Roundup
Centaurs spread
out scoring in
hockey win
Weather again conspired against the Woodstock Academy boys’ hockey team.
The Centaurs were supposed to play two games last week but had to settle for one, a 5-1 victory over Branford Feb. 3, bringing them back to even at 5-5 on the season. The game against the Wildcats was postponed Feb. 4.
The Centaurs have eight more scheduled games, seven of them against Nutmeg Conference opponents. With just 3 ½ weeks left in the season, Woodstock has played one conference game.
 Noah Sampson’s goal in the first period put Woodstock up early against the Hornets (3-9).
Coach Bisson did do some experimentation early, moving Brendan Hill up to forward and Jeter Darigan back on defense. Bisson decided one period of that was enough and moved Hill back to defense in the second period.
It paid immediate dividends as Hill got a breakout pass to set up a breakaway for Don Sousa. Sousa’s tally was the start of a three-goal blitz by Woodstock.
Andrew Newton and Maxx Corradi also scored in that period before the Hornets got one back late. Zach Girard added the Centaurs fifth goal in the third.
Chris Thibault, Max Larkin and Kyle Brennan each had two assists for the Centaurs.
Prep Basketball: Centaurs Blue team is on 8-game roll. The Blue prep basketball team is now on an eight-game win streak. The Centaurs continued their fine play over the weekend with victories over Redemption Christian Academy Feb. 5, 75-63, and New York Military Academy, 85-56, Feb. 6.
The Centaurs looked a little logy after a day off from school and took over 5 ½ minutes just to get into double digits on the scoreboard.
The Centaurs did find their groove a bit behind forward Jason Ofcarcik. He scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the first half to help the Centaurs to a 40-29 advantage at the break. He finished with 23 points and 12 boards. Mike Pelletier added 10 points including a pair of rare 3-pointers for the forward.
The offense was much better against NYMA Feb. 6. Woodstock buried six 3-pointers in the first half, three by Logan Talbot and two more by Jan- Viljem Homanen to go up 42-29 at the half.
Talbot, who led the team with 17 points, added eight more and Ofcarcik, who was a presence all week long, added eight of his 16 points. Jaden Andrews put down 13 points, Craig Wilson added 12 and Homanen finished with 11.
The Centaurs opened the week with a win at Cheshire Academy, 65-57. Kunga Tsering, who recently committed to Adelphi University, led the Centaurs with 16 points while Ofcarcik added 13. The three wins this past week has raised the Centaurs record to 14-6.
Gymnastics: Centaurs hit season team high
Just in time for the postseason, the Woodstock gymnastics team looks like it’s starting to peak. The Centaurs downed Stonington early last week, 135.35-122.35. It was their best score as a team thus far this season.
Coach Kasey Tocchio said she has been waiting to see some other scores from around the state to see where her team stacks up, especially since it’s been two years since a state championship was last held in 2020. She thinks the team has a chance to go far this year.
Against Stonington, freshman Olivia Aleman competed in her first All-Around of the season and posted a 35.3 total. Aleman has been recovering from a preseason injury. She scored a 9.4 in her floor routine which was good enough for second against the Bears. Aleman also finished third on the beam with an 8.75. Junior Taylor Markley finished first in the All-Around for the Centaurs with a 37.3 score. Markley was first in the vault (9.5); beam (9.6) and floor (9.55) and was second on the bars (8.65). Senior Lindsey Gillies placed third in the vault with a 9.25.
Alpine Skiing: Centaurs likely in State Open this week. The Woodstock girls’ Alpine ski team has likely qualified for the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League State Open championship for a first time.
The State Open is scheduled for Feb. 9 and will be the final event of the CISL season.
Coach Kevin Brody said he thinks they've made it into the Open. "W are within the point range.”
The team had its final race Feb. 8 (too late for this edition) which could change the seeding of the teams but should not affect the Centaurs’ participation.
In addition to the girls’ team, Davis Simpson, Aiden Soderman and Anthony Listro will likely participate as independent competitors on the boys’ side.
Senior Eliza Simpson finished a good week Feb. 1 with a third-place finish in the fourth girls’ race of the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League season. Simpson was skiing against 166 fellow competitors at Mt. Southington. Freshman Emma Brody also had a stellar performance with an 18th-place finish. Simpson also placed 13th in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League’s Giant Slalom Shootout event early last week. Her finish qualified her for the second round, a slalom competition, which took place Feb. 7 (too late for this edition).
Girls’ Hockey: Centaurs battle but fall short. The Centaurs girls’ hockey team was tough and aggressive against a good Central Massachusetts League team in a non-divisional contest Feb. 5.
But Woodstock fell short as Pope Francis School poked in a couple of late goals and prevailed over the Centaurs, 3-0.
The game was played at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, home to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.
The Centaurs fell behind 1-0 in the game but had some chances to even up with Pope Francis. Mia Dang was again stellar in net as she finished with 45 saves.
Earlier the Centaurs hung tough in another test against the Smithfield/Moses Brown/Coventry Sentinels from Rhode Island but fell 5-2.
The Rhode Island Cooperative team came in with a 5-0 record and took the early 2-0 lead in the first period. Bella Chaves cut that deficit in half when she scored her second goal of the year just 3 minutes, 21 seconds into the second period off assists from Keynila Hochard and Alex Lee. The Sentinels added two more goals before the end of the period to go up, 4-1. Hochard responded 6:34 into the final period with her second goal of the season for the Centaurs off assists from Lee and Sydney Haskins.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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