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The words from the mouth of Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse coach Jason Tata and the expression on his face basically told the story.
“Oh man,” Tata said with a shake of his head when reminded that he would not have Guerin Favreau this season.
Favreau, who finished with 106 points for the Centaurs last season, is now playing in college.
“(He was) absolutely incredible. You can’t replace Guerin,” Tata said.
He added that was also true of goalie Colin Liscomb and the other nine seniors who graduated last year.
“You just have to hope that this year’s seniors step up and hit those same roles. I’m not expecting any of these guys to re-create anything. They are doing their own thing and we’re going to let them,” Tata said.
Woodstock finished 10-8 last season and finished runners-up to Waterford in the ECC Div. II tournament where they lost to the Lancers in a dogfight, 4-3.
The same could be said about the Class M state tournament where the Centaurs won a state tournament play-in game but lost their first-round match, 8-7, to Watertown in overtime.
“We’re hungry still,” Tata said. “We feel like we could have picked up that ECC championship and finished up that game at Watertown. But that was inexperience on my and the players’ parts and we’re taking it as a learning experience.”
Now, the Centaurs have to learn what life will be like without Favreau. Senior Jonah Libby will be looked at to replace some of the points. He is one of the six seniors who will be playing their final sports season at The Academy.
“It’s definitely sad because there is no better feeling than high school sports but I’m going be playing college lacrosse next year at Messiah University in Pennsylvania – joining my brother there- so it’s something to be sad about but I’m really excited for what is to come and to develop my skills this year to get to the college level,” Libby said.
He finished second on the team in scoring with 37 goals and 16 assists a year ago.
“I have some big shoes to fill and I know I’m going to have to be one of the main offensive threats this year. I’m shooting for more than 53 points this year,” Libby said.
He will be joined up front by junior Zach Gessner (15 goals, 3 assists) and sophomore Jared Neilsen.
“Jonah will be an absolute cornerstone of our attack line but the entire attack line was incredible (last year). Zach Gessner came in midway through the season and stepped up and same thing with Jared Neilsen- they just worked their butts off,” Tata said.
It will be a chance for them to shine as the thought process a year ago was to get the ball into Favreau’s stick and let him work his magic.
“Now, we’re playing some open lacrosse, anyone can step up at any point in time. It will relieve some pressure mentally, but hopefully, we can handle the pressure that comes with stepping up now,” Tata said.
Tata is also pumped about his midfield where seniors Zach Girard and Everett Michalski reside alongside juniors Jacob Jurnovoy (14 goals, 1 assist) and Will Basiliere (4, 8)
The defense is solid. Everyone is back. Senior Tyler Green will anchor the middle with Cooper Stewart and Evan Roy on the wings.
“You love seeing that on the defensive side. If we can keep stopping goals with those three guys, we will be in really good shape,” Tata said.
Another senior, John Pokorny, takes over in the cage for the Centaurs. “He’s looking absolutely incredible and you can tell he’s been working in the offseason. I’m excited to see what he can do in the net,” Tata said.
Tata is also thankful that his returning players worked the hallways a bit as he has 37 athletes currently in uniform, including several hockey and soccer players that he had not seen before.
“We’re creating a culture now,” Tata said with a smile. “We have a lot of raw talent. I’m loving the way the team is looking.”
There will be some challenges.
The Centaurs lost both of their faceoff specialists, Alex Wojciechowski and Brandon Richards to graduation.
“Losing both of our faceoff guys, it’s going to be tough to replace them but we have a lot of guys that are willing to step up and give it a shot. Honestly, I hope some of our hockey guys who have taken faceoffs can kind of translate over. We’ll see. We’re still ironing out some of those finer details,” Tata said.
Like so many Woodstock teams this spring, the boys’ lacrosse team is also in a new spot in the ECC. The Centaurs will play in Div. I with E. Lyme, Fitch, NFA and Waterford, a group of teams they went 3-6 against a year ago.
“You build talent through tougher competition and we’re all excited for the challenge,” Tata said. “Above everything, this is a family. We have to play together.”
Boys’ Lacrosse Schedule:
Sat., April 2: vs. Norwich Tech/Windham
Tech 11 a.m.
Tues., April 5: at Waterford 7
Thurs., April 7: at Led./Gris. 6:15 p.m.
Sat., April 9: at St.Bernard/Wheeler 4
Tues., April 12: vs. Fitch 4:15 p.m.
Thurs., April 14: vs. East Lyme 4:15 p.m.
Sat., April 16: vs. E.O. Smith 11 a.m.
Tues., April 19: vs. Valley Reg. 4:15 p.m.
Thurs., April 21: vs. Rockville/Coventry/
Stafford 4:15 p.m.
Tues., April 26: vs. NFA 4:15 p.m.
Sat., April 30: vs. Montville 11 a.m.
Thurs., May 5: at NFA 5:30 p.m.
Tues., May 10: vs. Waterford 4:15 p.m.
Thurs., May 12: at Norwich Tech/
Windham Tech 4 p.m.
Mon., May 16: at Fitch 5 p.m.
Thurs., May 19: at East Lyme 7 p.m.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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