WINDHAM — The Windham and Thornton Academy girls’ soccer teams are not strangers. In addition to facing each other in the regular season, they’ve met in the playoffs in two of the three previous seasons.
The Eagles beat the Trojans in the playoffs again, winning 4-1 in a Class A South preliminary game Monday behind two goals by Hannah Kaplan.
Windham beat Thornton Academy in the regional final in 2013 and the regional semifinals in 2014.
Windham also beat Thornton Academy in the regular season this year, 2-0 on Sept. 16.
The sixth-seeded Eagles (10-2-3) advance to play No. 3 Cheverus in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
No. 11 Thornton Academy ends the season 8-7.
Windham, which won Class A state titles in 2013 and 2014, was in the rare spot of having to win a prelim game. Advancing to the quarterfinals was motivation for the Eagles.
“(This year) was the first time we haven’t had a bye in years, so the kids were not ready to go home tonight,” said Windham Coach Deb Lebel.
“It made me super proud that they said, ‘No, we’re going to fight for this.’ ”
The game was tight for the majority of the first half, with each team controlling large chunks of time in windy conditions.
Windham, however, took control on goals by Kaplan and Lindsay Arsenault two minutes apart with 2:53 left before intermission.
“Scoring those two goals was extremely important,” said Kaplan. “It set the tone for the whole game for us.”
Thornton Academy had chances in the first half, including two open shots from about 25 yards out by Elizabeth Bell, but couldn’t finish.
“(The two first-half goals) was a little bit of a back breaker because I thought we were playing very well in the first 20 minutes (of the first half). We were in their end most of the time,” said Thornton Academy Coach Chris Kohl. “That’s been the story of our season, not being able to convert.”
Windham pushed its lead to 3-0 with just under 12 left in the game when Kaplan scored for the second time.
Kaplan buried a rebound of a free kick by Emily Kent, which was saved by Thornton Academy goalie Abigail Cook, who finished with 19 saves.
Hannah Niles pulled the Trojans within 3-1 three minutes later when she took advantage of a rare misplay by the Eagles’ defense and volleyed a shot past goalie Kaitlyn Roberts (three saves).
Maggie Symonds made it 4-1 for the Eagles with 5:12 left.
The Eagles advance to face Cheverus, a team they rallied to tie 3-3 on Sept. 21.
“We are ready for Cheverus. We didn’t play well the first time we played them,” Lebel said. “We are happy with our draw.”
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