Windham's drive helped it capture program's first D1 field hockey title

The Windham High School field hockey team has played in a championship game in seven of the last eight years, the most of any program in the state during that stretch.

There are plenty of reasons for the Jaguars success, but coach Katie Blair attributes it first and foremost to one thing - the mentality that her players carry with them throughout the year.

"It’s the work in the offseason," the Jaguars coach said. "It’s a mentality passed down year to year, that we know it’s not given, we know it’s not granted. You have to work hard and get better than we were the day before."

That mentality kept Windham going in Sunday's 2-0 win over Concord in the Division I title game. The Jaguars had 12 penalty corners in the first half, but the Crimson Tide, behind a standout performance by goalie Felicity Wheldon, turned Windham away on each one.

It was the Jaguars' drive to get a 13th corner, even with time in the first half about to expire, that changed the game.

"I saw that there were about 15 or 20 seconds left (in the half)," Windham senior Ryane Farrell said. "Our mindset is to draw a corner, that you get more time when you have a corner. Amy (Lanouette) gave me a great pass through the middle and she left it wide open for me, so I shot it thinking that one of our tippers would get it."

Instead, Farrell's shot found the back of the goal with sixth-tenths of a second left in the half.

"I knew it was close," she said. "I don’t like to think about the time, I just keep going. Sometimes the refs might call it (off), you never know how it’s going to go, so I really just wanted to get it in there and see if something could happen."

All of a sudden, Windham was going into halftime with the lead, instead of being in a scoreless battle. Knowing the Jaguars had allowed only three goals all season, trying to now get two goals was a daunting task for Concord.

"Concord played well, but Windham was better on the day," Concord coach Andrew Briers said. "They made less errors, they were faster to the ball, we gave up too many corners. The girls were up for it, but it was one of those games that Windham was the clear winner by the end of it."

The shutout was the 14th of the season for the Jaguars, who allowed just one goal over their final 10 games of the regular season and playoffs.

"Just have faith in each other, all the way from our forwards back down to (goalie) Kayla (Antonucci)," Blair said of how the team plays. "That’s what they’ve done, they know that someone is going to be there for them and someone is going to fill the space, they’ll have the support they need. (Antonucci) is good. When it does get to her, she’s good. I know it doesn’t happen very often, but she has had some incredible saves."

After coming up short against Winnacunnet in last year's D1 championship - Windham's first year in the top division - it was seniors like Farrell, Antonucci, Olivia Manchester and Mary Johnson who helped bring everything together for the Jaguars.

"It’s been really amazing," Farrell said. "As seniors together, we’ve worked hard. Our motto is get better every day. Knowing we are there for each other, what’s so special is that we don’t have one star player. The whole team works together."