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The Woodstock Academy Centaurs get a little extra unanticipated rest prior to the start of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference boys’ ice hockey state tournament.
The second-seeded Centaurs fell Feb. 26 to No. 3 Tri-Town in a Nutmeg Conference tournament semifinal game, 3-2.
“I told the guys to turn a negative into a positive. Now, we get a little more rest and, truthfully, should be that much more ready on Monday versus having to play a tough game on Thursday. It’s not exactly the way you want it to go. My guys were very disappointed, myself included, and I always want to win. Hopefully, we can turn it into something good,” said Woodstock Academy coach Kevin Bisson.
The Centaurs were ranked No. 13 in Division II by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and played a first-round game at No. 4 Branford at the Northford Ice Pavilion. The game ended too late for this edition.
The Centaurs fell behind Tri-Town early when starting center Ben Kingsbury scored just two minutes into the game for the Knights.
The Centaurs knotted it up a little over a minute later.
Ethan Thorpe caused a turnover in the neutral zone, took the puck into the Tri-Town end and shot it just wide of the net.
Fortunately for Woodstock Academy, the bounce was a good one.
The puck went from the left side of the net to the right and junior Doug Newton was there to tap in his 17th goal of the season.
“The easy part was the tap in, but Doug still had to get to the net to have the opportunity. It was a good effort from all the guys on that one,” Bisson said.
The Knights countered prior to the end of the first period.
Noah Hale sent Tri-Town into the second period with the lead off an assist from Nick Dannenfelser.
Woodstock Academy continued the back-and-forth in the second period when Jake Starr scored for a second time this season.
“It was a full-effort play and plays that are full effort will probably do more especially at this time of year than skill and talent plays,” Bisson said. “He went full force for the puck and drove it home past the goalie.”
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, the Knights got the last laugh on an Alex Knisley goal in the third period. “We played them pretty well in the first couple of games (the Centaurs posted 6-5 overtime and 4-1 wins over Tri-Town in the regular season), but we knew it would be a tough battle. We came out on the wrong side but I’m not too disappointed with my guys,” Bisson said. Tri-Town moved on to play in the Nutmeg Conference championship game against the Eastern Connecticut Eagles. The Eagles prevailed easily, 7-2.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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