As the start of the fall season gets closer and closer, Windham’s varsity team hosted Noble High on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Windham High School. The Lady Eagles started strong and kept up their intensity to end the game with a 4-2 victory over the Knights.
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| Windham freshman Mia Kri keeps the ball away from a Noble High opponent, moments before she scores a goal in a preseason field hockey game on Wednesday, Aug. 28. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA |
“They read the field better, they saw the passes, they made passes to someone, and they weren’t afraid to pass back to create more space,” said Windham varsity field hockey coach Cory DiDonato. “They communicated, figured out where they need to be to support each other to be an option, they just stayed spread out and were able to make some good passes today. I’m super excited; feel great about the team. All summer I said it to (Windham), we’re going to be a top five team. I think we’ll battle really tough teams and it’ll be a good game. If they come injury free and are ready to play, I think it’s going to be a great season – I feel good about it.”
Against Noble, the Lady Eagles stayed with the ball and had strong defense. They were aggressive and fought hard.
Shortly into the first quarter, Noble’s goalie laid on the ball for more than 5 seconds. This counts as a stroke and entitled Windham to a penalty shot, which senior Zoe Dries took and rocketed the ball into the goal.
“Today was a good representation of how our season’s going to go,” said Dries. “It’s going to be a good season for us; I thought our passing looked really good and our spacing looking really good and we got some goals in. We have a lot of new players, we’re still working with those new players, but I think it looked really good today.”
Dries scored again very early in the second quarter. Windham had solid communication and moved the ball well. Their defense kept the ball away from Windham’s goal and limited Noble’s chances to score.
Before the end of the half, Windham freshmen Mia Kri sent the ball past the goal to give the Lady Eagles a 3-1 lead at the half.
“I think our teamwork was really good,” said Kri. “The varsity team was really welcoming and ... they all connected together as a team – communication and passing was really good. Cheering each other on, even if it’s on the field or off the field was really good too. We’re still trying to get used to playing together because there are a lot of new people on varsity.”
Windham kept up their intensity in the second half. Their defense remained very strong. Offense made good contact with the ball. Before the final buzzer, Windham senior Grace Joly scored.
It’s clear Windham is beginning to gel as a team and could have a promising season ahead. <
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