Centaurs pg 1 9-21-23

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Roundup
Centaurs field
hockey on
win streak
First-year head coach Sam Mowry has made some adjustments early in the season. It has paid off.
“We’ve changed up our midfield lines, got rid of our low forward position and pushed Clara (Dowdle) to high midfielder and kept Grace (Pokorny) back as a low midfielder. We work triangles. With Grace back on defense, we have four defensemen, that just locks things up more,” Mowry said.
In the case of Thursday against Norwich Free Academy, it just about shut the Wildcats down.
On Saturday, it did shut down East Catholic.
Dowdle controlled the offensive flow which kept the ball in the Wildcats’ territory for much of the last three quarters while Pokorny and the defensive crew of Corinne LaMontagne, Abby Converse and Chauntel Vandal held NFA without a shot in the second half.
It meant the Centaurs walked away with their first victory of the season, 2-1, over NFA.
“It’s so awesome to get the first win of the season,” Pokorny said. “We’re excited for the season and we have a good team this year.”
It was also the first career coaching victory for Mowry.
“This is crazy,” an excited Mowry said. “I was screaming over on the sidelines, the girls were laughing at me. It’s just unreal, finally having a win over on the (coaching) side.”
She didn’t have to wait long for a second one to come.
Woodstock again put on a fine defensive performance Saturday against East Catholic in Manchester and prevailed in overtime, 1-0.
It evened the team’s record at 2-2.
Woodstock opened the week against a very tough opponent, Stonington. The Bears have consistently competed for not only the ECC championship but also the state title.
Considering that resume, a 6-1 loss to the Bears was not all that bad in the Centaurs’ home opener earlier.
Pokorny had the only goal of the game for the Centaurs off an assist from Dowdle.
Madison LaVallee made 10 saves in the cage for Woodstock.
Two days later, NFA challenged the Centaurs early. Sophia Gaudette lifted one into the Woodstock cage with just under seven minutes remaining.
It was the only shot of the quarter for NFA (0-2, 0-2) which finished with only three shots in total.
A lot of that could be attributed to Pokorny’s lockdown play on NFA standout Alice Rourke.
Mowry said Pokorny’s experience in ice hockey and lacrosse is helpful.
“Actively playing the ball, she knows what to do. She’s always aware of who is around her. She knows when she has defenders behind her and when to peel off. She’s comfortable doing that,” Mowry said.
Celine Leffingwell tied the game for the Centaurs just 1 minute, 44 seconds into the second quarter and 10 minutes later, Dowdle found the back of the cage for her first goal of the season.
 “I don’t even know what happened. I shot the ball, I believe it was a rebound and in just went in,” Dowdle said.
Talia Tremblay assisted on the play for the Centaurs.
Both of the goals originated from penalty corners.
“I think that’s the best our corners have ever looked, maybe in the program’s history. We have the different spots set up and if we need a direct shot, we put Clara or Corinne- because (LaMontagne) has a pretty good shot- there and it’s nice to have multiple players who can get it off from a corner. It’s amazing,” Mowry said.
The offense did the rest of the work with Dowdle controlling the play up top.
Woodstock had its chances in regulation against the Eagles. The Centaurs were awarded 17 corners and had five shots on goal in the first 60 minutes of play. Nothing found the back of the cage.
That changed in overtime as Dowdle found Pokorny and the sophomore poked home the game-winning goal to even up Woodstock Academy’s record through the first four games.
The wins certainly boosted not only the spirits of the team, but the coach as well.
“I am so confident in these girls. I think this will be an amazing season,” Mowry said.
Cross-Country
Centaurs boys take 2 in Jewett City
Junior Christian Menounos is hopeful of a really nice season, one that could see him challenge for the ECC and Class MM individual state championships.
It doesn’t mean, however, he will lack in competition. Menounos found that out in the first meet of the season.
Griswold freshman Tycen LaBelle gave Menounos a tussle with the Centaurs runner prevailing by just about a second and a half to lead Woodstock to a 22-37 win over the Wolverines and a 15-44 victory over Waterford.
Menounos finished the 5K course at Hopeville Pond in Jewett City in 15 minutes, 44 seconds.
“Christian definitely felt (LaBelle) behind him for the duration of the race which made him push a bit.  Last season he ended his season around 16:50 so to see him starting this season at 15:44 is a great sign.  He definitely wouldn’t have done that alone.  But when he gets in a pack of similar runners and has to fight a little harder, I think he has plenty of room to drop time.  We’re looking forward to both East Lyme and Ocean state for that reason,” coach Josh Welch said.
The Centaurs will not have to wait long for that East Lyme meet.
The two face off on Tuesday at Rocky Neck State Park.
But Welch sees that as a positive. “Having East Lyme’s pack to chase should bring out the best in them next week.  Our freshmen got out their first race jitters and started to learn their pace, and how to push themselves so I hope the much faster pack at East Lyme will lift them up too,” the coach said.
Colton Sallum was third for the Centaurs as he crossed the line in 17:04. Charlie Caggiano kept it under 18 minutes in 17:57 to finish fourth overall and Joel Koleszar was fifth in 18:12.
Woodstock’s fifth runner was a freshman. Sam Greene came home in 19:22 to finish 10th overall among the 45 runners.
“It was a good introductory race for everyone,” Welch said. “Christian had someone at his back which helped him open with a solid effort. Colton, Charlie, and Joel were pretty much racing each other once Christian and Labelle from Griswold took off.”
The pair of victories also helped a bit when it comes to confidence.
“We definitely saw the right attitude building.  The guys are competitive, and learning how to hard work in practice translates to growth on the course,” Welch said.
Centaurs girls’ team splits
Senior Julia Coyle and sophomore Olivia Tracy did the expected.
In the season-opening meet for the Centaurs girls at Hopeville Pond State Park in Jewett City, Coyle and Tracy finished second and third respectively as the Centaurs downed Griswold 15-50 and lost a close battle with Waterford, 25-30.
Coyle toured the 5K course in 21 minutes, 34 seconds with Tracy on her heels in 22:06.
The inner battle to finish first for the team is just about as important for the two as the exterior competition as they feed off each other.
“Julia and Olivia need each other to help elevate them both,” said coach Joe Banas.
Both trailed the defending ECC individual champion, Avery Maiese of Waterford, who finished in 20:01.
Junior Kira Greene finished in seventh for the Centaurs in 23:24. Freshmen Avery Schoefer and Kenzie Saline placed 10th and 12th , respectively, for Woodstock.
“We just need to have the new runners buy into what I’m selling,” Banas said. “Hopefully, I can push all the right buttons to help them close the gap between them and our dynamic duo.”
The biggest thing for Banas being that the Centaurs have not fallen into the dilemma that some teams, like Griswold, have been afflicted by. The Wolverines could only field four runners.
“I’m happy that we don’t have to forfeit this year. I’m very excited to have five new runners that seem to be as excited about the season as I am,” the coach said.
Boys’ Soccer
Susi leads Centaurs to a win and a tie
It’s a keeper’s nightmare in soccer — the penalty kick.
The offensive player knows what they are going to do. The keeper has to guess and react.
Woodstock junior Eli Susi had to do that not once, but twice, last week.
The Centaurs boys’ soccer team had a penalty kick called against them in their match Friday against Somers and again on Saturday versus Killingly.
Susi was up to the task both times and those key saves helped the Centaurs down the Spartans 2-0 Friday and finish in a scoreless tie with Killingly on Saturday.
“You don’t see that often, in fact, you don’t usually see two penalty saves in a season. It’s a massive ‘Well done’ to him,” said coach Paul Rearden. “To do that in two consecutive games, less than 24 hours apart, is a great confidence builder for Eli and for our lads confidence in him. He’s had a phenomenal start to the season. He’s so positive, brave; he comes out and commands his penalty area.
Susi made the save against Somers in the second. He had another magic moment with three minutes left in the first half Saturday.
Susi finished with five saves on Friday and seven on Saturday.
Now, he just needs a little more offense to back him up. The Centaurs seem to be on a better path offensively as they have already scored five goals in the first three games as compared to 13 in the entire season last year.
 “We’re making chances,” Rearden said. “We played with only one striker a lot of last year and hoped the midfield would get up there with him. This year, I’m trying not to play just one striker.”
For example, against Killingly the Centaurs played with three strikers for the last 30-35 minutes.
Still, the goals haven’t exactly been coming quickly.
Against Somers, sophomore Will St. John took a pass from Zach Armbruster with three minutes left in regulation to give Woodstock the lead.
St. John would connect again with just 12 seconds left on a pass from Garrett Bushey.
Rearden joked he wished St. John would have saved the second one for Saturday’s game.
“Will never switches off. His work ethic is unbelievable. He’s fast. He’s strong. He just chases everything down and that’s how he got those goals. He gets himself to the right place and got the rewards,” Rearden said.
The coach said both his Centaurs and Killingly had chances.
“We didn’t make our chances and, thankfully, neither did they. It wasn’t a scrappy game. We had the ball a lot more than they did, but we didn’t really make as many clear chances as we should have. We just wanted too clear a shot,” Rearden said.
The tie meant the Centaurs have done a little bit of everything so far.
They have won one, lost one and tied one.
But early on, Rearden’s spirits have been lifted by one thing.
“I’m loving the contributions that the younger players are making, the sophomores and freshmen who come in. They have done a great job,” Rearden said.
Football
E. Lyme upends Woodstock
In the season opener, a lot of things went right for the Woodstock football team. That’s not always the case in high school football.
The Centaurs went on the road for a first time on Friday night and ran into a hungry E. Lyme High School football team.
The Vikings had lost in their season opener and made up for it a little bit with a 37-21 win over Woodstock.
It was the first ECC Div. I game for both squads.
The Centaurs forced the Vikings to punt on their first possession and didn’t take long to strike.
Quarterback Teddy Richardson (7-for-14 passing, 97 yards) found junior tight end Sam Clark for a 16-yard pass to the Centaurs 45.
A holding call backed them up 10. But after an incomplete pass and a 7-yard scamper by Richardson, the quarterback dropped back to pass again.
He spied Clark open down the sideline, hit him in stride and the Centaurs were celebrating after the 58-yard connection ended in the end zone.
The celebration didn’t last long. Woodstock missed the extra point and the Vikings returned the ensuing kickoff to the Centaur 45.
E. Lyme running back Aidan Patterson (15 carries, 114 yards) did the rest.
It took the senior just three carries to find the end zone and allow the Vikings to take a 7-6 lead.
Woodstock failed to get it out of its own territory in the next two series and the Vikings, who were stopped on downs the first time, would take advantage of the short field the second time.
Tom Matlock capped a brief seven-play drive, all runs, by bulling in from 2 yards out for a 14-6 E. Lyme lead.
The Centaurs did put together a 10-play drive that got them down to the E. Lyme 22 but they turned the ball over on downs.
The Vikings returned the favor at their own 43 but the Centaurs only moved the ball a yard and were forced to punt.
Jacob Lizotte’s punt was blocked and scooped up on the Woodstock 30 by Malachi Harris who had a clear path to the end zone. After a two-point conversion, E. Lyme led at the half, 22-6.
E. Lyme would score two more times in the third quarter to guarantee itself the victory.
Woodstock decided at the end of the third quarter to insert Clark at quarterback.
The junior led the Centaurs on a 12-play drive that had its share of ups-and-downs before ending in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Clark to Eric Mathewson on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After the Vikings turned over the ball on the Woodstock 10, Clark (3-for-7 passing, 25 yards) engineered another scoring drive that took nine plays before he found Henry Wotton in the end zone for a 16-yard score.
Volleyball
It’s been a bit of a challenging start for the Woodstock volleyball team this season.
The Centaurs have dropped three of their first four matches of the season.
That’s a bit different from a year ago when the Centaurs won eight of their first nine to qualify for the state tournament before the end of September.
But there was good news last week as Woodstock did pick up its first win of the season.
The Centaurs beat 3-0. This time, it was the Centaurs who outlasted the Wolverines unlike their first two matches against Newtown and Glastonbury.
Woodstock took a hotly contested first set, 26-24, and followed that up with victories of 25-20 and 25-19.
Liliana Bottone led the way with 12 kills and also stepped behind the service line to record three aces. Sophie Gronski added 13 assists and nine digs.
But the tale of playing everyone tough but falling just a bit short continued in the Centaurs other two matches last week.
The Centaurs played three close sets in Glastonbury early in the week. Unfortunately, all of the results went against the Centaurs in a 3-0 loss. The Guardians posted wins of 25-23, 25-20 and 28-26.
Bottone paced Woodstock with 14 kills while Gronski had 21 assists and Cassidy Ladd added 16 digs.
The Centaurs finished off the week with their home opener but it didn’t go as hoped.
Woodstock lost to Waterford, 3-1, Friday.
The Lancers (1-1) took the first two sets, 25-20 and 29-27. But Woodstock battled back from an early deficit to take the third set, 25-19. Waterford closed out the win with another overtime, 27-25, win in the fourth set.
Gronski had 27 assists for the Centaurs to go along with six aces. Bottone had 12 kills and Kaylee Bundy added nine in the loss.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

Getting Ready
Sophomore center Jacob Say gets ready to snap the football against E. Lyme. The Centaurs fell to the Vikings, 37-21. Photo by Abby Ditzel/Woodstock Academy.

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