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Down the Field
Woodstock Academy senior Avery Jones stickhandles down the field in a 2-0 loss to Waterford last week. Photo by Marc Allard/The Woodstock Academy.
It had to be one of the earliest Senior Day events ever.
The Woodstock Academy field hockey team celebrated that event and Homecoming with a 1-0 victory over Killingly.
With still about a month to go in the season, it was the final home game for the field hockey team.
That was not the result of a scheduling snafu.
Instead, it was due to the concern about Eastern Equine Encephalitis which was discovered in the southeast portion of the state first.
It caused many shoreline programs to ask to change venues in hopes a frost would kill the mosquito population by the time the second games in the rotation had to be played.
Thus, the Centaurs will have to play their final seven games on the road.
“It’s going to be challenging,” said Woodstock Academy coach Lauren Gagnon.
The Centaurs are trying to qualify for the ECC and state tournaments.
The win over Killingly raised its mark to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the ECC.
But the 3-5 first half record didn’t sit well with the team.
“We held a little funeral ceremony for the first half of our season because we were not pleased at all with how the record reflected our play,” Gagnon said. “We’ve been right there in a ton of games and just have not been able to finish the way we want.”
So, the team put its record on a ball along with all the things that they were doing that they didn’t like and, literally, buried the ball at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
A new chapter started Oct. 5. The Centaurs put together a fine defensive effort to hold Killingly (2-5, 2-4) scoreless.
A goal in the first half was all they could manage against the Redgals.
When a shot did sneak through the crevices, senior goalie Rachel Roberts was ready. Roberts made eight saves in the game, six in the first half.
The only tally came 11 minutes, 23 seconds into the game when Emma Durand sent the ball into the crease and it found the stick of Rachel Canedy who delivered the goal.
“It was pretty,” Gagnon said. “Those two work so well together and they’re best buddies on and off the field. It’s ideal when I can get them next to one another. It doesn’t always happen.”
The Centaurs did honor their seniors; Roberts, Madelyn Lecuyer, Danielle Chaput, Jones, Tessa Houlihan, Durand, Sophia Rakovan, Lily Brin and Abby Kruger, prior to the game.
“I feel like I’ve been on the team for eight years because my sister played before me and now, this was my last home game and it just seems weird. I can’t believe it. I remember my first day of tryouts and I kept going with JV and coach kept yelling at me to go with varsity because I had played before,” Jones said with a laugh.
Roberts, after the game, still couldn’t believe they had played the Centaurs had played their final home game.
“It’s definitely weird having Senior Day at the beginning of October because we still have a full second half of the season left. It’s going to be tough playing seven games on the road. There are going to be some late nights,” she said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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