Academy Roundup
Honoring state championship baseball team
It was a little walk down memory lane for Woodstock Academy during halftime of the Centaurs football game with Windham.
Football briefly took a back seat to baseball as the 2024 baseball team received its Class L state championship rings.
“That’s what I was looking forward to, seeing all the players again,” said baseball coach and assistant football coach Connor Elliott. “I see some around school like I have Caleb Simoneau in class this semester and I’m sure I will have a few more throughout the year. Those who have come back are off doing big things in prep school or playing at college and it’s really cool to see them come back.”
Eric Mathewson was one who made the trek back.
His wasn’t too far a commute as he is attending and will be playing baseball for Eastern in Willimantic.
“I can’t even put words to it,” Mathewson said of returning to his alma mater to receive his state championship ring. “I’ve been here for four years and a part of me has been left here forever. It’s great to be back here with all my boys and my family. They are my brothers. I love it.”
The Centaurs finished 26-2 this past spring, their only two losses coming in 10-inning games during the regular season. They prevailed over East Lyme in the ECC Conference championship game and despite an injury suffered in the state tournament that kept Mathewson on the bench, downed five opponents in the Class L state tournament including RHAM in the championship game which took place just hours after graduation at Woodstock Academy.
“My best memory was the bus ride back,” Mathewson said. “We had the police and fire escort, playing music, taking pictures with the trophy, that was amazing.”
Mathewson also provided Elliot’s fondest memory.
In the seventh inning of the championship game, sensing his coach was on edge; he walked up to him, put his arm over Elliot’s shoulder and began talking about armadillos and their characteristics.
It broke the ice and the tension.
“I just wanted to calm him down in the moment, have him think about the bigger picture, and take him away from baseball and think about something else,” Mathewson said.
Riley O’Brien’s trek back was a bit longer as he has moved on to the University of Southern Maine.
 “It’s great to come back to the place I was for four years. We get to come back and enjoy another day of football since Eric and I both played. It’s great to see everyone back out there,” O’Brien said. “My best memory was the semifinal game where I knocked in the winning run through the hole at shortstop-that’s an awesome memory. It was magical, you never forget it.”
“It’s so nice to see these guys again,” said current senior Brady Ericson. “I haven’t seen a lot of these guys since the end of the season. We, obviously, still have the bond and still talk on the phone but they are all busy in college. To have them all back here is special, it means a lot.”
Those players receiving rings included Mathewson, David Bunning, Haydon Rowland, Collin Gaudette, Matt Hernandez, Caleb Simoneau, Bradley Blair, Logan Coutu, Tanner Graham, Noah Sampson, Jack Sumner, Maxx Corradi, Matthew Dearborn, Ericson, O’Brien, Hayden Maloney, Will Bushey, Brady Lecuyer and Keon Lamarche.
In addition, coaches Elliott, Troy Stefanski, Max Grossman and Jack Merrill, bus driver Rich Brousseau, former coach Brian Murphy, athletic trainer Jill Grant and scorer Steve Graham also received rings.
What does Elliott, who was in his first year as head coach, do for an encore?
“I got multiple texts on the ride back from Middletown saying, ‘You might as well just retire now. What can you do better?’ Regular season, ECC and state champions, go 26-2, I don’t think we will do that again but we’re going to be competitive. It’s a whole new season. The returners have to guide the new kids as to what the standard is and why it is important and we can always look back to last season and say, ‘that’s why it’s important,’” Elliott said.

Boys’ Soccer
The season will continue a little while longer for the boys’ soccer team.
The Centaurs qualified for the Class L state tournament with a 3-1 win Saturday over Coventry.
“Incredible,” said first-year head coach Dave St. Jean as his team improved to 5-7-3 overall with the win over the Patriots. “It’s kind of what we wanted to achieve, get in, and see what we can do from there. The guys are excited.”
Derek Rodriguez Arenas was a key ingredient in getting the Centaurs to the state tournament.
The sophomore, in his first year for the Centaurs, scored two of the three goals in a win over Fitch in Groton earlier in the week and assisted on the other.
He added a hat trick against Coventry all in the first half. Two of those tallies came off rebounds and the third on a singular effort.
Rodriguez Arenas now has 10 goals and two assists on the season.
And while it is Rodriguez Arenas who has been finding the back of the net, his teammates have also cashed in as his success has helped afford them more opportunities.
For example, Garrett Bushey picked up a goal and an assist in the win over the Falcons which gave the Centaurs a final 3-4-1 record in Div. I of the ECC.
The Centaurs also got a helping hand from their opponents.
Coventry incurred a red card which made any attempt at a comeback by the visitors a bit more difficult.
The three-game win streak could not have come at a better time.

Volleyball
The fall season got off to an early start this season with many teams playing their first official games the day after the Labor Day holiday.
“With the season starting earlier, I am not sure if that is why it went quicker or because I am older. It seems like a long time ago that we had our first day of tryouts but, at the same time, it seems like it was done in a flash,” said coach Adam Bottone.
The Centaurs finished the week with one regular season match still to play, the Senior Day showdown with Lyman Memorial.
Woodstock will be looking for its 17th win of the season in that match as it improved to 16-3 with a 3-1 decision over Suffield last week.
The match started in a manner that Bottone would like to see all matches start. The Centaurs posted a 25-2 win over the Wildcats.
“We only had three girls serve, one service error and that meant we were doing a good job of serving and getting the ball in,” Bottone said. “I look at it as a positive that we were able to put the other team on their heels right away and get them out of system.”
Senior Cassidy Ladd was especially effective from behind the service line where she finished with 23 points and had 24 service attempts.
Suffield did rally for a 25-19 victory in the second set.
Woodstock posted the win by taking the third set, 25-15, and the fourth, 25-14.
Ladd also finished with 13 digs while Lily Bottone added 10 kills and 13 digs and Sophie Gronski had 28 assists.
The Centaurs also picked up a win in their first game of the week where they did succeed in a situation that has sometimes proved difficult for them.
Woodstock lost its first two five-set decisions to Conard and East Lyme and on Monday, Cheshire took the Centaurs the distance — Woodstock won the first and third sets, 25-23 and 25-19.
But host Cheshire took the second and fourth, prompting the need for a fifth set which the Centaurs captured, 15-13.
Izzy Mojica (18 digs) and Lily Bottone (six aces) each had 10 kills while Ladd had 16 digs and Gronski finished with 33 assists and 15 digs.

Girls’ Soccer
The  talk following the final regular season match against Ledyard was not about the past and what the girls’ soccer team had accomplished but more about what it was about to embark upon- the postseason.
“We only have two more guaranteed games, that’s it. We want more,” said coach Andrea Danforth. “We don’t want just two; we don’t want just to play in the first round for each (the ECC and Class L state tournament) and get kicked out. We’re ready, we’re excited.”
Recent results seem to indicate that as the Centaurs have not lost a match since Sept. 23 – a streak of eight games.
Leah Costa continued to be the catalyst of the offense for the Centaurs and reached the 20-goal mark personally with a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Ledyard in the final match of the regular season on Friday.
The Centaurs needed that additional production this year from Costa. Isabella Selmecki is second on the team in goal scoring with five and Elise Coyle added her third goal of the season in the win over the Colonels.
The Centaurs were in control for much of the Ledyard match as they dominated possession. Coyle also added an assist on one of Costa’s three goals with Kaylee Saucier and Avery Danis lending the other helping passes.
The win meant the Centaurs finished with a 12-3-1 overall record.
The ECC tournament will start on Thursday with the Centaurs earning a first-round bye.
They will host a league semifinal match against either Waterford or Ledyard on Saturday. The ECC championship will take place Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at Griswold High School.

Prep Soccer
Woodstock now owns the top seed in the Global Education Sports Partners League standings.
The Prep 2 soccer team picked up back-to-back league victories as they escaped with a win over Putnam Science Academy on Friday at home and shutout Hoosac School in New York on Saturday.
The Centaurs got their third shutout of the season as Matheus Guerrero earned that in goal in a 2-0 victory over Hoosac.
Tommy Broderick scored the first goal for Woodstock as he took a pass from Rodrigo Herruzo Blazquez halfway through the first half.
The Centaurs held on to that lead until just five minutes remained when Nico Ochoa converted a penalty kick.
It’s never easy to play a man down.
But Prep 2 survived the experience on Friday to post a 4-3 victory over Putnam Science Academy.
“It certainly became more difficult when we had only 10 players,” coach Todd D’Alessandro said. “At that point, our whole tactic changed. We had to go into a more defensive shape and give credit to Putnam Science, they have some good players through the middle and certainly made it tough on us. I’m really proud of the guys. We never gave up, came together and got it done.”
Woodstock Academy owned the advantage early.
Broderick scored two goals and Penrose Ayeyi added another in the first half to give the Centaurs the 3-1 advantage.
But the Mustangs took advantage of the red card early in the second half and cut the deficit to one.
Nico Ochoa then provided what proved to be the game winner.
The biggest concern, rather than the grass/turf surface, was poor tackling decisions that led to the red card being issued by the officials.
Putnam Science Academy scored with 24 minutes left but the Centaurs prevailed in the nailbiter. The Centaurs are now 8-1-2.
 
Prep 1 Soccer
The Prep 1 soccer team improved to 7-0-2 as it also posted a 2-0 win over Hoosac School on Saturday in New York.
After a scoreless first half, the Centaurs were awarded a corner kick early in the second. Richard Sarpong took it and sent it into Yeochang Yang who headed it home to put the Centaurs ahead to stay.
Jude Essuman would get the insurance goal for Woodstock when Troy Myers got a through ball to Zander Tidwell who crossed to Essuman with 10 minutes left in the contest.
Kevin Christensen had the shutout in goal for the Centaurs.

Field Hockey
Field hockey coach Heather Miller said good-bye to 11 seniors on Thursday during the annual Senior Day festivities.
“They truly are going to be missed, not just because they are seniors, but for my first season at Woodstock Academy, they were a great group of girls to have,” Miller said. “They were a big source of our strength this season. It’s going to be a big hole for next season.”
The field hockey team celebrated prior to its final regular season match against East Lyme. Emilia Costa, Grace Pokorny, Audrey MacPherson, Mikayla Bessette, Abby Converse, Celine Leffingwell, Maria Jose Castenada Banderas, Emma Manis, Emily Smock, Elizabeth Roberts and Daniela Zeka were all recognized.
“They really helped to lead and set an example of not turning on each other despite playing really tough teams that weren’t so nice. As a mental tactic, they try to get under your skin and turn on each other and my guys mentally held strong,” Miller said.
Unfortunately, the Senior Day game would not end on a positive note as the Centaurs lost to the Vikings, 8-0. The Centaurs ended with a 2-13-1 record.
Woodstock had lost earlier in the week to NFA on the road, 4-2, as junior Clara Dowdle and Pokorny each scored their sixth goals of the season.
One of the key things Miller will have to work on in the offseason is numbers. After the seniors depart, only eight players remain.
It would also help if some players pick up field hockey sticks in the offseason.
“I preach this as being a former player, I know the importance of the offseason. It will make or break the season that is coming because you either put in the work or you don’t. Opportunities in our area of Connecticut for field hockey are really hard to come by. I get that. It could be as simple as getting together with a teammate and passing the ball; working on your dodges and 1-versus-1. That would make a huge difference,” Miller said.

Football
The bad news came during the game against Griswold/Wheeler two weeks ago.
Senior quarterback and team leader, Sam Clark, went down with an injury.
It, in all likelihood, ended Clark’s final season with the Centaurs.
It meant Woodstock will be guided by a freshman, Caydem Herlihy, for the remainder of the season.
That’s not easy in the ECC.
Windham proved that as it was dominant on Homecoming Day, handing the Centaurs a 45-0 loss.
It was the first Div. II matchup for Woodstock which slipped to 2-3 on the season.
 “They were bigger, stronger, faster,” said Centaurs coach Sean Saucier. “I felt that we played with pride, that we competed and some guys got better as the game went on.”
The Whippets (5-0, 1-0 ECC Div. II) scored every time they got the football in the first half.
Asael Garcia Rodriguez put the first ball into the end zone as the fullback (12 carries, 109 yards) rumbled for a 14-yard score.
After a Woodstock punt on its first possession, it took the Whippets just three plays to score again. One of those was a 61-yard burst from Julian Cruz (8 carries, 92 yards) that put the ball at the Centaurs 2-yard line and he scored on the next snap.
An interception by Troy Torres-Morey set up the third Windham touchdown although it took considerably more work.
The Whippets had to use nine plays to go the 48 yards with Garcia Rodriguez scoring for a second time from a yard out.
Windham finished with a 27-0 halftime advantage as a 10-play drive culminated in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Francisco Alvarado to Yadiel DeJesus.
Herlihy did enjoy some success as he completed five passes for 77 yards.
He finished 7-for-14 for 97 yards.
 “Somebody used the analogy of a duck with him. He’s calm and cool above the water but his feet are going crazy below and that’s kind of how he is. He’s calm and collected and he takes ownership. There were some plays where he did make a mistake and he was the first one to own it. It’s all good. We move on,” Saucier said.
The bigger problem for the Centaurs was their inability to move the ball on the ground.
Woodstock finished with negative-5 yards on the ground as the Whippets dominated the line of scrimmage.
Herlihy was the top ground gainer with 12 yards.
Alvarado (5-for-9 passing, 85 yards) added a second touchdown toss to Torres-Morey from 27 yards out on Windham’s first possession of the second half.
Darien Jenkins added a five-yard run for a score at the end of the third quarter and Kevon Roberts scored from a yard out as the Whippets finished with 297 yards rushing.
Woodstock has its second ECC Div. II battle this weekend as the Centaurs will host Waterford at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy


The Woodstock Academy Class L baseball state championship team was presented with state championship rings.. Photo by Connor Elliott/Woodstock Academy.

The 11 senior members of the field hockey team were recognized Thursdaey on Senior Day. Photo by Jill Grant/Woodstock Academy.

Caydem Herlihy throws one of his 14 attempted passes for Woodstock. Photo by Abby Ditzel/Woodstock Academy.

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