Hannah Chubbuck scored the goal.

Haley Armstrong did a lot of the work.

Together, the two combined to lift The Woodstock Academy field hockey team to its first-ever win over East Lyme, 2-1, in overtime Oct. 12 at the Bentley Athletic Complex turf field.

“This is historic,” said coach Lauren Gagnon. It was also a little déjà vu for Gagnon.

She recalled the first win the program had ever garnered against Norwich Free Academy. It was in overtime in a mid-October game. “It’s huge,” Gagnon said.

It also kept the Centaurs hopes alive for an Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament bid.

The Academy (4-5 overall) is now tied with East Lyme (4-8) for the fourth spot, and the final tournament bid, with a 4-4 record.

“I think this is the confidence boost that we needed going into the second half of the season. We felt good after the Enfield game, but we are over the moon after this one,” Gagnon said.

The game was played in the midfield for the most part with few quality shots.

Neither team scored in the first half, but Avery Jones broke the ice with her fifth goal of the season just 3 minutes, 23 seconds into the second half.

Jones took a pass from freshman Sydney Cournoyer and guided it with the backside of her stick, a reverse sweep, into the East Lyme net.

“That was probably one of the prettiest goals I’ve seen at the high school level ever,” Gagnon said. “We worked on reverse sweeps (Wednesday) and when it was appropriate to use them, different techniques and how to lift it. She threw it all together and did it perfectly.”

East Lyme, however, knotted the game when Katie Durkee, from just inside the shooting circle, sent a ball to the far post of the cage and slipped it in with 15:37 to play.

Shots were hard to come by in the game with little activity in front of the cage.

That was especially true after the Durkee goal as the two sides settled into a midfield battle to send the game into the extra period.

But 5:15 into overtime, the Centaurs put something together.

Jones sent the ball ahead to Armstrong who was inside the shooting circle to the left of East Lyme keeper Lydia Swan.

Armstrong’s stick-handling allowed her to retain control of the ball and forced Swan to come out of the net.

“My heart was in my throat when she drew the goalie out,” Gagnon said. “Sometimes, when you get the goalie out, you just flub it into their pads.”

That didn’t happen.

Instead, Armstrong made a nice cross to Chubbuck, coming in from the right, who had an empty cage to shoot at.

“It was wide open,” Chubbuck said with a smile.

It was the fourth goal of the season for the junior and the first assist of the season for Armstrong.

Oct. 13   ---   Volleyball

Woodstock 3  --  Bacon 0

The Woodstock Academy volleyball team geared up for its second showdown of the season with the undefeated Killingly Redgals Oct. 9 at the Fieldhouse with a 3-0 win over Bacon Academy Oct. 13 in Colchester.

The Centaurs breezed through the match, winning the first two sets by identical 25-9 scores and taking the third, 25-7.

Natalie Low had eight kills for the Centaurs (11-3, 4-1 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) who won their eight straight match.

Libero Maddy Gronski had 12 digs while Hannah Walley contributed 10 service points.

Oct. 9

Woodstock 3  --  Coventry 0

Paula Hernandez had 18 kills and Natalie Low added 12 as the Centaurs won their fifth straight match. Woodstock (8-3) posted wins of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-20. Sammie Orlowski had 33 assists for the Centaurs

Cross Country   ---   Oct. 10

Centaur runners fare well, but Bears prevail

The Woodstock Academy girls’ cross-country team finished second and third individually but suffered losses in Stonington.

Freshman Stella Dipippo finished the 5K course in 21 minutes, 22 seconds,   just 30 seconds behind Stonington’s Lily Anderson with senior teammate Hannah Matsas in close pursuit.

Matsas finished third in 21:48, but the Bears took four of the next five spots to prevail, 24-32.

The win pushed Stonington (9-1 overall) ahead of The Woodstock Academy in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II standings. Stonington ran the table in dual meets, going 5-0, while the Centaurs are 4-1. The results of the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship do figure into the league’s final standings so the Centaurs (6-1) will have another shot at the Bears.

Emily McClure finished third for the Centaurs, seventh overall, in 23:59.

Megan Gohn (9th) and Amelie Pressel (11th) rounded out the top five.

Marc Allard

Sports Information Director

 

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