WHS varsity girls’ lacrosse win streak continues by defeating Thornton Academy

By Matt Pascarella

What started as a close game became quickly overpowered by Windham when its girls’ lacrosse team met Thornton Academy in Saco on Monday, May 19. Windham kicked it into high gear and turned a tied game into a solid 11-7 win, as they held off the Trojans in the fourth quarter and secured their seventh consecutive victory.

Windham junior Abby Trainor maneuvers by a Thornton
Academy defender during a girls' lacrosse game on
May 19. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

“I think the prep before, like watching the film, contributed to the win,” said Windham junior Abby Trainor who scored five goals during the game. “When we practice against our own defense on what TA’s going to do, I think it really helps, because if you can go against our scout offense than you can go against any team. From the draw to the work in the midfield between 30 to 30 definitely went really well; every single attacker and midi pressured out. We saw defenders like Lauren who came up and ran the whole field. We took what we needed to improve on (after the Kennebunk loss) turnovers and how we’re executing on both sides of the ball to all these games; no matter who the opponent is we don’t let up.”

Windham senior Grace Joly scored very early on in the game. Thornton Academy matched Windham goal-for-goal until the game was tied 4-4. Windham junior Neve Ledbetter scored before the end of the first quarter and broke the tie.

In the second quarter Windham was unstoppable on offense and defense. Joly scored twice and Trainor scored three times. Windham controlled the field and won several face-offs. At the half, Windham led 10-4.

“We came into it really prepared, which is how we’ve been going into every game, taking each game one-by-one and that has really helped us keep our composure,” said Joly who also scored five goals during this game. “The energy was really good today and that is something we work on a lot. Before the game we were sitting down talking about goals, and all that stuff is really important for preparation. We had really smart plays, we were patient with the ball, we knew when to take it and when not to. Our defense needs a little bit of work still, when there’s a lot of people cutting at once it’s really hard to pick up everyone, so just knocking down some of those and picking up those cutters – but I think it’s all small things we can fix.”

Windham’s intensity dipped a little in the third quarter and allowed Thornton Academy to catch up some.

In the fourth quarter, Windham regained more possessions and while defense was strong on both teams and no one scored, Windham had several shots at goal, and they seemed to have regained the control they may have let up in the third quarter.

“We have some tough gritty kids,” said Windham varsity girls’ lacrosse coach Matt Perkins. “TA is a good, athletic team and they’re going to make runs, and you just got to weather the storm and play good sound team defense and team offense. Take care of the ball and we’re going to be fine. Composure was great; there were some things that didn’t go our way, and the kids handled themselves very well. The pass-catching and decision-making needs work, but we’re making steps, and we talk about each day, each game, each practice taking a step up the ladder; I feel like we’re doing that.”

Trainor said the momentum is propelling the team and she sees a longer winning streak ahead. <