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Griswold put the Woodstock Academy girls’ lacrosse team in an early hole, a three-goal deficit. Centaurs senior Shannon Gagnon made quick work of that.
Her three-goal flurry in only three minutes in the first half pulled her team back to even at six and the Centaurs responded with a 13-8 win April 9.
The game had to be called with 9 minutes, 47 seconds left to play because of lightning in the area.
The win was the third in four matches for Woodstock.
“There was a lot going on but I’m happy they were able to pull it out,” said coach Mikayla Jones. “This was a great win. We need seven wins to go to States and this is No. 3. We’re making moves this year.”
One thing she would like to see is her team play better earlier in games.
The Wolverines broke out to a 4-1 lead early. Caroline Harris made it closer with two goals for the Centaurs but Griswold upped the score to 6-3.
Gagnon scored with 11:18 left in the first half, added another 1:36 later and a third just 1:23 after that to tie the match at six.
“We didn’t start as strong as we needed to and really needed to pick up the momentum. I really think those three goals in a row really boosted our confidence and we played really well at the end of the first half and in the second half,” Gagnon said.
Sydney Haskins scored the first of her three goals just 40 seconds after Gagnon had tied the game. Griswold equaled it by the half. But Harris scored three goals, Haskins two and Gagnon added her fourth in the second half to give Woodstock the win.
“(Harris and Haskins) picked it up, the whole team did. They knew we had to win this one, that we have no wiggle room. That was the mantra this week, we have no wiggle room,” Jones said.
The Centaurs played two games prior to the win over the Wolverines.
Senior Stella Brin had a stellar match for the Centaurs in a 9-6 win over St. Bernard on April 7. Brin scored five goals, added an assist and recorded seven draw controls. Gagnon added four goals. Senior Sofia Murray made seven saves in goal for the Centaurs.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs played hard but suffered a loss to Waterford.
Brin and Haskins had the goals in the loss.
Boys’ Lacrosse
A magic number for Woodstock — they’ve won three matches this season.
In each case, it finished with 18 goals.
Such was the case in the Centaurs latest adventure; an 18-12 win over the St. Bernard-Wheeler cooperative team April 9.
The Centaurs (3-1) opened the season with an 18-2 win over Norwich Tech and posted an 18-7 win over Ledyard-Griswold just two days before the win over the Saints.
“I guess 18 is our magic number; the third game with 18-that’s absolutely incredible,” said coach Jason Tata. “The game of lacrosse is high-scoring and if 18 is what we need to get a win, 18 is what we’re going to have to get.”
The key to the offense has been the attack line of Jonah Libby, Zach Gessner and Jared Neilsen. Libby scored six goals in the opener and added five each in the last two wins.
“I know that if we need a goal, we give it to No. 9 and let him go out and do his thing. Jonah is the go-to guy and will be the difference maker. But if we hit a point where an (opponent) is locking up on (Libby), here comes (Zach) Girard or (Jacob) Jurnovoy coming out of the midfield and they have to worry about Gessner and Neilsen too,” Tata said.
Woodstock jumped out early against the 0-3 Saints. Libby scored three goals in the first 12 minutes as the Centaurs built an early 7-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Gessner added two goals in the second quarter to help Woodstock extend its lead to seven, 13-6, by half.
The big lead was important as rain began to fall in the first half and conditions on the grass field quickly deteriorated.
“There was no weather when we first got there but the first pocket of rain hit us midway through the first quarter and it poured on us a little. You could see the field immediately turn into a mud bowl; guys were slipping left and right,” Tata said. “We had to adjust on the faceoffs. Every single face off, we were losing points because the X was deteriorating. (Goalie) John (Pokorny) came off the field one time and said the goal mouths were like playing on ice.”
But St. Bernard-Wheeler wasn’t ready to give up. “They made some runs and there was a point that I thought they might be able to take a lead. They did not give in or give up,” Tata said. “Luckily for us, we were able to stave off the onslaught.”
The Saints cut it to four, 16-12, with 3 minutes, 6 seconds to play but the Centaurs put the final two balls in the net for the six-goal victory. Gessner and Neilsen finished with four goals each in the win while Jurnovoy added three.
It may have rained on the Centaurs April 9, but it was a virtual monsoon when they traveled to play Ledyard-Griswold April 7. Fortunately, the game was played on turf.
Jurnovoy joined Libby in scoring five goals in the game at Ledyard while Gessner and Neilsen added three each.
The Centaurs did suffer their first loss of the season April 5 when they fell under the lights to Waterford, 10-7.
It was also the first ECC Div. I match for the Centaurs. “It was nice to see Waterford early in the season. We knew we battled them last season just like we did with NFA, Fitch and East Lyme. We know they’re going to be tough and they will all be challenges,” Tata said.
Gessner and Libby (2 assists) each scored two goals for the Centaurs in the loss. Will Basiliere, Neilsen and Girard also scored.
Boys’ Tennis
The boys’ tennis team went in to the regular season about as cold as the weather was outside. Of course, the Centaurs wouldn’t have known much about that, either, as they practice indoors at the Pomfret School. But there was no chance to get tested under pressure.
“We usually have a scrimmage or two to help us figure out our doubles situation,” said coach Siana Green. The Centaurs didn’t have that chance this season.
Woodstock is scheduled to play only 14 matches this season.
“It’s the least amount of matches we have ever played so the momentum is different, we are used to having two or three matches a week. But I think this is a good thing as it gives us a chance to work on issues we saw in the opening match, continue to work on having the strongest doubles teams possible and it will also give the weather a chance to get a little nicer,” Green said.
The Centaurs opened their season on the second day of the regular season with a 5-2 victory over St. Bernard/Wheeler.
Their next match doesn’t happen until April 13 at Ledyard.
The Centaurs opened with two former doubles players as their top two singles.
Gabriel Viau had a battle with Matt Bottaro of the Saints but persevered and posted a 6-3, 7-6 victory. Viau was down 0-4 in the second set.
Viau has been a player who puts a lot of pressure on himself and normally, wouldn’t function as well facing that kind of adversity. “That was the old Gabriel,” Green said. “I’ve seen a lot of growth. He is able to shake things off, have some fun, learn from his mistakes and persevere.” Viau tied the set and then won the tiebreaker, 7-0.
Joe Zhou, who hasn’t played for two years at the Academy due to the pandemic, returned and posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Liam Peters.
“I was very happy to see how controlled Joe was. It’s something he has been working hard on, his consistency, during practice. He has been working on strategy, ball placement, and different strokes. It’s one thing to do it at practice, but it’s exciting to see it happen in a match as you know it has clicked,” Green said.
Jai Abrams also won his singles opener, 6-2, 6-2 over St. Bernard/Wheeler sophomore Zach Kobyluck.
The Centaurs did fall in fourth singles and first doubles but some of the freshmen group helped them in second and third doubles.
The all-freshman duo of Tyler Chamberlin and Ari Abrams posted a 6-3, 6-0 win at second doubles. Freshman Owen Rigney joined sophomore Kyle Pazienza to win third doubles, 6-1, 6-0.
“It’s, sometimes, nerve wracking to see how freshmen do in the starting lineup with the pressure of getting points for the team. They handled it like old pros,” Green said.
Girls’ Tennis: Centaurs singles players spark win
It always makes life easier when the first four players on a tennis court in a high school match walk off with wins.
It means the team, as a whole, has won.
Such was the case for the Woodstock girls’ tennis team when it opened the season at St. Bernard.
The Centaurs four singles players posted victories and, as a result, the team posted a season-opening, 6-1.
“It’s nice when you get a singles sweep. We have that depth and I think the singles should be pretty good,” said coach Keith Atchinson.
Addy Smith won at first singles, 6-1, 6-0; Jackie Trudeau posted a 6-0, 6-4 victory; Sydney Schuler was the inverse of that winning, 6-4, 6-0 and Alexa Fernandez was also a straight set winner, 6-2,6-2.
“There were definitely some nerves,” Atchinson said. “It was the first match of the year and some of them haven’t played competitively since last year. For all of them to get out, hit some live balls against some real competition was good. They were able to work through some mishits, some timing issues and got the rust out in the first sets and they were must stronger in the second sets.”
The team was missing half of its first doubles team so Atchinson had to shuffle the lineup a bit.
Logan Reynolds and Morgan Bentley teamed up at first doubles and posted a win as did Alecia Qu and Peyton Bentley at third doubles.
Woodstock’s match with Stonington was rained out.
The Centaurs do have a match with Killingly scheduled for Wednesday and will then have to play two matches over spring break where they will be missing some players.
One thing working in the Centaurs’ favor has been the ability to practice at Pomfret School. With the weather not willing to warm up, it’s been good to be able to practice indoors.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions:
Ready
Woodstock Academy senior Addy Smith readies to return a volley against St. Bernard in the Centaurs season-opening match last week. Photo by Keith Atchinson/Woodstock Academy.
Lacrosse
Woodstock Academy senior Stella Brin (11) wields her way through the Waterford defense in a match last week. Photo by Woodstock Academy senior Bryson Gould.
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