Windham girls lacrosse rolls past Timberlane to reach D2 final for 1st time since 2015 (video)

NASHUA - Before the start of Saturday's Division II semifinal, Jordan O'Boyle told her Windham High School girls lacrosse team that beating Timberlane would come down to who wanted it more.

Through the first eight minutes, that team wasn't the Jaguars.

But as the first quarter wound down, No. 2 Windham found its stride and outscored the No. 3 Owls 7-0 over the final 14 minutes of the first half on the way to a 16-4 win at Stellos Stadium in Nashua. The win puts the Jaguars in the D2 championship game, a spot they haven't been since winning their only D2 title in 2015; Windham also has two D3 championships.

The Jaguars will face top-seeded Winnacunnet, which held off No. 4 Hanover 10-8 in the other semifinal, in the title game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Stellos Stadium.

"I told them, both teams are ready to play, it’s who wants it more," O'Boyle said. "They came out, slow start at first, but once we got into our groove, I knew they wanted it more. They played the way we always do, they played a team game, and that’s the most important part. I feel like if we’re not playing a team game, it gets bad for us."

The start couldn't have been much worse for Windham (17-2), as Timberlane scored the game's first goal when Jaguars goalie Jaidyn Seitzer struggled to get a groundball and ended up tapping it over the goal line.

It took Windham more than five minutes to tie the game up, but the Owls came right back and took a 2-1 lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter. From there, the Jaguars woke up, scoring 10 straight goals on a run that carried over to late in the third quarter.

"I think it shows how much composure we have as a team and how much energy we have going out there, and our ability to reset that energy," Windham senior Chloe Hall said. "And our ability to keep going, put away past mistakes and move on to be better. I think we really improved on that this entire season. It really shows in these moments."

Hall finished with a game-high six goals to go with two assists while Sophia Ponzini and Emma Kendzulak added three goals and two assists each. Mia Gallinelli added two goals and Darby Madden (one assist) and Ella Gallinelli had a goal apiece.

"We played them earlier in the season, so we had a little bit of film on them, but we knew they had talented players," Timberlane coach Helena Bird said. "We gave a couple of kids matchups, but we were mainly emphasizing keeping them wide and forcing them out, making them uncomfortable and pressuring the adjacent passes. I think for the most part, our starters and the people we assigned, they did a pretty good job for the most part. The wheels kind of fell off in the second quarter."

Ponzini scored twice in the final 1:32 of the first quarter to give Windham a 3-2 lead after one, and Mia Gallinelli and Kendzulak scored 1:11 apart early in the second to make it 5-2.

That's where it stood for five minutes, until Hall scored on a free position, following a couple of great chances by the Owls, to make it 6-2 with 4:40 left in the half. Timberlane used a timeout, but the Jaguars were able to keep possession the rest of the way by winning draws.

Windham scored twice more in the final three minutes to go up 8-2 at halftime.

"We kind of knew how it was going to go off the draw, and that was one of our points of emphasis in practice," Bird said. "Windham did exactly what we thought they were going to do. They placed it to space and they beat us in the foot race. If we wanted to win the game, we needed to win more 50-50 balls."

The Owls got a goal and an assist from Maia Parker, while Lila Fitzgerald and Rylee Donahue had a goal apiece. Bella Hughes finished with eight saves for Timberlane, keeping the Owls within striking distance for as long as she could.

Seitzer ended up finishing with four saves, as the Owls had just 11 total shots.

"Our defense especially, they know to keep her up, especially as a new goalie," O'Boyle said. "They know to make sure she doesn’t hang her head when something like that happens. She’s been playing a huge part for us."

The Jaguars were in back-to-back D2 finals their first two years in the division, losing to Bedford in the title game in 2014 before winning it all the next year. But since then, Windham had reached the final four five times without getting back, including the last two seasons.

"This is a great opportunity to go to the championship," Hall said. "We haven’t been in nine years. It’s amazing and we’re pumped up."

Timberlane was playing in the semifinals for the first time in its program history.

"Their wanting to be here and love for the sport is huge," Bird said. "This is our best record in program history, we’ve never made it to the semis before."