Field hockey: No. 7 Concord beats No. 11 Windham, 1-0, in preliminary round

The Concord High field hockey team celebrats Claire Brown’s goal in the third quarter that broke a tense 0-0 scoreline and pushed the Crimson Tide to a win in the preliminary round of Division I tournament against Windham.

The Concord High field hockey team celebrats Claire Brown’s goal in the third quarter that broke a tense 0-0 scoreline and pushed the Crimson Tide to a win in the preliminary round of Division I tournament against Windham. Chip Griffin / Photos by Chip

Midfielder Nadia Hanna sends a low driven ball to forward Claire Brown to score Concord's goal in a 1-0 win over Windham on Tuesday

Midfielder Nadia Hanna sends a low driven ball to forward Claire Brown to score Concord's goal in a 1-0 win over Windham on Tuesday Chip Griffin—Photos by Chip

The Crimson Tide walked off the field victoriously after beating Windham in the preliminary round and will face No. 2 Dover on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide walked off the field victoriously after beating Windham in the preliminary round and will face No. 2 Dover on Saturday. Chip Griffin—Photos by Chip

Senior forward Claire Brown dribbled well, generated corners in the opposing circle and scored the winning goal for the Crimson Tide in the third quarter

Senior forward Claire Brown dribbled well, generated corners in the opposing circle and scored the winning goal for the Crimson Tide in the third quarter Chip Griffin—Photos by Chip

Windham's defense was strong and contained Concord for large parts of the game, but a small error cost them a goal and the game

Windham's defense was strong and contained Concord for large parts of the game, but a small error cost them a goal and the game Chip Griffin—Photos by Chip

By ALEXANDER RAPP

Monitor staff

Published: 10-23-2024 8:46 PM

Modified: 10-24-2024 10:35 AM


The seventh-seeded Crimson Tide’s field hockey team narrowly beat the No. 10 Windham Jaguars (6-11-0) in a deadlocked preliminary-round playoff game, 1-0. Concord (13-4-0) will move on to play away at Dover (13-2-1) on Saturday for the quarterfinal. 

Concord’s lone goal came late in the third quarter with a minute to go. Claire Brown got the end of her stick on a low-driven ball from midfielder Nadia Hanna, something they had practiced often in preparation for the game.

“That was a very big deal for Claire. That was a goal of hers all season, was to get a tip in. So that was really nice,” said head coach Nicole Armaganian.

The goal was a jubilant relief for the Tide who had been struggling to get the ball forward in the first half. The Tide gave up six corners to Windham in the first half but were able to defuse the attempts on goal within the circle with ease and goalkeeper Brooke Nelson was able to keep the clean sheet.

“We started slow. We talked about how you can't start slow in a playoff game,” said Armaganian “Windham was not the same team we faced initially. They had us on our heels the first half, so I think it just kind of took us a little bit to realize Windham is really good, and we needed to step in front of the ball first.”

The team was facing some injuries to the starting line-up but was able to pull off the win. Positionally, the team improved throughout the game and found the weaknesses through the middle that it could exploit.

“I had to shift people around. We have a couple of injuries that messed with our starting lineup. So kind of it took me a good quarter to figure out who needed to be where,” said Concord’s coach.

Facing second-seeded Dover will be a big challenge, but in the earlier clash between the two teams earlier this month Concord escaped with a 2-1 win away. However, the Tide is not even taking a day off from practice and is hungry to prepare for the next challenge according to coach Armaganian.

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“We need to regather. We need to get our heads in it,” she said. “Dover is tough.”