalie Heather Rohr was able to make a couple of saves to keep it a 1-0 game at halftime.

Windham went right back on the attack to start the second half, getting four corners in the first seven minutes of the half. Finally, on the fourth one, Blaisdell scored to make it 2-0 with 23 minutes left in the game.

"I think it felt really good," Blaisdell said of the goal. "The second made us think now we can get more."

Merrimack got its first big break moments later, as Julia Valluzzi got the ball behind the Windham defense, but Windham goalie Kayla Antonucci came out to knock the ball away.

"I saw the girl come down and saw it was close to her stick," Antonucci said. "I stepped out a little, but she lost control and that’s when I slid out and took the ball away. It’s hard to tell, especially on turf, because the ball moves fast."

Moments later, Blaisdell crushed a shot into the back of the cage to make it 3-0 and Antonucci was able to breath a little easier.

"It made me feel a lot better," she said. "When it’s 1-0, and even 2-0, anything can happen. The more goals, the more comfortable (it is)."