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Looking for Wins
The Woodstock Academy field hockey team still has chances for postseason play provided it post wins in its final two regular season games Photo by Jeremy Useted/The Woodstock Academy.
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There have been some difficult times for the Woodstock Academy field hockey team this season.
“There were a lot of games, either because of circumstances or our own sleepy start, we didn’t pull through that we should have,” said Woodstock Academy coach Lauren Gagnon. “I’m not upset with the way we played. We play tremendous, play really great, really skilled field hockey but we struggle with teams that are less skilled and more physical. We allow other teams to dictate too much of the game. I don’t think we have made that switch yet to realize that we are a skilled and dominant team.”
But, even though they came into the week with a 5-9 record, all is not lost.
In fact, the Centaurs still have their two top goals still within reach.
A 6-2 victory over Norwich Free Academy Oct. 24 meant Woodstock Academy can qualify for both the ECC and Class M state tournament with wins over Waterford (the Tuesday game was too late for this edition) and Killingly (Oct. 31).
Gagnon said the team sat down after the win over the Wildcats and discussed what the motivations were to extend the field hockey season for, at least, two more weeks.
“That’s two more weeks with their best friends, two more weeks playing a sport they love and proving that even though we didn’t have a great start to the year and let a lot of close games go, we can still get it done when we need to,” Gagnon said. “It’s a matter of pride for them. It’s emotion. It’s just not wanting to see the season end especially for the seniors, of whom we have quite a few and many are not planning to play in college, because this is their last hurrah.”
The scenario is this: If the Centaurs win both of their remaining games, they are guaranteed berths in both tournaments; If the Centaurs win only one, it’s possible they could still qualify for the ECC tournament but would be eliminated from the Class M competition.
“We understand the stakes and know exactly what’s on the plate,” Gagnon said.
That said, games against Waterford and Killingly will not be easy.
Waterford handed the Centaurs a 2-0 loss.
The Centaurs did defeat the Redgals, 1-0, in the first meeting.
The Thursday game will be in Killingly and will be on grass.
“It’s really tough and slows down the game a lot but it does allow some of our younger players to shine a little more. When the game slows down a little, it’s easier for them to get their stick skills going and doing what they need to. On turf, the pace is just so fast,” Gagnon said.
The Centaurs got some of those younger players in against NFA (0-13).
Woodstock Academy was able to utilize some freshmen who played the first varsity minutes of their young career.
Sophomore Elaina Borski scored not only her first career varsity goal but also her second. Avery Jones, Lily Brin and Alex Vaida all scored their second goals of the season while Maria Santucci pushed home her first.
Since a 6-0 win over NFA on Sept. 26, the Centaurs had scored just three goals in their last seven games. That included a 1-0 loss to Stonington earlier last week.
The Bears won that game on a goal off a corner with two minutes left.
Woodstock Academy almost answered but a shot off a time-expired corner was just swept off the line.
Gagnon said the lack of offense has been the source of conversation more than once this season.
It’s the little things that have bothered the Centaurs.
Not having sticks down, letting the ball go over the end line, swinging at the ball when it should just be deflected.
It’s not like they haven’t been working on their offensive skills. Quite the opposite.
Even though the game against the Wildcats produced an easy victory, Gagnon was happy to see her team execute those basics better.
The Centaurs have also had to deal with playing on foreign turf since Oct. 5.
Due to some schedule changes, their last seven games, including the Waterford and Killingly games, have been or will be road matches.
The only thing that made it a little more palatable was that the EEE mosquito scare meant games were played earlier so the team wasn’t getting back as late.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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Battle
Woodstock Academy’s Linsey Arends, left, and Bacon Academy’s Jordan Malloy, battle at the ECC girls’ cross-country championship Photo by Marc Allard.


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Woodstock Academy coach Joe Banas was running around Wickham Park in Manchester almost as much as those who were competing in the Class MM state championship Oct. 26.
“I was bouncing around like a pinball machine throughout the girls’ and boys’ races. It’s just something I enjoy doing,” Banas said.
What he saw was more than pleasing to him.
His sophomore runner, Linsey Arends, was moving up through the pack.
He was hoping Arends would finish in the top five.
He got even more than what he expected as she finished in second place in 20 minutes, 14 seconds, just 15 seconds off the pace of Rhiannon Richmond of Avon who won the race.
“Linsey went out slower and had a great second half, just picking people off one at a time,” Banas said. “The Richmond girl was just a little too far ahead but I thought both Linsey and Stella (DiPippo) ran their best race of the year.”
DiPippo finished in seventh in 20:42 after she, too, held back a little early.
“I said to Stella, ‘Finally, this is it. This is how you do it. You see what happened. You are (an) All-State (runner),” Banas said. “She had a big smile on her face.”
The top eight runners in each division are given All-State honors.
It also means the two will compete in the State Open cross-country championship Nov. 1.
Banas said it makes life easier, not only for him, but for the runners, when more than one qualify for the State Open.
“I never had that (when he coached at Killingly High). It’s hard (when only one runner qualifies) because you have to ask another kid to help train this week, but they will be training together,” Banas said.
The goal will be to qualify for the New England championship. To do that, Arends and DiPippo would have to finish in the top 25.
Banas said Arends was about the 40th fastest finisher Oct. 26 but the difference between that and 25th is only about 15 seconds.
“It’s very doable,” Banas said.
Senior captain Megan Gohn (21:42) finished 23rd; freshman Brooke Bergevin was 35th in 22:15 and was followed by teammate Iris Bazinet in 22:18 to account for the top five Centaurs finishers.
The Centaurs placed fifth as a team with a 101 total.
“Very pleased with that and the surprise of the day was Brooke,” Banas said. “She’s been battling low iron and in the early part of the season, I was thinking that this girl is in quicksand and there is something going on after having seen her the previous fall. Her iron levels are starting to come up. If she had a couple more weeks, Meg would have had company. That’s something hopeful for next year. I don’t want to look to far ahead of the Open, but if Stella and Linsey continue to improve and if Brooke can close in, that would be awesome.”
ECC championship
Oct. 21, Arends and Malloy finished within a second of each other in the ECC championship race with Malloy again winning in 20 minutes, 24 seconds.
Malloy also won the league’s individual title last year as a freshman with Arends finishing in third.
Arends will get another chance at Malloy at the State Open as Malloy finished 11th in Class M and will also be in the field.
Arends said the ECC championship race went as she planned early.
She liked the pace of the first mile but slowed down a bit in the second mile which is generally an uphill climb.
Malloy, who started out a little slower, caught Arends at the halfway mark and the two battled from there.
But Banas knew Arends was in trouble when the two hit the final straight away and were basically tied. Malloy is the better sprinter.
Banas tried to position himself as far from the finish line as possible while still being able to get back there by the time the runners did.
“I had a nice angle and I saw they were neck-and-neck and knew the outcome,” Banas said.
Arends knows where she has to improve.
“Sprinting,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve never been a good sprinter. I hate track because you have to be able to sprint the last 100 to 200 meters. It’s never been my strong suit. It’s something I have to work on.”
E. Lyme’s Isabel Pazzaglia finished third in 21:01 followed by DiPippo who finished in 21:14.
It was similar to her 2018 time of 21:07 when DiPippo placed fifth.
“I’m happy with that, my time was similar which was unfortunate, but I placed fourth which was really good,” the junior said.
Banas was also pleased with DiPippo’s finish and thought the team was “right there” against team champion, E. Lyme.
Unfortunately, the Vikings followed Pazzaglia’s third-place finish with a sixth, ninth, 10th, 15th and 16th place.
That was six Vikings in before Woodstock Academy’s third, Gohn, finished in 17th and Bazinet 18th.
E. Lyme finished with 43 points, Woodstock Academy second with 67.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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Prep Teams
The Putnam Science Academy prep teams at Tipoff Dinner. PSA photos.



Midnight Madness came to Putnam Science Academy, sort of.
In the early evening Oct. 26, the school hosted Mustang Madness, its annual community event in which all the basketball teams were introduced and the fans in attendance were treated to dunk and 3-point shooting contests. There was also plenty for the young fans to do besides just watch basketball, including face painting, arts and crafts, and eating plenty of free food. Kids also competed in a dunk contest on a small hoop.
As for the regulation-size basket, Texas A&M-bound Hassan Diarra won the dunk contest for the second straight year. He had two one-handed throw downs, one while jumping over his 6-foot-7 teammate Terrell Ard Jr. and another while jumping over his 6-foot, 8-inch older brother Mamadou, which were the highlights of the contest.
Delaney Haines, a guard on the girls’ team, won the 3-point contest.
“It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of energy in the gym all night,” said PSA athletic director and boys’ prep coach Tom Espinosa. “We have the best fans in prep school basketball.”
A few nights earlier, PSA held its third annual Basketball Tipoff Dinner at the Elks Lodge. The event is designed to bring players on the school’s prep teams together with each other and members of the community. Coaches from both teams introduced each of their players and spoke of their expectations.
“This is a good night for us,” Espinosa said. “It’s a chance to say thank you to some of our fans and get a lot of people who support our kids and our programs together.”
Espinosa garnered the biggest laugh of the night when he introduced Mekhi Gray, who is from the cozy hamlet of Montrose, N.Y., about 40 miles north of New York City.
“Mekhi loves it here,” Espinosa said. “Putnam is like Las Vegas compared to where he’s coming from.”
Mustangs’ graduate assistant/manager Justin Stockhaus received the weekly PSA “Horse Collar” Award, given to a member of the program who exhibits grit and toughness.
“I can’t think of anyone who deserves the award more,” said PSA assistant coach Josh Scraba. “We held off a little bit handing out this week’s award until we saw Justin here.”
Guest speaker Vasileios Politis told his inspiring story of overcoming cancer, stressing the importance of leaning on family and teammates while facing adversity head on with the proper mindset. Close to 100 people attended the event.
The men’s team opens its season against Ridley Prep of Ontario, Canada as part of the Caribbean Tip-Off Classic in the Bahamas on Nov. 1. The women started with a home game on Oct. 29, and are off to Canada to play three games in three days starting on Halloween against the No. 1 prep team in Canada.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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