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Roundup
Alpine team
gets 1st test
For the first time ever, the Woodstock Academy Alpine Ski team could score as a team in a Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League competition. The Centaurs girls finished eighth in their inaugural outing.
Woodstock coach Kevin Brody said the sport is dominated by girls especially on the high school level and that’s where the Centaurs strength lies. The girls’ team tripled in size from last season, with the influence of both Eliza Simpson and Emma Brody.
Simpson led the way with a fifth-place finish out of 150 female competitors last week.
Kevin Brody said one of the keys for Simpson and the team as a whole was the ability to practice the weekend before. Weather had threatened but did not impact the practice session and each athlete was able to make at least 16 gate-training runs down the mountain.
“Eliza had a good night (at the first competition last) Thursday. Her first run was a little shaky, but everything fell back into place for her on the second run,” Kevin Brody said. They’re working to add speed.
Emma Brody was also impressive with a 19th-place individual finish and Emma Reino placed 73rd.
On the boys’ side, junior Davis Simpson was ninth out of 150 competitors and Anthony Listro was 78th.
“It doesn’t have to be powder, but I’ll take anything white and cold on the ground. Time on snow really makes a difference for the improvement of alpine athletes. We’re not like any other sport; we don’t have gyms or arenas to train in. We rely on cold to make this happen,” Kevin Brody said.
Indoor Track
The Woodstock boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams competed inside a brand new multi-million dollar indoor facility in Bethel and had great results. The girls had a couple first-place finishes with senior Linsey Arends crossing the line first in the mile in 5 minutes, 44 seconds and junior Bella Sorrentino was best in the shotput with a throw of 31-feet, 9 ¼ inches and was also second in the long jump.
Arends joined Lauren Brule, Talia Tremblay, and Isabella Selmecki to capture a first-place finish in the 4x400m relay and the quartet also qualified for the States. The 4x200m relay team of Juliet Allard, Ava Coutu, Sorrentino and Selmecki also qualified for States. Magdalena Myslenski finished second in the pole vault by clearing the bar at 7-feet and also qualified for State competition in so doing. Julia Coyle was second in the 3200m and third in the mile and Allard finished third in the 55m hurdles with a personal-best time of 9.55 seconds.
On the boys’ side, Vince Bastura was first in the 3200m (10:54) and second in the 1600m (4:48.40). Keenan LaMontagne was best in the shotput with a heave of 47-1 ¼ and teammate Jared Eaton was second (41-8). The sprint medley team of Braedon Emerson, Jack Marshall, Jeff Phongsa, and Christian Menounos finished second; the distance medley relay team of Joel Koleszar, Gavin Grant, Caleb Koleszar and Seamus Lippy was third.
Boys’ Hockey
Get the puck on the net. That was the order from the Woodstock bench and junior center Max Larkin delivered. With just 1 minute, 28 seconds left in overtime, Larkin found himself alone in front of the net with the puck.
The goal gave Woodstock a 6-5 win over the E.O. Smith-Tolland. It was their first game since Dec. 27. The team had suffered a bout with COVID and were still missing players going into the mid-week game.
“We were short multiple varsity guys who play a lot of varsity minutes and it definitely showed especially on defense,” said coach Kevin Bisson. “It was good to see our defense gut that one out. “
The Bucks (5-2) scored just 43 seconds into the game. Larkin, off a pass from Chris Thibault, knotted the score at 1 just under four minutes later but E.O. Smith-Tolland scored the next two goals. Zach Girard cut the deficit in half with a goal with 1:30 left in the first period.
The Centaurs then tied it five minutes into the second when Don Sousa tallied with help from Jared Nielsen (3 assists) and Maxx Corradi. The Centaurs took the lead 8:07 into the period when Noah Sampson scored but the Bucks would tie it. Sousa struck again with 7:09 left in regulation to put the Centaurs up, 5-4, off an assist from Sampson.
E.O. Smith – Tolland forced the overtime with a goal. The Bucks had the better of it early in overtime but the Centaurs rebounded in the eight-minute period with Don Sousa doing everything he could to get his freshman brother, Dante, his first varsity win in goal.
Sousa fired four shots, all of them that had possibilities of going in, but were just turned away. It was Larkin who broke through.
Later in the week, the Centaurs played over-the-border rival, Auburn on Saturday and fell to the Rockets, 5-2. The loss dropped the Centaurs to 2-3 on the season.
The Centaurs found themselves in a hole early. Dillon Winkelmann and Owen Stattenfield scored within 22 seconds of each other in the first 2 ½ minutes of the game. Auburn would own a 3-0 lead with a goal.
In the second period the Centaurs outshot Auburn, 12-5, and one of those went in. Thibault scored his second goal of the season off assists from Larkin and Kyle Brennan to make it a two-goal game.
The Centaurs almost fought off a two-man Auburn advantage to start the third period and got one of its number back on the ice but just before the second penalty expired, Valone netted his second goal of the night.
Corradi scored just 1:25 later off assists from Ryan Wallace and Sampson but Woodstock Academy could not find the net again and Auburn scored an empty-net goal to account for the final.
Girls’ Hockey
There wasn’t much more senior goalie Mia Dang could do. She turned aside 30 Auburn shots to keep the Centaurs girls’ hockey team in its Central Massachusetts League game with the Rockets.
Unfortunately, three did get through and Auburn skated away with the 3-0 victory. The Centaurs fell to 0-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the league with the loss.
“Mia was fantastic,” said coach Eric Roy. “The game could have easily been 10-0, but she stood on her head and was a true leader. She calmed everything down and saw every puck well. It was a great game for her.” The Centaurs, however, are still looking for some offense.
A rapid succession of games would help. “We have had COVID and haven’t had a consistent full team with a set of games. After (last) week, when we get back to a little more normal; practice, game, practice, game, routine things should come more together,” Roy said.
Girls’ Basketball
The youngsters came through for the girls’ basketball team against Amistad Academy. Freshmen Eva Monahan and Sophia Sarkis and sophomore Kerry Blais were all key components in a 54-40 win over Amistad Academy.
“It’s good to see; good to see they have that confidence. They are all going in and scoring, and being aggressive,” said junior point guard Leila MacKinnon.
The Centaurs had a 10-point halftime lead, 19-9, and almost doubled that in the third quarter, bringing it up to as many as 18.
The Wolves (0-3) went on a 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter and cut the lead to five, 37-32.
But Monahan (14 points) quelled the Amistad momentum with a pair of free throws and a basket.
Amistad scored, but the Centaurs answered with the next seven points including a pair each by Sarkis and Blais, who both finished with 10 points, to go up by a comfortable 14 points, 48-34, with 2 minutes, 58 seconds to play. Reegan Reynolds added seven points.
Woodstock finished off the week with a 3-6 record after a loss to Bacon Academy. Monahan led the Centaurs with eight points while Blais and Madison Brown each added five against the Bobcats.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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