RallyNorth.net

Exeter whips Windham in D1 final

Thursday, September, 02 By Dave Dyer

EXETER — The magical tournament run for the Windham girls soccer team came to an end in the Division 1 state championship game Sunday afternoon.

The Jaguars could not unseating powerful defending champion Exeter, falling 5-0.

But no one was up to the challenge against the Blue Hawks, who concluded a dominating 13-0 season with their 11th shutout while outscoring their opponents by a whopping 66-2 count.

“They’re defending champions for a reason,” said Windham coach Matt Bryant, whose club finished 5-5-2. “They have an awful lot of talent and they’re the best team we’ve seen.

“I thought we were ready for their intensity, but we made mental errors in the first half and didn’t execute like we have been.”

Exeter was particularly dominant in the first half, when it took a 3-0 lead, forcing Windham goalie Jess Thibodeau to make 13 saves, often of the spectacular fashion. The Blue Hawks’ first goal came after two saves just eight minutes into the game.

Exeter also scored off a corner kick and a free kick before the intermission while the Jaguars failed to get a shot on net and rarely got the ball past midfield.

But Windham played much better in the second half. The Jaguars had possession in Exeter territory for good stretches of the time and had three shots on goal. Exeter’s only second-half goals came on a breakaway and a rebound following a brilliant diving save by Thibodeau.

“I thought Jess make a lot of nice saves and she’s the main reason we’re here,” said Bryant. “We had two shootout wins in the tournament so that tells a lot.”

Although outplayed for much of the game, Bryant felt that the Jaguars deserved to be in the championship game and that their final 5-5-2 record is deceiving.

“We started two weeks after everyone else (due to coronavirus) and we had one 45-minute practice before our first game,” said Bryant. “We just kept getting better and better the more we played. I think you saw the two best (Division 1) teams in New Hampshire today.”

Exeter 5, Windham 0

Division 1 state final

Goals: Elisa Delgado, Callie Neils, Taylor Pierce, Ella Fraser, Meagan Rousseau

Saves: W — Jess Thibodeau 18; E — Kailey Hall 3

Windham (5-5-2): 0 0 — 0

Exeter (13-0): 3 2 — 5