Windham field hockey starts strong in D1 playoff win against Dover

WINDHAM - On a day when Division I field hockey got turned inside out, the Windham High School team made sure that the upset wave passed it by like a soft summer breeze.

The second-seeded Jaguars scored twice in the opening five minutes and added an insurance goal late as they defeated Dover 3-0 in a Division I quarterfinal matchup. Windham will now face No. 6 Bishop Guertin, which knocked off No. 3 Winnacunnet 1-0, in the semifinals on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Exeter.

The scoring started early when Ryane Farrell put one in just 2:46 into the contest. Just 95 seconds later the Jaguars struck once again when Cameron Livingstone scored to give Windham some early breathing room.

“Once we get one going our team just gets so excited together,” Farrell said. “We take advantage of our opportunities. We had a corner so we wanted to score and get one going.”

The Jaguars (14-1) dominated the first half, outshooting Dover 5-0 and drawing five penalty corners to just two by the Green Wave (10-6).

“That was our goal from the start of the game,” Windham coach Katie Blair said. “We wanted to get out early. We hadn’t seen Dover. We wanted to get ahead first so we could play with the lead.”

The Green Wave hung around thanks to the great goaltending of Kylie Nelson-Marois. The keeper stopped six shots for Dover and kept the Green Wave in striking distance until the game’s final minutes.

“They’re goalie is fantastic,” Blair said. “She was great. She was aggressive and did a great job.”

Dover pressed hard in the second half. The Green Wave drew six penalty corners but the Windham defense held firm and kept Dover from quality scoring chances.

After weathering the storm midway through the second half, Windham put a bow on the game thanks to a goal from Olivia Manchester with 3:10 remaining.

“We’re fortunate that our senior class has been there all three years," Blair said. "This year we take it one game at a time. If our journey gets us there, which we hope, that’s great.”

Windham played Bishop Guertin back on Sept. 14 and won 4-0. An added bonus for the Jaguars is being able to play on the turf at Bill Ball Stadium instead of on a grass field worn out by two months of fall sports.

“We are a turf team,” Blair said. “I’ll take the grass, but when we get the turf we’re very happy. It’s cleaner balls. We can do more of our passin game which we love. It helps us move the ball up the field.”