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It was not a state title or even a true league title game.
But last Friday’s Woodstock Academy – Killingly girls’ soccer match had all the emotion of a championship match.
Top-seeded Woodstock Academy and No. 2 Killingly waged a pitched battle with Killingly coming out on top, 2-1.
Coming in, the two teams were, literally, dead even. Killingly won the first meeting between the two, 3-2, with a goal in the first minute of the second overtime.
The Centaurs captured the second meeting, also played at Killingly, by the same score on a goal in the final minute of regulation. The third meeting ended in a 2-2 draw.
It meant a break here or there would decide the outcome of the rubber match.
Woodstock Academy got on the board first when Arianna Di Domizio found Lucy McDermott in the middle with a nice through ball and McDermott scored her fourth goal of the season just 9 minutes, 46 seconds into the match.
The game was played in a steady rain and a prime opportunity slipped out of the Centaurs grasp when a Peyton Saracina shot slid just outside the far post. Killingly (9-1-1) tied the match before the half when freshman Laura Farquhar got past the Woodstock Academy defense and scored.
Killingly’s game-winner came 10 ½ minutes into the second half.
It started on the right side of the field when Abbie Burgess, who is headed to the University of New Hampshire to play collegiate soccer, back flipped a no-look pass to Casey Beauregard. The sophomore looked up and found Kaleigh Hopkins making a run on the left side and lofted a pass to her. Hopkins rocketed a shot into the far upper corner from a difficult angle.
The best chance for Woodstock Academy in the second half came when Gillian Price ran on to a ball at the 18, but she was a bit off balance and her shot went harmlessly off to the right.
The Centaurs had advanced to the championship match with a 12-1 win over Windham Tech in the semifinal Nov. 11.
Saracina, who finished with 17 goals this season, got the Centaurs off to a quick start with three goals in the first 12 minutes. Snelling said it was the fastest hat trick he had seen in his time on the Centaurs sideline.
Sophomore Grace Gelhaus had a career first – five goals in a game.
Gelhaus finished the season with 16 goals.
The Centaurs posted an 8-2-1 record for the season.
Field Hockey
Woodstock Academy coach Lauren Gagnon was admittedly concerned when she first saw that the ECC tournament experience would mean the field hockey season would stretch into mid-November.
Temperatures nearing 80 degrees greeted the third-seeded Centaurs and No. 6 NFA in their ECC tournament experience first round game.
Woodstock Academy basked in the sunshine, scored three times in the first quarter, and rolled to a 5-1 win over NFA.
The Centaurs season came to a close Nov. 10.
Woodstock Academy traveled to E. Lyme where it fell to the second-seeded Vikings, 1-0, in a semifinal contest.
The Centaurs finished the season with a 6-4 record.
The Centaurs were also happy to play very well in the final appearance on the turf for the 12 seniors on the field hockey team.
Dutson was a key early. She put the Centaurs on the board just 2 minutes, 6 seconds into the game off an assist from fellow senior Alex Vaida.
Just 2:22 later, it was a 2-0 lead for the Centaurs when a rebound off NFA keeper Norah Gallagher found Rachel Canedy’s stick and she poked it back into the cage for her fifth goal of the season.
Dutson finished off the first quarter scoring when she rifled one past Gallagher from long range for her fourth tally of the season.
The Wildcats (0-5) did put one of their own on the board in the second quarter when Dakota Burns got loose from the Centaurs defense and scored a breakaway goal.
But Woodstock Academy responded late in the third quarter when Meg Preston scored her first goal of the season with 2:16 left.
Another Centaur senior, Maddie Silbermann, also scored her first goal of the season with just under three minutes to play to account for the final.
“Even most college teams don’t have anything like this (a postseason tournament) and we’re really fortunate to have this. These extra tournament games were fantastic,” Dutson said.
Prep Basketball
For a first time this season, the Woodstock Academy prep basketball teams got to play someone other than themselves.
St. Thomas More, from Oakdale, paid a visit to Woodstock Academy for a first time Nov. 13.
The Chancellors, guided by legendary coach Jere Quinn, proved to be up to the task as their postgraduate team downed the Centaurs Gold squad, 81-74.
Woodstock Academy was able to build a double-digit lead in the first half.
A pair of baskets by Tairi Kentner (11 points) and another by Dashon Gittens made it 32-21 with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left in the half.
The two teams exchanged baskets with a Justin Cross basket for the Centaurs with 3:58 left in the half putting Woodstock Academy ahead, 34-23.
It was the Centaurs last basket for the next 5 ½ minutes stretching into the second half.
In the interim, St. Thomas More scored 20 unanswered points to take as 43-34 lead just 1:15 into the second half.
Woodstock Academy fought back and got to within one, 67-66, with 4:53 left in the game thanks to a pair of free throws by Julien Soumaoro.
Soumaoro (10 points) followed with a 3-pointer to put the Centaurs up, 69-67.
But a pair of free throws by Mosaku Oluwadamilola (who finished with a game-high 17 points) and a 3-pointer by Corey Perkins put the Chancellors back up by three.
Kentner tied the game with a traditional 3-point play only to see St. Thomas More score six of the next eight points.
Three free throws in the final 25 seconds sealed it for the Chancellors.
Pipe Ajayi led the Centaurs (0-1) with 12 points.
The Centaurs Blue prep basketball team posted a 66-64 win over the St. Thomas More varsity team.
Ethan Edwards scored the game-winning basket for the Centaurs (1-0) and finished with 14 points.
Jayden Beloti led Woodstock Academy with 15 points while Kyle Alcy added 14 in the win.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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