captions:

Boys’ soccer Senior Day, from left: Matt Hernandez, Michael Susi, Eli Susi, Austin Byer, Gabe DePierdomenico, Logan Rawson, Shawn Mugagga, Riley Wilcox and Garrett Bushey. Photo by Jason Tata/Woodstock Academy.

Keeper Eli Susi pitched two shutouts against Windham and Bacon Academy. Photo by Abby Ditzel/Woodstock Academy.



Sixth-seeded Centaurs find
way to ECC championship
Improbable? Not in the mind of Woodstock Academy coach Dave St. Jean.
The boys’ soccer team advanced to the ECC championship match with a 1-0 win over second-seeded Bacon Academy.
“I anticipated we could do this,” St. Jean said. “I’ve been watching this team since they were freshmen and sophomores and I’ve had faith in them from that time. I knew, as I watched, that there were a few things that they needed to control and if they played disciplined and played together, we had enough, if not more skill, than the teams that we’re playing. I’m not surprised by it. I’m glad we got healthy and I’m glad we finally have some continuity between our offense and defense.”
The Centaurs faced top-seeded East Lyme in the championship match on Tuesday at Ledyard High School. (The match ended too late for this edition)
That continuity proved more than valuable in the first two matches of the ECC tournament as the defense pitched a pair of shutouts.
The Centaurs (7-8-3) handed Windham a 2-0 loss on Thursday in a first-round match before the shutout over the Bobcats.
That came despite the fact that Woodstock did have a couple of injuries which meant St. Jean had to shuffle some players.
Add to that an early match, it started at 10 a.m., on the road, left plenty of questions that the Centaurs answered more than satisfactorily.
The offense was just enough against Bacon Academy in Colchester as Derek Rodriguez Arenas was again in the right place at the right time.
After a scoreless first half, the Centaurs finally broke through halfway through the second half.
Will St. John got the ball to Rodriguez Arenas who found a hole in the defense, forced the Bobcats’ keeper to commit and chipped it over his head with 20 minutes left in regulation.
The Centaurs have a go-to player.
It was the 12th goal of the season for Rodriguez Arenas and the first assist of the year for St. John.
The Centaurs advanced to the semifinal with the win over Windham in a first-round contest on Thursday.
Garrett Bushey broke the scoreless tie halfway through the second half when he scored for the Centaurs off a Logan Rawson assist.
Just moments later, Rodriguez Arenas tallied off a Philip Feanny Aleman assist to give the Centaurs a little breathing room against the Whippets (8-6-3).
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs celebrated Senior Day at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Wilcox, Bushey, Shawn Mugagga, Logan Rawson, Austin Byer, Gabe DePierdomenico, Michael Susi, Matt Hernandez and Eli Susi were all recognized prior to the match with Waterford.
The scoreboard ended in the Lancers’ favor, 2-0, in a match that was called due to darkness with 35 minutes to play after a lengthy delay occurred when a Waterford player suffered an injury on the field.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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