Centaurs pg 7 10-7-21
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Get well soon. It has been the mantra of the Woodstock Academy volleyball team the past couple of weeks. Illness and injuries prohibited the Centaurs from playing two matches. But this week, the Centaurs have returned to the court. Barely. Only seven players and two assistant coaches have been available to participate.
“It’s not easy but we have adjusted," said assistant coach Alyssa Icart.
Icart was on the bench in place of head coach Adam Bottone who has also been sidelined.
But even facing those odds and playing two matches in two nights, the Centaurs did pull out a win. They improved to 1-1 in Div. I of the ECC, breaking a five-match losing streak, with a 3-1 victory over NFA. That followed on the heels of a 3-0 loss to Fitch the night before.
Annarose Avery and most of her teammates played the entire match. The only substitution the team was capable of making was at Libero.
It didn’t start all that well for Woodstock against NFA. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 11-point advantage in the first set, 14-3, and were closing in on the win at 20-10.
But the Centaurs rallied --- freshman Liliana Bottone delivered four consecutive service points including two aces to cut the lead to five, 20-15.
It was 22-19 when another junior, Jade Desmond, got the ball behind the service line and delivered three straight points to tie the match at 22. But the Wildcats rallied for the 25-23 win. Woodstock jumped out early in the second set as freshman Sophie Gronski broke a 6-all tie with three consecutive aces and added another later to put the Centaurs up, 13-6.
NFA tied the set at 20 but Gronski delivered three more of her 10 service points on the night and the Centaurs prevailed, 25-21.
It was sophomore Reegan Reynolds who delivered seven early service points in the third set, including a pair of aces, and helped Woodstock to an early 12-6 lead. The Centaurs went on to win the third set, 25-22, and won the match with a 25-22 fourth set victory.
Bottone has been rotating Avery and Gronski at setter early this season. With the lack of players, Avery remained at setter the entire game against NFA and finished with a season-high 32 assists.
The Centaurs saw a 3-1 loss to Ledyard to fall to 2-6 on the season. Boardman had 18 kills and 11 service points in the loss to the Colonels (6-3). Cassidy Chabot returned to the lineup and the freshman added 15 digs.
The Centaurs had a difficult time against undefeated Fitch on the road early in the week. Fitch captured the win in straight sets, 25-13, 25-22 and 25-13. Boardman had 12 kills in the loss, Gronski had 15 digs.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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PMS pg 7 10-7-21
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PMS soccer
team improves
PUTNAM — The Putnam Middle School boys’ soccer team fell to powerhouse Baldwin Middle School last week. Baldwin won 7 - 1 but the boys played much better this week than the score would indicate, according to Head Coach Adam Heath. The lone goal came off a beautiful set-up pass from Trevor Lamothe and header into the left side of the goal from Joao Victor Viera.
Goalies Benjamin Mayo and Logan Walker both spent time in net and played much better this week for the squad. Defense and mid-field tightened up their play anchored big time by Nikoli Kostovski, Lucas Carpio, Avery Cruz, Abdoulaye Mbye, and Devin LeBeau.
Heath said the team is very young compared to the others in the league but the boys are coming along nicely and working better and harder each day.
The next game is at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Ashford Middle School.
The Putnam’s record stands at 0-3.
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Some pg 7 10-7-21
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Some field hockey wins,
fund-raising for team
POMFRET — October for the Pomfret School varsity field hockey team means fund-raising to support local breast cancer patients and bring awareness to the school community.
This year they raised more than $2,000 to support the good work at Day Kimball Hospital and allow the team a denim and pink dress down day Oct. 1.
Then the team wore pink in its Oct. 2 game against Canterbury School.
The field hockey team is 2-4 overall and 2-3 in WNEPSFHA. Wins over Hopkins School (New Haven) and Marianapolis (Thompson) earlier this week got the team in the win column before a close 2-1 loss to Canterbury (New Milford) over the weekend.
Grace Long ’23 leads the team with five goals and one assist while co-captains Cate Gallagher ’22 and Emma McLean ’22 have three goals and one assist in the young season. Brooke Zahansky ’22 (Pomfret) has two goals and one assist with goalie Keira O’Brien ’25 (Stonington) recording two shutouts in her first season for the Griffins and first playing in the goal.
The team heads to Kingswood-Oxford Oct. 6 and hosts Ethel Walker Oct. 8 in league match-ups.
By Louisa Gebelein Jones
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Two pg 7 10-7-21
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John Cavaliere was happy to use his connections to land his new coaching job at Putnam Science Academy. Nick Schmidt was hoping to use anything but his connections to land one, too.
Both were hired recently to be the new head coaches of PSA’s Elite and Varsity boys’ basketball teams, respectively.
The 33-year-old Cavaliere spent the last eight years at Concordia College, where he worked his way up from volunteer assistant to head coach. Running the Clippers the last three years, Cavaliere opened a pipeline with PSA, bringing on two former Mustangs – Dan Porcic and Luc Brittian – to play for him there. When Concordia closed down in the spring, Cavaliere went looking for another college job. But a certain prep school came calling.
“Because we were so small,” Cavaliere said, “and because we didn’t have success, and because I had my head down and was trying to build that thing as best I could, I probably didn’t have the best connections throughout colleges. It ends up that the connections I built here, when a spot opened up, Coach Espinosa reached out. I only had to think about a little bit. I love the commitment to excellence here. The standards that they put in, and how successful they are and how their kids are successful.”
Schmidt’s connections to the school are not quite as direct. His father is long-time St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt, who has had great success recruiting PSA players in the last few years, namely Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi.
After graduating from Alfred University, where he was a four-year member of the basketball team, Schmidt served as a graduate assistant coach for two years under his father, and worked closely with Lofton and Osunniyi. He then took a position as an assistant coach at Division III Catholic University in Washington, D.C., last year, and was offered the position with the Mustangs in late summer. This will be his first head coaching job.
“I never want to ride (my dad’s) coattails,” he said. “I never liked that title of being ‘Schmidty’s kid.’ I wanted to make my own name. I could’ve stayed at St. Bonaventure and been with him my whole career. But I wanted to do it my own way. You’re not just trying to use your dad’s name, you’re doing it on your own. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Both have already paid immediate dividends to the program. Not only are they working with their own teams, but they are at every Prep team practice as well, running drills and working with guys one-on-one.
“Both of these guys are going to bring so much to our program, and not just as the coach of their own teams, but also assisting me at the Prep level,” Tom Espinosa said. “I know we are very fortunate to have both of these guys on the sidelines at Putnam Science Academy.”
Cavaliere’s team play tough, they will play with energy, and they will be together. After that, Cavaliere said, everything else will fall into place.
“It starts with me,” he said. “I come from a philosophy of being a coach, you’re a leader by example. You must show that you’re the hardest worker in the room, provide the most energy, and be positive every single day. That can never slip. Because if you demand that from your team, you must show it yourself, otherwise you’re just not being truthful.”
“We’re not going to get outworked, we’re not going to give up. Ever. We’re not backing away, no matter who you are. We’re coming at you, we’re bringing the fight to you. If you’re able to run your stuff against us, we’re not playing our style of basketball.”
Schmidt can get loud too, though he said he’s not over-the-top.
“I’m very competitive, so I want to win. I do tend to get loud, I’m not over-the-top. If I’m yelling, it’s for a reason. Usually it’s just to get the guys going a little bit. I’m not a yeller. If I’m mad at you for something, I’m just going to pull you aside, I’m not going to try to embarrass you or anything.
“For me being a coach the biggest thing, my biggest philosophy, is having relationships with my players,” Nick said. “No matter what you do on the court, it’s about how you treat the kids. I think that’s the biggest thing, having a positive impact on their lives.”
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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