No stopping Lady Eagles - By Stephanie Coffin

Windham Lady Eagles hosted the Biddeford Tigers Tuesday night; which was also senior night for the lady Eagles.  The team and crowd took time to acknowledge the seniors: Katie Herzig, Sadie Nelson, Erin Merchant, Maddie Mauro, Ciera Berthiaume, Mary Brackett and Sarah Rich.  Keeping with their record the Eagles won the game 2-0.

Ciera Berthiume scored the first goal in the first half of the game, continuing to be a driving force against the Tigers throughout the game.

Caitlyn Winn produced the second goal of the game for the Eagles in the second half giving the Eagles a slight cushion to the score board.

The Biddeford Tigers kept the momentum of the game at an even level as they tried to pressure the Eagles defensive line. Though the Tigers were able to take a few shots on goal and drove the ball down field they were unable to score.

 

Athlete of the week - Lyndsey Arsenault

The athlete of the week is Lyndsey Arsenault, a 16-year-old junior from Windham High School, where she plays soccer, basketball and lacrosse. On the soccer field she plays left midfield. When not competing herself, she likes hanging out with her friends, playing and watching sports. 

 

Her sports hero is Abby Wambach. 

Deb LeBel nominated Lyndsey because of her consistent work ethic. “Lyndsey isn't one of our big goal scorers so she doesn't get a lot of press; but she has had to mark some extremely talented opponents and often stopped dangerous attacks from happening.  Lyndsey often helps set up our attack, but is never one to slack off on defense.  Lyndsey is a rare three sport athlete.  Lyndsey is a role model to younger players that you can play three sports and excel in all of them,” said LeBel.

Teamwork is important to Lyndsey. “When you play as a team you win as a team.  It's not always about who scored the goal, but who played good defense and the plays that led up to the goal.”

On the balance between sports and school, Lyndsey said, “It is sometimes difficult to balance academics and athletics.  In our family academics always comes first, so even if I have a late game I know I need to find time to study.  I have found that having good time management skills really helps.”

 Lyndsey’s family includes her mom Julie, dad Tony, step-mom Sue, brothers Brandon, Cameron and Matt. She would like to go to college to study marketing management.

Windham Cross Country in Vermont - By Nathaniel Bennett

Thirteen members of Windham High School’s varsity cross country team challenged themselves this past Saturday over an arduous course in Vermont amongst 1,418 other runners. Thetford Academy’s 25th Annual 5K Woods Trail Run hosted teams from all over New England on a beautiful, sunny fall day. 

Thirteen athletes, six girls and seven boys, from Windham piled anxiously and excitedly into five cars Friday with a group of equally anxious parents and coach for the long drive to Vermont.

Race day was exciting as pairs and trios of Windham High School’s best runners lined up toe to toe with seeded groupings of hundreds of colorfully dressed athletes. With the firing of the gun, a stampede of racers dashed off over a knoll and into the woods. This spectator-friendly course allowed observers to monitor racer progress at several points and various distances despite the cover of forest.

 

Windham’s runners had a great experience and gained a sense for this course which will be the site for this year’s New England Regional championship. Knowledge of this course will be crucial as they forge ahead for upcoming meets with that in sight for November.

Several members of the varsity team were unable to join the team for the race as it was a date for taking SATs, but they did drive up after the test on Saturday to join the rest of the team for an evening of fun and team building. The junior varsity team competed in Belfast on this same day. It wasn’t the same not having all members of the entire team there at the race to team agreed.

Athlete of the week - Maddy Mooradian

Maddy Mooradian is The Windham Eagle athlete of the week. Maddy if 14 years old and is a freshman at Windham High School. She lives with her mom Robbyn, her father Chris, her sisters Anita and Christina and two dogs. 

She plays softball and is on the golf and ski teams. She also enjoys hanging out with her friends and camping. 

“Maddy has an outstanding attitude and work ethic. Every time she is at practice it’s about improving to her. With her skills, desire and great spirit, she will be an asset to the WHS golf team,” said coach Adam Manzo. 

Maddy looks up to Tim Tebow and golfer Jordan Spieth. To Maddy there is no contest between what’s important to her. “School comes first. I get done what I need to then do my sports.” 

When it comes to teamwork she said, “If you show up with a good attitude, then you and your team will work well together to make it a good game.”

She wants to go into the medical field and play golf, after college, she said.

Showdown from last year's top two football teams - By Stephanie Coffin

Everywhere you looked at Windham High school varsity field was lined with fans from both the home team, the Windham Eagles, and the visiting team from the Thornton Academy, the Trojans. It appeared to be standing room only, as the bleachers were full and the fence was lined shoulder to shoulder with fans. All these fans wanted to see what would happen when the Eagles faced off against the Trojans after last year’s championship game that ended with the Trojans taking the Class A title.

Thornton Academy was shut down in the first half of the game while Windham's running game hammered the defending Class A champions. Windham's Kyle Houser, Griffin Jacobson and quarterback Desmond Leslie had good yardage in the first half.

After coming off the Eagles only loss against Portland last week in which they were only able to score three points in the game, putting up 24 points in the first half alone was a sight to see. Thornton Academy was able to get on the board during the second half of the game, but it wasn't enough to help them. Everyone seemed to be looking at this game as a re-match of last year’s Class A state game; however, the difference this time was that the Eagles weren't about to let the outcome be the same.

Windham (3-1) wasn’t expected to win this game because of the season-ending injuries of skilled players Dylan Koza and Eric Webb. Both Koza and Webb were in attendance with casts and crutches to help represent the Eagles and when the game started you could feel the excitement in the air.

The game was a fast paced one, the players on both sides hurrying to the line of scrimmage to see who would get the first points on the board. The Eagles made that happen as junior Kyle Houser gave the Eagles a 6-0 lead with 4:33 left in the first quarter when he scored on a 53-yard run. Houser appeared to be stopped soon after the line of scrimmage; however, he kept moving, pushing through the players and finding the openings. This play by Houser was Channel 13s play of the night and nominated for the play of the week.

A Thornton fumble, recovered by lineman Gerry Valliere, set the Eagles up for their second score. Three plays later, quarterback Desmond Leslie bulled his way from 14 yards out to make it 14-0 after Robert Innis’ field goal kick. Innis’ 17-yard field goal made it 17-0 with 8:39 left in the first half. The momentum of the Eagles continued when Mitchell Eskilson intercepted a Thornton Academy pass from McCrum that in turn set up another Windham score before halftime. Griffin Jacobson took over eventually scoring from the 1-yard line.

Thornton Academy (3-1) was able to look like they came to play late in the third quarter. Quarterback McCrum started finding his receivers and passed to Ben Lambert for a 6-yard score. At the start of the fourth quarter, Windham was stopped on fourth down as the they set up to punt the ball Jacobson ran for 33-yards on a fake punt which brought the Eagles deep into Thornton Academy territory. After several more attempts by the Trojans to pass the ball down field and another interception by Blake Houser the game finally ended. 

“We’re back, we’re back” the Windham players shouted after the postgame handshakes. “We needed to get back on track after last week,” said Jacobson. “We’re a good team.” 

 “To come back after last week’s loss and beat a team everyone is saying is the best in the state is a testament to our team’s heart,” said coach Matt Perkins. “I thought we shut down their running game for most of the game." “Everyone counted us out,” said Perkins to his team. “They said we were down.” 

The Eagles will travel to Lewiston to face the Lewiston Blue Devils Friday night, October 2nd.