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100th Point
Woodstock senior Jonah Libby displays the ball he used to score his 100th career point in a 20-2 Woodstock Academy win over Rockville/Coventry/Stafford. Photo by Marc Allard.
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Looking
Woodstock Academy senior Everett Michalski (25) looks for an opening against the Valley Regional defense in a 9-8 Woodstock Academy victory last week. Photos by Marc Allard.
Near the Net
Woodstock Academy attack Jared Nielsen operates near the net in a 9-8 win over Valley Regional last week.
Woodstock Academy coach Jason Tata knew senior Jonah Libby needed just five points to reach 100 for his high school career.
That was the easy part. Keeping track of how many Libby had in the game? Much more difficult.
Tata wanted to do so to make sure that he got the ball that Libby hit his milestone with.
“Of course, I got it,” Tata said. The second time that was. Tata asked for the ball prematurely on Libby’s fourth point of the game.
He did get the ball that counted. It came on a Libby goal with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half of a 20-2 win over Rockville-Coventry-Stafford April 21.
“It’s a lot,” Libby said. “Definitely not something I was expecting to get since I didn’t play any varsity as a freshman (and missed his sophomore season due to the pandemic). Getting it in two years was definitely a milestone for me.”
Libby finished with 53 points as a junior. He now has 48 in his senior campaign.
“I couldn’t do it without a lot of kids on the team like (Jacob) Jurnovoy, Jared (Neilsen), (Zach) Gessner. They are all part of this. We’re a team. We all go to practice and work for this and it’s helping me rely on other people on the team,” Libby said.
Tata said: “If you look at 100 points in two seasons, that’s nothing to laugh about. It is a legitimate stat line and some crazy numbers and he has plenty of lacrosse to play. Let’s see how high we can get those point totals.”
Libby admits he would love to score 100 points this season alone.
But he also wants to see the Centaurs get into the state tournament and the win helped them climb closer.
Woodstock is now 6-3 and is now on a three-game win streak.
“Especially coming off tough games last week against East Lyme and Fitch where we weren’t able to come away with wins. Playing E.O. Smith, Valley Regional and (Rockville), was a nice little break from those tough (ECC) teams,” Libby said.
The Centaurs got a bump from some other players in the win over Rockville. Will Basiliere had a hat trick in the first quarter and a half and finished with four goals as did Neilsen.
Gessner had three goals and Libby finished with two goals and four assists.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs survived a tough match with Valley Regional especially when the sun, blocked by clouds most of the game, decided to make a late-game appearance.
It was something that was welcomed by most especially those watching from the stands as the match was buffeted by chilly breezes and the occasional sleet pellets mixing in with rain showers.
Unfortunately, the sun came out with the Centaurs protecting the eastern goal.
It was not a welcome occurrence for Centaur senior goalie Tyler Green. “I couldn’t see. The sun came out. It scared me a little bit,” the senior said.
The Centaurs escaped with a 9-8 win.
Libby scored his third and final goal of the game with 1 minute, 2 seconds to play to give the Centaurs a 9-6 lead.
But the match was hardly over, thanks in part, to the sun and its late afternoon angle.
Valley Regional (2-4) got a goal from Leif Duval with 48 seconds to play. Cooper Strecker followed 24 seconds later with his fourth goal of the match to cut the deficit to one.
“As soon as I saw it peeking out, I knew (Green) was going to get blinded. That’s all I was worried about. I was telling the guys to just shut (Valley Regional) off, do not let them get a clean shot. I wanted contested shots all over the place because I knew they were going to launch balls at Ty,” Tata said.
The Warriors had done that much of the match. Green was up to the task. In just his second appearance in goal, Green made 19 saves. “I like it in the net. The boys listen to me. Feels good,” Green said.
Green was given his first chance in goal the Saturday before against E.O. Smith when Jon Pokorny fell ill.
“I woke up at 8 a.m., my Dad (assistant coach Chris Green) called me and told me that I was going to be in net and I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is new to me.’, Green said.
He had played goal once before in a practice in club lacrosse.
But he probably shouldn’t get too comfortable. “He’s playing really well and, to be honest, we went with the hot hand. We’re definitely going to pull him back to the defense, that’s his specialty, but he played well (in goal),” Tata said.
Valley Regional consistently threatened the Centaurs but never could take the lead.
The Warriors tied the match at 1 and 3, but never could take a lead.
“That’s something about this team, it’s really resilient. They don’t let a quick string of goals get them down. It’s just, ‘Let’s go bury another one,’” Tata said.
It was also a balanced scoring attack with Libby getting three goals and two assists; Jurnovoy added a pair of tallies and Neilsen had a goal and two assists. Everett Michalski, Basiliere and Gessner had the other goals.
“I think it’s going to be a thing of the season- it can’t be one guy. It’s next guy up, whoever gets the opportunity. Everett started the scoring for us. If you look at the roster, you’re not going to think that Everett is a big goal scorer, but he got the job done and put one in the back of the net,” Tata said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
.