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Above and right, Woodstock Academy freshman Grace Pokorny, white jersey, worked hard against Oakmont Regional in hockey. The Spartans and Centaurs finished in a 1-1 tie at the Jahn Ice Rink at Pomfret School. Photos by Trent Peters/The Woodstock Academy.
It was nearly two years since the Woodstock Academy hockey team played a Central Massachusetts League game and some things just don’t change.
The Centaurs recorded three ties in their six games played in that inaugural season as a league member two years ago in 2019-20.
Dec. 22 Woodstock and Oakmont Regional and tied, 1-1.
First-year coach Eric Roy didn’t know what to expect having never played a Central Mass. opponent. He liked what he saw.
“These are the teams we should be playing; we’re equal. These are going to be good games the whole way through and will be good measuring sticks,” Roy said.
The Spartans got the jump on the Centaurs (0-1-1, 0-0-1 Central Mass. League).
Freshman forward Rachel Simkewicz took the puck behind the blue line, skated through the neutral zone and was unchallenged as she approached Woodstock goalie Mia Dang.
She lifted her shot above Dang, it clipped the crossbar and found the back of the net 10 minutes, 47 seconds into the game.
But unlike the Centaurs 3-0 loss to Burrillville, R.I., in their season opener the week before, the attitude was different this time.
“You could see the deflation when (Burrillville) scored on us last week. This week, you could see the anger and the energy went up. That’s what I took from this game, the difference in our energy after giving up that goal,” Roy said.
The Centaurs, instead, answered.
“Sydney (Haskins) passed it to Keynila (Hochard) who bounced it off the boards. I went past a defender, deked the goalie, and scored,” Chaves said. That brought the morale up.
“It was the type of goal this team needed to see – you go to the net and make something happen. It was a beautiful goal. She worked hard for it and, as a result, everyone was in front of the goal and that’s how goals are made,” said Roy.
It’s something the Centaurs still have to work on. Woodstock had 16 shots but few came off of rebounds.
“That’s all we’re working on now is finishing, finding that spot that gets them angry and gets them in front of the net. We still need to work on it so we’re just going to keep drilling it,” Roy said.
“I think we’re spread out just a little too much. We need a few more bodies in front to put the puck in,” Chaves added.
On the other side of the ice, the defense has been solid.
“It’s been the part of the lineup that we have rotated a lot. I pull some of them up to forward. I did that with Keynila (against Oakmont). We didn’t have Alex (Lee, out with an illness) so the younger defensive crew played a great game and the back checking was phenomenal. We’re playing well in front of Mia which is huge, they are not getting good opportunities on her,” Roy said.
Dang turned aside 16 of the 20 shots sent at her.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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