Top Five Field Hockey Games in 2023

The 2023 field hockey season was an exciting one and there were plenty of games that could qualify as the best of the best.

The following are the five best games I attended this season, and this year, it felt like it was a lot tougher than usual to pick them. It felt like so many games were decided by a goal or went to overtime.

While there were many, many more, I stuck to the ones I saw in person. If you’ve got ones you feel could also be on the list, feel free to leave them in the comments.

No. 5: Kennett 2, Bow 1 (OT) (Oct. 26)

The Falcons had already pulled off one upset to reach the Division II semifinals and they jumped out on the Eagles in the first half of this one. But Kennett regrouped, tied the game, and then kept Bow in check for the rest of regulation. In overtime, the Eagles got a penalty corner and Georgia Coleman scored the game-winner to send Kennett to the final.

No. 4: Bishop Guertin 3, Londonderry 2 (OT) (Sept. 20)

Londonderry took the lead early, Bishop Guertin came back to tie it, and then went ahead. The Cardinals seemed poised for more, but then the Lancers found away to tie it back up. Londonderry had a chance to go ahead in regulation, but the game went to overtime, where Taylor Guibord ended it with the game-winning goal.

No. 3: Oyster River 3, Souhegan 2 (OT) (Aug. 29)

Oyster River showed everyone what kind of season it was going to have early in the season. The Bobcats were moments away from dropping their first two games of the year, but scored late against Souhegan to force overtime and then got the win on a breakaway goal by Rowynn Pickering.

No. 2: Goffstown 1, Lebanon 0 (Oct. 19)

The playoffs bring out the best in everybody, and this preliminary-round game between Goffstown and Lebanon was no different. The fifth-seeded Grizzlies peppered No. 12 Raiders goalie Meghanne Cheevers and she stood on her head to keep the game scoreless. Goffstown finally took the lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter on a goal by freshman Trinity Lunn and the Grizzlies defense held on for the win.

No. 1: Windham 1, Bishop Guertin 0 (OT) (Oct. 24)

There are plenty of sports fans who would look at a game that was scoreless in regulation and call it boring. They would be wrong. The Cardinals and the Jaguars battled back and forth, trading scoring chances throughout, but neither could break through and their Division I semifinal went to overtime. Once there, Windham got a penalty corner, ran it to perfection, and Ava Pelletier scored to send the Jaguars to the championship game.