WHS girls’ lacrosse star reaches major milestone with 200th goal

By Matt Pascarella

Windham junior Abby Trainor made Windham High School varsity girls’ lacrosse history when she became the first player ever to score 200 career goals at Windham High on Tuesday, June 3 in a game against Gorham. She was only two goals away from this monumental achievement and reached her 200th goal in the first quarter. The Lady Eagles won this game 16-6; Trainor scored six goals and along with several other teammates helped earn Windham its 12th consecutive win.

Windham junior Abby Trainor, center between both signs, 
celebrates with her teammates after she scored her 200th
career lacrosse goal at Windham High School on Tuesday,
June 3 against Gorham. PHOTO NY MATT PASCARELLA 

“I think the stats just come as the season goes on,” said Trainor. “The more we progress it’s just so easy for the ball to get in my stick because there are so many teammates and almost all of our goals are assisted, and that’s why the 200th goal stat was reached so much earlier than most other teams. It felt amazing especially on an eight-meter penalty shot; there’s the intensity ... and once I heard the ping (of the ball hitting the goalpost and going in) all of my teammates jumped up and I kind of got excited; inside I know that my team supports me and the fans and everyone from Windham – everyone supports each other. That’s why it felt so good because everyone was around me.”

According to Trainor, to reach this point in her athletic career took a lot of hard work, on and off the field in the summer and fall. It also helps that the team is closeknit and spends time together outside of the season, which only makes them stronger and builds up their chemistry – which is why they have been so successful this season.

Trainor scored her 199th goal in less than the first minute of play. Shortly before the end of the first quarter, Trainor scored goal 200 on a penalty shot.

“(Abby hitting this milestone as a junior) is incredible,” said Windham varsity girls’ lacrosse coach Matt Perkins. “Our program has been around 15 years, give-or-take, we’ve never had anyone over 150 goals and she’s a junior, so that’s pretty incredible. She works so hard on the ride, she causes turnovers. If you watch our ride, she and Morgan and the rest of them, they work their tails off and Abby’s steering that like ‘push, push, push, get the ball back, get the ball back.’ She’s so good in there which raises us at that level. The other thing about her game is she and Neve and Grace have elevated everyone around them. We have kids who weren’t varsity players last year who are scoring, and they’re scoring from all different areas and different players and it’s just unselfish play – if it’s there I’ll score, if I can pass, I’ll pass. That unselfish attitude has been so huge for this team.”

Roughly a year ago, Trainor achieved her 100th career goal. After this, Trainor did not set out to achieve another 100 goals. She credited her teammates for making it so easy for her to score.

“Abby is such a fun player to work with, I’ve played with her since middle school,” said Windham senior and teammate Grace Joly. “I’ve learned so much from her, everybody looks up to her on the team and she contributes so much on the field. She’s always setting everyone else up and also taking the best drives for herself. She’s so talented and I can’t wait to see where she goes ... I’m so sad I’m going to miss her next year when I’m not here. It’s just an incredible accomplishment.”

Trainor’s goals for the future are to help Windham win a state championship.

“That would be better than any personal accolade ever,” said Trainor. <

WHS varsity field hockey overpowers Noble in preseason match

By Matt Pascarella

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.

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

Based upon this early contest, Windham is gearing up to have an incredible field hockey season.

“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. <