For most Eastern Connecticut Conference teams, it’s a matter of if they can win a divisional regular season title.
For the Woodstock Academy girls’ soccer team this season, it was a matter of when.
The Centaurs have been dominant in the five divisional games they have played – they still have a game against Norwich Free Academy Oct. 24 – outscoring their opponents, 18-1.
Oct. 15, they officially clinched the title with a 3-0 win over Fitch.
“I think it should be goal No. 1 just because it’s the foundation of your schedule, six games, a third of your schedule, and winning it means you are doing well overall,” said Woodstock Academy coach Dennis Snelling.
Snelling said while it was the win over Fitch that officially sealed the title, he thought the game against NFA on Oct. 12 really determined the outcome.
The Wildcats had also come into that contest undefeated in the division until the Centaurs handed them a 3-1 loss.
“We’ve had a really strong team, just like last year, and we just get along so well. We have a lot of chemistry on and off the field,” said senior back Heather Converse. “We just worked really hard and wanted to succeed as much as we could this season.”
The offense didn’t produce a lot last week for the Centaurs (12-0-2).
It didn’t have to.
The high-water mark was the three goals against the Falcons.
The Centaurs followed that up with a 1-0 win over Bacon Academy in the middle of the week and a 2-0 win over Valley Regional in a Saturday night contest.
The three wins by shutout means Woodstock Academy has only been scored upon in three games this season and has not allowed more than one goal in a game.
In addition to NFA, Ledyard and North Branford were the only other teams to get a goal against the Centaurs.
“We really pride ourselves on defense, the whole team plays defense,” Converse said. “If everyone is on the same page, we can get a lot of things done. Not letting in goals is a really big part of our season and we’re trying to keep it that way.”
Ivy Gelhaus scored her team-leading 16th goal of the season against the Falcons. It was also the 11th straight match that Gelhaus had put a ball in the net.
Ashleigh Angle scored the other two, giving her six on the season. Both of the seniors’ goals were assisted by Kayla Gaudreau.
Gelhaus’ consecutive game scoring streak ended against Bacon Academy.
The Bobcats again caused Woodstock Academy trouble defensively, holding the Centaurs to just one goal.
That came off the foot of sophomore Emma Redfield.
A free kick set up what proved to be the game-winner as Angle sent the ball in and it struck the post. The ball came back out to Gillian Price who crossed it to Redfield with 12:59 left in the first half.
“They played a little more aggressive because they were on their home field which is mud. It’s really beat up from football and constant use. In any other year, you would say (the field) was too dangerous to play on. We were happy to just have no injuries and it was a bonus that we won. We’ve struggled in the past against their system,” said Snelling.
Price delivered again Oct. 20 in the win over the Warriors, scoring her second goal of the season on a corner kick with 19:54 left in the first half.
“Gillian has not played in the closer games, but she really played well at Bacon Academy considering the conditions of the field. It’s a tribute to her fitness and strength that she belonged out on the field in that game,” Snelling said.
Freshman Adeline Smith added her second goal of the season in the Valley Regional match. She scored off an Aislin Tracey cross with 16 seconds left in the half.
In addition to the NFA match, the Centaurs also had a road game against Killingly Oct. 22 (the game ended too late for this edition).
The ECC tournament begins at the end of the week.
That’s four games in about a week for the Centaurs, but Snelling feels his team is ready.
“We rotate a lot, probably to an obnoxious extent, but we rotate players off the field. It’s to keep them rested. It eats up the clock so it’s less minutes that we’re working on the field and it’s my way to make up for the schedule design which isn’t nice this year,” Snelling said. “A lot of it is the weather, but I think we have too many games.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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