Windham varsity girls’ soccer falls to Cheverus after hard-fought game

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham High School varsity girls’ soccer team played their final home game of the season against Cheverus on Thursday, Oct. 15 and Windham came out a little slow in the first half but kept the game scoreless at intermission. While the Eagles picked up the intensity in the second half, the Stags scored late and held onto the lead to defeat Windham, 1-0.

Windham junior Emily Wardwell prepares to take a shot
during a girls' varsity soccer game against Cheverus at
Windham High School on Thursday, Oct. 15.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

It was also Senior Night and seniors Elizabeth Hartwell, Denali Momot, Isabella Vassoler, Maya Dries, Mackenzie Delewski and Grayson Cornish were each presented with a small gift to thank them and their families for their time and efforts to Windham Athletics.

“They came out hard, fast, but we’ve got to play with a little more urgency earlier in the game,” said Windham varsity girls’ soccer coach Deb LeBel. “If they played with their sense of urgency at the end, it could’ve been a different (outcome). We need to be a little more precise with our passing, not just clear it and get it out. Positives from the game were that the team never gave up; they had a ton of energy at the end with a lot of different players contributing in different areas.”

Early in the game, Windham moved the ball well and took several shots on goal.

Both teams’ defense held their opponent back and Windham goalie Hartwell had many nice saves, five overall for the game. At the half, the game was tied, 0-0.

“We came into this game knowing we have to win to keep our rank going into playoffs to stay in the second seed,” said Momot. “We need to keep our composure the whole time. We did well after Cheverus scored, but we need to play like that the whole game. I think we expected to win ... we were just holding back a little bit more for some reason. We started connecting very well; we started hard in the first half, and we started the same way in the second half, but as the game went on we kind of dialed down, which was a mistake – we shouldn’t do that ever. Keeping that intensity needs work, keeping our composure overall ... we need to read the defense a little bit better.”

In the second half, Windham remained aggressive and really went at Cheverus’s goalie hard, not giving her rest for most of the half. There were many shots at goal, but nothing found the back of the net.

Windham defense kept Cheverus at zero for over half of the second half. Then with roughly 13 minutes remaining, the Stags scored. As the clock ticked down, Windham worked extremely hard to tie the game, but despite their effort, fell short.

LeBel said they need to fine-tune staggering themselves in the midfield and when they need to go back and help defensively; also, they need to head more balls in the air, take possession and go. She said sometimes a loss going into playoffs is not a bad thing – it keeps them hungry. LeBel said she thinks they are in good shape, they have a lot of kids who have grown and continue to grow.

“Having energy from the start of the game and building off it as the game goes on and winning 50-50 balls (could have turned this game around),” said Windham junior Emily Wardwell. “Knowing we have to treat every team as a top team and there is no guaranteed win against any team. Not giving up was a positive when we were down a goal, late in the game. Finishing balls in the box and switching the fields when stuck on one side needs work.” <