RallyNorth.net

Butler does it! Windham wins title!

Monday, October, 31 By Dave Dyer

BEDFORD, N.H. — Windham sophomore Paige Butler picked the perfect time to score her first varsity goal.

Called up from the JV squad in mid-season, Butler scored the game's only goal with 4:15 left in the second overtime Sunday to lift the No. 2 seed Jaguars to a 1-0 victory over No. 1 seed Derryfield and the Division 2 state championship.

"I'm in shock right now," said Butler. "This is such a great feeling, I don't know what to say."

The state title was the first for Windham (15-2), although they reached the finals two years ago, when senior captain Rachel Estes was a sophomore starter.

"This is just so great and I think we won this year because we had better team chemistry," said Estes.

Estes, a star softball player, was involved in the winning goal, off of a penalty corner. Emma Lundquist sent the ball to Brianna Langlois, who passed it over to Estes. She fired a hard shot that began trickling past the goalie before Butler knocked it home.

In a way, it was justice that Butler got the goal because she narrowly missed two opportunities in the previous five minutes. "I was a little discouraged because I thought I had one before," she said.

After a scoreless 60 minutes, in which Derryfield had an advantage in possession, the first overtime was a stalemate, with both teams equal in shots and penalty corners, Windham started taking control in the second overtime, capped by Butler's game-winner.

"She (Butler) is great in the open field and she knows where to go," said Windham coach Katie Bourque.

That Windham (15-2) was able to prevail was also due to the work of junior goalie Abby Harris, who was sensational in the first half. Three of her six saves were goal savers, the best being a split kick save of Derryfield star Tori Sipes, with 4:20 left in the half.

Sipes, a Windham resident and the defending New Hampshire All-Around gymnastics champion, had 13 points during the season and was on the mind of Bourque throughout.

"Number 8 (Sipes) and number 1 (Madi Kochanek) are lethal scorers, so we kept saying that we have to mark them," said Bourque. "I thought we did a good job of that."