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The 17 senior members of the Woodstock football team and the three senior members of the cheerleading squad were honored on Senior Day prior to the football game Nov. 5. Photo by Tyler McCarthy/Woodstock Academy.
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Christian Menounos (in uniform) celebrates with teammates , from left: Charles Cagiano, Colton Sallum and Vince Bastura after he qualified for the New England championship. Photo by Joe Banas/ Woodstock Academy.
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Five members of the Woodstock Academy volleyball team were recognized prior to the ECC Div. 1 tournament championship match. From left: Ellie Nunes was named the team’s Sportsmanship Award recipient and Morgan Bonin, Liliana Bottone and Sophie Gronski were named ECC first team All-Stars. Leila MacKinnon (not pictured) was named the team’s Scholar-Athlete. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
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ECC Soccer Awards
Boys’ soccer players, from left: Brian Jameson (Scholar-Athlete); Wyatt Robbie (ECC Div. I All-Star) and Owen Tracy (Sportsmanship Award) received their honors prior to the ECC Div. 1 championship match last week. Jeff Phongsa and Noah Page, not pictured, were named ECC Div. I Honorable Mention. Photo courtesy of Woodstock Academy.
Last year, the Woodstock Academy football team put up a banner in the Alumni Fieldhouse for a first time after it captured the ECC Div. II title.
The Centaurs have put themselves in a position where they could add another title to their growing legacy as they downed Fitch, 38-22 Nov. 5.
It was the first win for the Centaurs over an ECC Div. team since Oct., 31, 2009 when they downed NFA, 21-18.
But it also improved the Centaurs record in the four-team Div. I to 1-1, tied with the other three, E. Lyme, NFA and Fitch.
The Wildcats helped Woodstock’s chances when they defeated the Vikings Nov. 4 bring the division into the four-way tie.
Now, Woodstock Academy needs the team it just defeated to help them this Friday.
Should the Centaurs down the Wildcats on Friday night and if Fitch can defeat East Lyme, the Centaurs would claim the Div. I title by virtue of their win over the Falcons.
The player sporting one of the biggest smiles following Saturday’s game was senior Marcus McGregor. He had never played football prior to his coming to Woodstock and stepped on to the field last year as a junior.
In his first game at the Bentley last year, the defensive lineman picked off a pass and returned it to the end zone.
In his final game on the home turf Saturday, McGregor made another special play which ensured the victory over the Falcons.
On the first play of the final quarter with the Centaurs up, 25-22, Fitch was forced to punt from its own end zone. McGregor was lined up at defensive end.
Punter Ben Perry was in the end zone when McGregor literally took the ball off Perry’s foot and cradled it for the touchdown.
The Centaurs (4-3) certainly were prepared for Fitch and early on, had the Falcons on their heels.
On the first series, Carter Saracina, normally a wide out, lined up in the back field twice and ran the ball on a pair of pitches.
It was just the start of a big day for the senior receiver who rushed for 55 yards, caught three passes for 53 more and even threw a pass to Brandon Nagle (4 catches, 71 yards) that netted 26 yards.
McDermott completed a seven-play, 65-yard drive on the Centaurs first possession when he powered the ball in on a 3-yard run out of the wildcat formation.
The Centaurs immediately got another shot when Austin Amlaw intercepted a pass but the drive stalled at the Fitch 25.
After the Falcons turned the ball over on downs at their own 34, the Centaurs had another good chance but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Henry Wotton.
The Centaurs stopped Fitch on downs at the Woodstock 25 early in the second quarter and drove to the Fitch 24.
The Falcons intercepted a Teddy Richardson pass to briefly stall the Centaurs drive which resumed when Fitch fumbled two plays later and the Centaurs recovered.
On the next play, Saracina was barely touched as he scored from 13 yards out to make it 17-0.
The Falcons (4-4) scored the next 22 unanswered points.
Perry (9-for-21 passing, 105 yards) found Adonis Fine open in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard score and then threw to Kevin Saintvil for a 9-yard score with 11 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to three, 17-14, at the half.
Fitch then went ahead when Perry hit Calvin McCoy on a 29-yard strike to the Centaurs 1-yard line and on the next play, pushed the ball over the goal line himself.
But as fast as Fitch struck back, it shot itself in the foot on the next Woodstock possession.
Two major penalties, an unsportsmanlike call and a flag for pass interference, helped the Centaurs move 30 yards downfield to the Falcons 26-yard line.
Richardson (10-for-20 passing, 141 yards) hit Lucas Theriaque (3 catches, 43 yards) at the Fitch 1-yard line and then scored himself on a sneak on the next play to put the Centaurs ahead to stay, 25-22.
McGregor followed the Richardson score with his own off the blocked punt and Saracina finished things off offensively with the 26-yard catch for a score with 6:49 left.
Theriaque then closed the door with his second interception of the game.
Prior to the game, Woodstock honored its 17 seniors. Saucier got to greet 16 of his players as they were introduced on the field with their families and then was introduced himself, with his family and his son, Braiden.
Menounos qualifies for New Englands
It can be a lonely feeling. While high school cross-country is a team sport when the postseason comes, it does change.
Individuals can qualify for races even if their team does not and that can change the dynamic.
Nov. 3, prior to the CIAC State Open championship, Woodstock sophomore Christian Menounos was out on the track on the school’s South Campus, doing stretching exercises by himself. That continued on Friday at the race itself.
While he was the only one on the course competitively Nov. 4 for the Centaurs, Menounos was not entirely alone at the race.
“The last half-mile I heard my teammates yelling that I was in 27th place. I was like ‘I’m not letting this go’ I kicked as hard I could to the finish line,” Menounos said.
He knew he had to finish in the top 25 to qualify for the New England championship.
He finished 22nd in 16 minutes, 42 seconds and qualified for the New England’s Nov. 12 at Ponaganset High School.
Menounos becomes the first boys’ cross-country runner from Woodstock since Kevin Graham in 2004 to qualify for the New England championship.
Centaurs fall in volleyball
The same word has been haunting the Woodstock volleyball team. Consistency.
The fourth-seeded Centaurs went into their ECC quarterfinal with No. 5 Fitch as the favorite as they had downed the Falcons in the two regular season meetings between the teams. The third time, however, was the charm for Fitch.
The Groton-based school handed Woodstock a 3-1 loss to advance to the league semifinals on their home floor against top-seeded Griswold.
The Centaurs (12-9) trailed just about the entire way through the first set until late.
A block by Morgan Bonin and a kill by Mia Sorrentino cut the Fitch lead to one, 23-22. But a service error gave the Falcons the serve back and they capitalized as Katie Touhy, the Falcons middle hitter, put in a hard spike to give the Falcons a 25-22 win.
Touhy finished with 11 kills.
Woodstock did rebound early in the second set and behind a strong service run by Cassidy Ladd opened a 7-2 lead. But the momentum gradually swung back to Fitch with the visitors taking the lead for good at 15-14.
Cahill (16 kills) finished things off with a pair of kills to give the Falcons a 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead in sets.
It looked like Fitch was going to complete the sweep as it took the lead in the third set at 5-4 and held on to it until the Centaurs tied it at 23.
Woodstock senior Leila MacKinnon finished off the comeback getting help from a kill by Reegan Reynolds to tie it before she delivered an ace and then watched as Fitch could not return her third service. It gave the Centaurs a new lease on life in the match with a 25-23 win.
But four service errors in the final set came at crucial moments and Fitch utilized them to take the early lead that it would never surrender, posting a 25-17 win to advance to the semifinals.
Liliana Bottone had 14 kills and 13 digs, Sophie Gronski had 27 assists and Bonin finished with seven kills and five digs.
The Centaurs did qualify for the Class L state tournament which began on Tuesday. (The match ended too late for this edition).
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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