With the program entering just its third year, it doesn’t make things easy when six of the top 10 players from a season ago are no longer with the program.
That’s the bad news for the Woodstock Academy girls’ hockey team.
There is good news.
“The excitement about the team is up. We have 26 players out. I’m happy to see that excitement for the program building,” co-head coach Sean Farrell said. “It’s a bit more of a challenge losing the six players but we do have four top players returning from last year and we will build off that.”
Hockey is not an easy sport to rebuild in.
The Centaurs have a host of multi-sport athletes on the team.
In most sports, that’s OK.
“If you are an athletic person, you can pick things up. If you are fast, if you’re quick, with good hand-eye coordination, you can pick sports up,” co-head coach Jeff Boshka said.
But there is a wrinkle, of course, in hockey.
“Now you add a pair of skates on a very slippery surface. It’s just exponentially harder,” Boshka said.
It’s not impossible.
Ashleigh Angle is a good example.
The senior defensive player for the Centaurs came in with little knowledge of how to skate, never mind play the game a couple of years ago.
“She’s come a long way in a short time, but she has really worked hard at it. She’s probably one of the fastest straight-line skaters on the team and she’s only been skating two or three years,” Farrell said.
Farrell admits the ability to skate, not only in a straight line, but to make the necessary quick cuts and adjustments on the ice is something the coaching staff works on as much as, if not more so, than team strategy.
Boshka and Farrell took over the program last year in just its second year of existence.
It’s an anomaly in Eastern Connecticut, the only one of its kind outside of Pomfret School.
But while that may be considered an advantage, it’s also indicative of where the sport is currently- still in its infancy.
“The excitement is there (for the high school program), we have to develop it at the lower level, the Griffin Youth Hockey program. We scrimmaged at Burrillville (R.I.). recently and I talked to someone there who said if we could get a 7th and 8th grade team, they could play at Burrillville in a league. That could build excitement at a younger age and help build our program,” Farrell said.
The sport is also not sponsored by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
As a result, there is no state tournament berth nor a state championship to play for.
The Eastern Connecticut Conference does not sponsor the sport and most of the Connecticut-based programs that exist are west of the Connecticut River.
“It makes it difficult. It’s one thing to try and build up a team and coach them and teach them and then try to get some games through networking. It’s hard (to find games) and it’s that way year-after-year. It would be great to have a set 12 games and have to find four more, that’s a lot easier than trying to find 14-16 games,” Boshka said.
The Centaurs will play 10 varsity games this season.
They took on Auburn, Mass. in their season opener Dec. 10. The game ended too late for this edition.
The Centaurs home opener is at 3 p.m. Dec. 15 when the East Catholic-Glastonbury-South Windsor cooperative comes to the Jahn Ice Rink at the Pomfret School (the Centaurs home ice).
The girls’ hockey season will be dedicated to Paul Lee.
Lee, who died over the summer, was the man who provided the concept and the funding to begin the girls’ hockey program at The Academy.
“What a neat guy. He was a truly renaissance guy with a lot of interests and one of his biggest interests was girls’ hockey. He was a big supporter and promoter of our sport here at The Academy,” Boshka said.
The school will honor Lee’s memory prior to the home opener. His family will be on hand and will receive a plaque from the school. The team will also wear a patch on its jerseys in honor of Lee this season.
The Centaurs did lose Bridget Horst, who led the team in assists with 15, Brittnie Burnham, Lily Wilcox, and Haley Armstrong from last season.
The top line will consist of Ellie Jellison, who finished with team-bests of 14 goals and 25 points last season, at center. Eliza Dutson (11 goals, 9 assists) and freshman Sydney Haskins will flank her up front with Emma Ciquera (12 points) and youngster Maya Gerum in the back. Maria Gravier, who posted seven wins and five losses in the Centaurs’ 8-7-1 season last year, returns in net.
The second line has Hannah Clark anchoring in the middle with Chelsea Willis and Maria Santucci on the wings. Angle and another youngster, Bryn Miller, will be in the back on that line.
“We need people to move into the third line. Our top two lines are going to get tired. That’s what happened last year. You need to rotate in a third line to defend and keep the puck in the (opponent’s) zone. That’s a big goal, developing players who will be able to do that,” Boshka said.
Girls’ Ice Hockey schedule:
Dec. 10: at Auburn, Mass. 4
Dec. 15: vs. East Catholic/Glastonbury/S. Windsor (at Pomfret School) 3
Dec. 24: vs. Auburn (Mass.) (at Pomfret School) noon
Jan. 6: vs. CT Northern Lights (at Pomfret School) 4:15 p.m.
Jan. 9: at Avon/Southington (at Westminster School) 8 p.m.
Jan. 25 at Winsor School (Boston, Mass.) 4:15 p.m.
Jan. 27 at CT Northern Lights (at Simsbury) 5:10 p.m.
Feb. 6: at Winsor School (Boston, Mass.) 4:15 p.m.
Feb. 8 at North Yarmouth Academy (Portland, Maine) 4:50 p.m.
Feb. 9 at North Yarmouth Academy (Portland, Maine) 1 p.m.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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