The enthusiasm never waned. Before the Woodstock Academy girls’ hockey team’s last contest, a junior varsity game Feb. 27 against the Pomfret School, coach Jeff Boshka gave the team a choice.
The team had two ice slots available during the week leading up to the final JV game.
Practice on Sunday, practice on Tuesday, practice both days or neither?
“I threw it out to them and everyone said they wanted to do both, even if it meant another late night which Tuesday was and everyone was there. That just shows they like each other and like to play,” Boshka said.
The Centaurs completed their first season as a member of the Central Massachusetts girls’ ice hockey league with a 3-8-3 overall record and a 1-2-3 record in the B Division.
“Overall, I was happy,” Boshka said. “We made some good, positive strides. It was very encouraging with the really good start and then we hit a tough road. There was the hope to pull out a few more wins.”
The Centaurs suffered two close losses early to a pair of Connecticut teams, but then hit their stride with three consecutive victories over Central Mass League opponent, Auburn, 4-3, and two consecutive wins over non-league opponent, Warwick, R.I., 2-1 and 1-0.
They followed up with a pair of ties against conference foes Leominster (2-2) and Oakmont (1-1), the game with Oakmont decided when the visiting Spartans scored in the final 31 seconds.
There is no overtime in the Central Mass League.
The Centaurs lost at St. Peter-Marian (5-0), came home and suffered a 4-2 setback to Smithfield, R.I., and went back on the road and settled for a 2-all tie with Auburn.
In the last four games, the Centaurs would score only one goal.
“The goals went away and it’s a quandary as to why,” Boshka said. “We concentrated our drills on shooting and getting in front of the net, all the things you need to do to score, and there was definitely some frustration. You can only win games when you score.”
Junior Eliza Dutson was the team’s leading scorer with six goals and 10 points overall. Senior Chelsea Willis (5 points) had four goals while sophomore Sydney Haskins (6 points) added four assists.
The Centaurs also had it rougher against the Central Mass League A Division teams. They lost to Longmeadow (8-0) and Shrewsbury (12-0) in addition to St. Peter-Marian.
“The positive attitude really showed in the Longmeadow game. It was away, against a tough team, but we kept a great attitude and framed it as an opportunity. They were playing against a half-dozen players who had already committed to playing in college,” Boshka said. “It gave us something to shoot for. Longmeadow wasn’t executing amazing, complex plays, it was doing the basics and doing them well. I’ve been coaching for a lot of years in a lot of sports (at Woodstock Academy) and I’ve come to the conclusion that if you can do the basics well, you can go far.”
Another positive for the Centaurs was the youth on the team.
There were only three seniors, Marie Gravier, Willis and Linda St. Laurent, in uniform. There were seven middle school athletes. It’s the most Boshka has ever had.
He’s used to having just a couple of eighth-graders.
The next step for the program will be a big one.
Kat Hannah was recently announced as the new head coach with the goal being to field two girls’ ice hockey teams based on the model of the prep basketball program at Woodstock Academy.
The Gold team will play a prep/club schedule while the Blue team will remain the high school team.
It’s unsure whether that will come to fruition as soon as next season.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

..