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The effort could have been better for the Woodstock Academy boys’ hockey team Feb. 19.
“It’s frustrating because we know how much better we can play hockey,” Centaurs assistant coach Bob Donahue said after a 6-2 loss to the Watertown-Pomperaug cooperative at the Jahn Ice Rink at Pomfret School.
“It’s frustrating when they are not playing their best game and making bad decisions,” Donahue added.
The loss dropped the Centaurs to 7-9 on the season.
Although it will depend on how the rest of Division II fares over the remainder of the regular season, the Centaurs need to pick up one more win to guarantee themselves a state tournament berth.
“If we want to gain a foothold in the playoffs, we have to win all our games forward. We can’t afford to get sloppy,” Donahue said.
The Academy grabbed the momentum away from the Indians (13-2-1) in the second period on the power play.
Trailing 2-0 just 26 seconds into the second period, Jake Black sent the puck in from the point where Centaurs’ defensemen Ryan Wojciechowski and Liam McDermott managed to sneak into the crease.
McDermott was able to re-direct Black’s shot into the net for his second goal of the season.
“We had to take away (Watertown-Pomperaug goalie Ryan Fleming’s) eyes. When we did that, jammed up the front, we got a goal,” Donahue said.
The Centaurs tied it up with 6:49 left in the period.
Freshman Guerin Favreau took a pass from Doug Newton to the right of Fleming. He drew the goalie’s attention and flicked it back to Newton who scored his third goal of the season.
“Nice pass-and-go. We talk about moving the puck across the road, get the goalie going east-and west. It was a perfect pass and a nice finish,” Donahue said.
But the good times didn’t last long,
An errant clear in the Woodstock Academy end found the stick of Drew Mancini of the Indians. He went 1-on-1 with Dylan Shea and won the battle.
The goal came just 1:43 after Newton’s goal and gave the momentum right back to the Indians.
They didn’t lose it again.
The Indians scored three times in the third period.
Watertown-Pomperaug outshot the Centaurs, 31-14, in the game.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director