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Last Game
Senior co-captains Gabe Geyer, left, and Guerin Favreau played their last two boys’ ice hockey games for The Woodstock Academy over the weekend. Photo by Madison Millar.
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For the five seniors on the Woodstock Academy boys’ ice hockey team, March 6 was their moment in the spotlight.
Guerin Favreau, Gabe Geyer, Nick Chubbuck, Colin Liscomb and Alex Wojciechowski were honored prior to the game with the Rocky Hill cooperative program.
The five seniors left the home ice on a positive note as the Centaurs downed the Terriers, 3-1.
Unfortunately, the season wouldn’t end on a winning note as Woodstock Academy fell to Division I Xavier, 6-2, March 7. The Centaurs finished with a 3-3 mark.
For the seniors, it was just hard to believe their high school hockey career had come to an end.
“It feels like yesterday that I was just going to my first 4 a.m. practice at (The) Pomfret (School),” Favreau said.
It’s also the end of the hockey career period for Favreau who will play lacrosse for Endicott College.
The same can be said for Geyer who will move on to study chemistry at Boston College.
“It’s been amazing,” Geyer said of his four-year stint on the ice. “I can remember sitting in the stands watching Ryan Wojciechowski when he was called for his Senior Night and to follow in his footsteps and play defense, to be here now is a surreal feeling.”
Both Geyer and Wojciechowski were starting defensive players, Favreau and Chubbuck were productive on the front line and Liscomb was the starting goalie.
“Every year, it’s tough,” Woodstock Academy coach Kevin Bisson said of saying good-bye to the five seniors. “For me now, especially because this is year three - in year one, you have only had them for a year and you form a little attachment- but after three years of coaching them and watching them literally grow, it’s hard.”
March 6 the Centaurs took the early lead when Geyer delivered the puck in from the point to the right of Rocky Hill keeper Trevor Schad.
Schad deflected it but the rebound ended up on the stick of freshman Noah Sampson who poked it into the net for the second goal of his career.
“The kid is going to be a hockey player for us,” said Centaurs assistant coach Bob Donahue. “He’s a big kid and for a freshman, he has a very smart hockey sense. He had some good (youth) coaching up in Worcester and it shows.”
The Centaurs did what the coaching staff preaches in the first period. They crowded the net. It resulted in a second goal with just 40 seconds left in the first period as Max Larkin sent in a shot that was knocked aside but sophomore Jeter Darigan was there to convert the rebound into a goal.
Larkin and Darigan comprised the first line along with Favreau who would get his fourth goal of the season just 3:03 into the second period.
It was of the unassisted variety as Favreau stickhandled in from the point and was able to beat Schad for a shorthanded goal.
“That’s one of the best feelings I have had all season especially with the short season,” Favreau said of the Senior Night tally. “I just saw an opening, went for it, and put it in the net. We needed it to give us some leverage and solidify the win.”
That became abundantly clear when the Terriers (1-5) responded with their only goal, an unassisted tally by Sean Sides, with 1:27 left in the second period.
It put the pressure on the Centaurs defense.
“A two-goal lead is never safe,” said Geyer. “In my sophomore year, we went down in almost every game and came back to win. I know how it feels to go up and know that the hard work of the other team is going to make you work hard for it.”
The Centaurs dug in their heels and held Rocky Hill scoreless in the third period.
“That’s a win you certainly feel good about,” Bisson said. “The guys were supporting and cheering for each other and doing the right things and got rewarded. That was a hard fought second half especially. We got the outburst early and things kind of settled and it ended up being a defensive fight the rest of the way.”
Woodstock Academy was looking forward to playing a Division I team and the excitement was on display early when the Centaurs jumped out on top against Xavier March 7. Larkin put the Centaurs up just 1 minute, 5 seconds into the game when he took a pass from Favreau and stuck it into the Falcons net. The Centaurs killed a penalty, but shortly after, Xavier tied the game when sophomore Dylan Rovetti scored.
The Falcons took the lead with 5:29 left in the period on a goal by Jack Nowosad.
Favreau brought it back to even with his second shorthanded, breakaway goal in two games in the second period. The score would remain that way until just 9 ½ minutes were left in the game and Xavier scored on a power play. Two and a half minutes later, another power play goal gave the Falcons some breathing room. Xavier put it away with two more goals in the final 3:09.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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