Windham field hockey beats Concord to win first D1 championship (video)

BEDFORD – Ryane Farrell was just trying to get the Windham High School field hockey team one more penalty corner before halftime.

Instead, the senior ended up giving the Jaguars a lead they would never relinquish.

With time winding down in the first half, Farrell got the ball in the circle with 15 seconds to go and fired the ball at the goal, hoping a teammate would get a stick on it or Concord would be called for a foul.

Instead, the ball slipped by everyone and found the back of the goal with sixth-tenths of a second left in the half, giving No. 2 Windham the only goal it would need in a 2-0 win Sunday over No. 5 Concord in the Division I championship game at Bedford High School. The title is the fourth in the program’s history, and first in D1, after the Jaguars came up short in last year’s title game.

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Amy Lanouette added an insurance goal in the second half, scoring off a feed from Olivia Manchester with 5:33 remaining in the game, and Windham (16-1) posted its 14th shutout of the season.

“The defense all year has only allowed three goals, which is a huge statement in itself,” Windham coach Katie Blair said. “I can’t say enough about our defense. They don’t get the stats, but they are something special. Our senior leadership has been a spark all year and it’s only fitting that Ryane gets (the goal) for us.”

The goal came after Windham had 12 penalty corners in the first half, including six in the game’s first nine minutes, but Concord goalie Felicity Wheldon (six saves) and the Crimson Tide’s defense were able to keep the Jaguars from scoring.

Concord had a great scoring chance of its own early, when Maria Armaganian found Alice Rosenberg behind the Windham defense, but Rosenberg was unable to control a bouncing ball. The Tide used a timeout less than 10 minutes into the game in order to regroup from the Jaguars early onslaught.

“One aspect Concord played with all season was pretty relentless game speed,” Concord coach Andrew Briers said. “I just wanted them to pick up that speed a little bit and get all those things that made them a fluid team together. It did pick up being a little more cohesive than they were in the first 10 minutes.”

The Crimson Tide were able to get some more scoring chances of their own, but the Jaguars continued to counter after each one. Manchester had a chance off a corner, but Concord’s Samantha Ossoff was able to make a play on her shot, and a shot by Farrell on another corner was stopped by Wheldon and Mary Johnson was unable to capitalize on the rebound.

“Just keep at it and eventually, we’re going to find the back of the net,” Blair said of what she tells her players in situations like that. “They just have a no-quit mentality and eventually we’re going to find it.”

Windham did find it, on Farrell’s goal right before the end of the half.

“I shot it thinking that one of our tippers would get it,” Farrell said. “Livi Manchester is so amazing at that. Then I saw it go in and everyone just rushing to me. It was an exciting moment to have that happen.”

It was a back-breaker for Concord.

“That was absolutely gutting,” Briers said. “That’s sports. You just look at the clock and you don’t believe it. To their credit, they came back after the half and made it a game again.”

The Crimson Tide opened the second half with four straight corners, and on the last one, they nearly tied the game but a shot by Armaganian went just wide of the goal.

Windham was able to take control of possession after that, as the Jaguars had six more corners in the second half. Manchester almost made it a two-goal game with 13 minutes to play, when Farrell found her behind the Concord defense, but the senior’s shot went just wide.

The Jaguars did put another one on the board on their final corner, as Lanouette inserted the ball to Manchester at the top of the circle and she gave it right back. Lanouette’s shot to the short side beat Wheldon to make it 2-0 with 5:33 remaining.

“We knew that Concord is a really good team,” Farrell said. “They’re really strong. We just kept saying do not let up. Give it your all. We wanted to prove that we’ve worked hard over these last four years. Everyone time we grouped together we’d say we’ve got this.”