Roundup
Woodstock
Academy
volleyball off
to 4-0 start
Last year, the Woodstock Academy volleyball team won five matches in total.
The Centaurs have almost matched that total in the first two weeks of the 2022 season.
Woodstock raised its record to 4-0 with its second win of the season over Ledyard, 3-1, Sept. 16.
“It’s definitely nice,” said coach Adam Bottone. “We have a few more games coming up that put us in a good position to potentially qualify for (the state tournament) early on. I knew we would take our lumps last year with being so young and it’s starting to pay off now.”
The freshmen of last year are sophomores this year and they are already making an impact.
Liliana Bottone has been solid as an outside hitter.
“We’re so happy. We can’t believe it,” Liliana Bottone said of the fast start. “Last year, we didn’t do so hot and this year, we’ve come together and are really working. The chemistry is so good. None of us have any issues with each other. We’re always together.”
Sophie Gronski has been getting better and better at setter and Cassidy Ladd is one of the most consistent behind the service line for Woodstock.
“The young girls are certainly coming through when we need them,” Adam Bottone said.
Liliana Bottone led the way against Ledyard with 13 kills while senior Morgan Bonin contributed 10 kills and five aces. Junior Reegan Reynolds added six kills and was equal to Bonin from behind the service line with five aces.
Gronski had a big day with 28 assists.
The Centaurs won 25-15 and 25-23 and then Adam Bottone decided to rotate in some younger players.
“We tried to get those girls some playing time and experience. The starters can come back in and get the job done and win. I don’t mind losing a set here and there to get the girls some experience,” he said.
The Centaurs did lose the third set to the Colonels, 26-24, but easily won the fourth, 25-16.
The win followed an emotional victory over Bacon Academy the night before when the Centaurs paid tribute to Woodstock Academy football quarterback Braiden Saucier at the Fieldhouse between the second and third sets.
The crowd got into it when senior Leila MacKinnon announced she was sending a video message to the quarterback, who is recovering from a medical emergency suffered during a football game on Sept. 9, from both the team and the fans in attendance.
“It was so special. We wanted to wait just to make sure everyone was here because of practices and stuff that ended around the time that our game started, but it was so special. We just wanted to get everyone involved,” Bonin said.
As far as the match was concerned, the Centaurs were dominant in the first two sets but then had to hold off a Bacon Academy club in the last two to score a 3-1 victory over the Bobcats.
The Centaurs took the first two sets by identical 25-19 scores.
But Bacon Academy rallied to take the third set, 25-17. And the fourth was pretty contentious.
The Bobcats (2-1) took a 21-20 lead off a service error by the Centaurs.
But MacKinnon, off a nice set by Gronski (30 assists), delivered a kill from the middle that tied the set at 21.
That kill gave the ball to sophomore Destiny LaMarre.
The lefty went behind the service line and delivered an ace to put the Centaurs ahead to stay.
An illegal hit by Bacon Academy made it 23-21 and another ace by LaMarre put the Centaurs at match point.
LaMarre had a service fault when she was put in by Adam Bottone earlier in the match but the coach showed his confidence in the youngster.
“You have to do that,” Adam Bottone said. “You have to give the kids who are playing confidence, put them in in tough situations. She was disappointed about not making that first serve but I want them to understand that they can go in for tough moments and rise to the occasion. She did that.”
The Bobcats staved off defeat when Meghan Walsh delivered a hard ball to the floor but a service error resulted in the 25-22 Woodstock Academy victory.
“It was really fun and got some nerves out of the way. It makes you feel like you did something and it was so much fun to come back and win after losing that (third) set,” Liliana Bottone said. Bottone led the way with 14 kills and five digs. Reynolds added seven kills for the Centaurs.
Girls’ Cross-Country
The return of 'the pack' spells success
Woodstock coach Joe Banas was concerned going into the season-opening meet against Waterford and Griswold at Harkness Park in Waterford Sept. 14.
He was ecstatic after it. The Centaurs walked away with a 20-42 win over Waterford and blanked Griswold, 15-50.
“It was great,” Banas said. “I was worried because we lost Linsey (Arends to graduation) and now, we have to figure out another way to win. We did.”
The Lancers may have grabbed the top spot but it was all blue-and-gold thereafter.
Avery Maise came across the line first in 21 minutes, 28 seconds on her home course.
But just eight seconds behind her was Woodstock senior Lauren Brule.
And then came something that Banas wanted to see. The Centaurs pack.
Junior Leila Kwairedinord placed third in 21:41, followed by Julia Coyle (21:45), Olivia Tracy (22:02), Sydney Lord (22:21) and Kira Greene (22:24).
It made for a happy get together after the race with only technical details to discuss.
“We all sat down afterwards and wanted to see if we were all running negative splits and how it was working out. Was anyone going out too fast, for example,” Banas said. “We’re happy.”
Boys’ Cross Country
Centaurs split in opening meet
The race was on at the end of the meet in Waterford last week.
Coming out of the woods and headed toward the finish line, Woodstock sophomore Christian Menounos held a slim edge over Griswold senior Michael Strain with about 200 yards to go.
The younger runner was not fazed.
“Christian just maintained that space and was even able to open it up a little bit,” said Centaurs coach Peter Lusa.
Being pushed by his Griswold opponent possibly even helped the sophomore.
Menounos had a goal coming in of finishing in 17 minutes, 10 seconds.
He bested his own hopes by about 40 seconds.
“I was very happy and he was happy with his time. It was a very fast, flat course with the finishing section all on road which allowed the runners to push off well,” Lusa said.
Just about 15 seconds behind him was senior teammate Vincente Bastura who placed third overall.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, Griswold’s Strain triplets and friends proved to be a little too much as the Wolverines posted a 26-30 win.
Lucas and Jacob Strain finished fourth and fifth followed by teammate Jackson Collins.
Centaurs junior Charles Cagiano finished seventh in 18:50 and was followed by classmate Joel Koleszar who came across the line five seconds later. Lance LaFemina placed 18th to account for Woodstock Academy’s top five runners.
The Centaurs are off to a .500 start as they downed the host Lancers, 22-35.
“We’re very happy with the first meet and now we have targets; now we have discussion points. A lot of our kids were able to hold off surges from behind so we’re going to have a lot of conversations about footspeed,” Lusa said.
Boys’ Soccer
Byer helps Centaurs post win
The Woodstock boys’ soccer team got its first win of the season Sept. 16. But it wasn’t easy.
The Centaurs escaped with a 1-0 victory over Fitch.
“We needed this,” said coach Paul Rearden. “We’ve been playing well, but we have not received the just rewards. We played really, really well against Fitch in the first half. We didn’t do everything we needed to do in the second half but the first half was probably the best we’ve played all season.”
The win raised the Centaurs record to 1-2-1 overall and 1-1 in Div. I of the ECC.
Austin Byer scored his second goal of the season 21 minutes into the first half off an assist from John Bennett.
Bennett brought the ball down the right side and made a nice cross to Byer who was coming in at the far post from the six-yard box and Bennett’s pass made it easy for Byer to convert.
Byer is slowly becoming the offensive threat that Rearden expects.
“We saw signs of it last year as a freshman. He and John are really showing what I hoped they would show. Austin is a nightmare to play against because he’s quick and tricky but is strong as well,” Rearden said.
Bennett has become a nice complementary player as he now has three assists on the season.
“Having Garret (Bushey) in with him gives him that license to go a bit more forward and he’s growing in confidence and experience,” Rearden said of Bennett.
Earlier in the week, it was Byer who had the nice assist to a teammate.
Unfortunately, it came in a 2-1 loss to Waterford.
The sophomore forward delivered a beautiful tip to Jeff Phongsa to tie the early week match in the second half at 1.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs could not deliver the tie breaker.
Instead, it was the Lancers (3-0) who answered when Evan Piotrowski sent in a free kick from beyond midfield on to the foot of senior Donovan Bousquet who sent home what proved to be the game-winning goal with 15 minutes, 38 seconds to play.
Matias Arcelus had the only tally of the first half on a penalty kick after a handball call against Woodstock.
Girls’ Soccer
Centaurs pickup first win
After getting just two goals in its first two matches, the Woodstock girls’ soccer team broke out in Groton last week.
The Centaurs picked up their first win of the season with a 5-1 victory over the Fitch Falcons.
“This team realizes that it is good enough to compete with teams like East Lyme and this first win certainly provides evidence of what we are capable of,” said coach Dennis Snelling.
The Centaurs did compete with the Vikings later in the week, but E. Lyme posted the 1-0 victory Sept. 17.
The Centaurs finished the week with a 1-3 overall mark and 1-1 record in Div. I of the ECC.
Grace Gelhaus equaled her output for the season coming in to the Fitch match as she put two in the net against the Falcons to give her four on the year.
The senior had help. Sophomore newcomer Leah Costa scored the first goal of the match for Woodstock and assisted on Gelhaus’ first goal.
“Leah seems right at home with all of us and her energy and physical strength is a great complement to Grace,” Snelling said. “The two of them together will really be a chore for opponents to deal with.”
Bella Mawson and Juliet Allard also tallied for the Centaurs.
The defense has also picked up its effort. It allowed just two goals to Ledyard in its second outing, and just one each to Fitch and E. Lyme.
Goalies Rebecca Nazer and Fiona Rigney only had to make three saves between them against the Falcons.
E. Lyme scored the only goal of the match Sept. 17 five minutes into the second half.
“The defense, along with the keepers, are doing a good job communicating and organizing our defensive shape throughout the game,” Snelling said.
Field Hockey
Beginning of the week better than the end
The offense was going to be the question mark coming into the field hockey season for Woodstock.
It wasn’t in the first two matches of the year after the Centaurs scored four goals in a win over Somers/Rockville and six against E. Catholic.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs were shutout in their last two games versus Fitch and Wethersfield to fall to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in the ECC.
“Unless you have a really outstanding individual player who can run the length of the field and make the defense miss a lot, you just have to have the ability to pass, keep the ball moving, and get shots on goal. Against East Catholic and Somers/Rockville, we were able to get a lot of shots on goal and things happened as a result. We were not able to have any kind of sustained effort with in these last two games. It’s something we’re looking to improve upon,” said co-head coach Gerry LaMontagne.
Three goals in each half lifted the field hockey team to a 6-0 win over East Catholic in a game played on the turf on South Campus Sept 13.
“It was a good effort, the girls played really well,” LaMontagne said. “We hope to have a lot more games like that this season.”
Senior Chloe Nason scored her second goal of the season in the first half and added her third of the year in the second.
Junior Sophia Petrella added a goal and two assists while Abby Converse, Ainsley Morse, and Georgia Lukachie also tallied.
Grace Pokorny added two assists in the win.
“I thought Grace had a pretty outstanding game overall,” LaMontagne said. “She was extremely disruptive on defense playing center-mid. She disrupted East Catholic’s offense and was constantly turning the ball back upfield. She also played 60 minutes and was just a solid anchor offensively and defensively.”
The first loss of the season came Sept. 15 when the Falcons downed the Centaurs, 6-0.
That was followed by a 5-0 loss to Wethersfield, the Class M state runners-up last year, Sept. 17.
“We were definitely outmatched in these last two games. You could see the difference how the Fitch and Wethersfield players moved to the ball,” LaMontagne said.
Still, the Centaurs battled. In both games, they only trailed 2-0 at the half.
That’s doable,” LaMontagne said. “That wasn’t an insurmountable lead but we were swimming upstream in both those games. Both of those teams were able to keep the pressure on us offensively and we were not moving well enough without the ball to have any sustained offensive push.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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