At the end of a busy three-game week, the Woodstock Academy boys’ hockey team finds itself atop the point standings in Div. II of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
The Centaurs accomplished that with a trio of wins over the likes of Lyman Hall, North Branford and Glastonbury to improve to 16-1 on the season.
“It feels great, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Woodstock Academy coach Mark Smolak.
Woodstock only leads North Haven by two points going into the final week of the season. The Centaurs have Nutmeg Conference games against Tri-Town and the Eastern Connecticut Eagles and finish up against a Div. II opponent, East Haven.
They have to win those three and may need a little help to maintain the first seed in the division for the state tournament.
“Mathematically, two weeks ago, it looked like (first seed) would be a lock (if the Centaurs won out). Now, the standings have shifted. We have a chance to finish second at the minimum, hopefully, first,” Smolak said.
Several of the wins the Centaurs came against teams who have now fallen below .400 and that means they would not get the additional bonus points that are allotted for wins against tournament qualified teams.
“(North Haven’s) wins have maintained but it is going against the third-ranked team (on Monday) and also have to play Wethersfield who took (North Haven) out in the championship game last year. They have a couple of really tough games ahead of them,” Smolak said.
It won’t be much easier for the Centaurs.
Tri-Town and Eastern Connecticut both have the additional impetus of playing against a conference foe and a win for Tri-Town (Monday in a game that ended too late for this edition) would certainly bolster its standing in Division III for the state tournament.
“Our approach is that we know we’re in the playoffs, both in the conference and in States. If we lose out, we’re still in States. I expressed to them the importance and the urgency of the teams that are coming at us. If they’re out (Eastern Connecticut has opted out of the CIAC tournament), they will throw everything they have at us because we’re a top team and they want to ruin our opportunity to claim first place. It’s also a last chance for many of those kids to play against a high-powered team,” Smolak said.
A high-powered team that is also coming off three games in four days.
There were some heavy legs and some illness that the Centaurs had to overcome on Saturday against Glastonbury at Trinity College.
Woodstock skated to a scoreless tie with their hosts in the first period and the two teams exchanged goals in the second.
Andrew Newton put in his fifth goal of the season off an assist from Jacob Jurnovoy.
But Glastonbury’s Michael Rodriguez answered with a goal and the two teams went into the locker room for a final time tied.
“We spoke in the locker room that we knew some of them were exhausted, they had played a lot of hockey but they had 15 minutes left and had to dig deep and really just put everything they had left out on the ice,” Smolak said.
It resonated with them as it didn’t take long at all for the Centaurs to forge ahead.
Donnie Sousa scored just 50 seconds into the third period off an assist from Maxx Corradi and just 25 seconds later, on the same shift, it was Sousa who fed Corradi for a second goal, his 29th of the season.
It was how the game ended, 3-1, in favor of the Centaurs.
Friday, the Centaurs posted a 6-1 victory over North Branford.
The win for the Centaurs came courtesy of a four-goal second period against the Thunderbirds (8-7-2), a fellow CIAC Division II team.
“Our forecheck was really going. We stress with our team that if we’re moving our feet and keeping speed on the forecheck, a lot of defenseman, especially younger ones, are not able to handle that physicality,” Smolak said.
Jurnovoy delivered that message early to North Branford with a hard check.
“From that point forward, whenever they saw No. 14 on the ice, they either let him get the puck first or they panicked and threw the puck where there was one of our guys. We really controlled possession and play in that game,” Smolak said.
Sousa scored two goals in the rally, both from assists from Noah Sampson who finished with three assists in total.
Max Larkin, who finished with two goals, also scored in the second period as did Newton.
Corradi (1 assist) added a goal late in the third period.
Earlier in the week, it took a little while to get going but the Centaurs began a three-game week with a 4-1 win at home over Lyman Hall at the Jahn Ice Rink at Pomfret School.
The win came on Military Appreciation Night.
The Centaurs wore their camouflage uniforms, the UConn Air Force ROTC Color Guard was on hand and proceeds from the game went to the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse which raises money for local veterans in need.
In addition to the early fanfare, those on hand were treated to a close game.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first period which Smolak attributed to himself.
“I made a mistake to try and change things up to get kids more ice time. It was clear after the first two shifts that Lyman Hall came to play. They put out a really good effort and I took the responsibility of not being prepared for that. The kids appreciated that, picked me up, and put together the win that we needed,” Smolak said.
Sampson put the Centaurs into the lead with a goal just 44 seconds into the second period off assists from Corradi and Ian Sherman.
That score held through the majority of the second period until Corradi tallied off an assist from Sousa with 1 minute, 46 seconds left in the period.
Unfortunately, the two-goal lead didn’t last long as Cam Kaplan answered for Lyman Hall (3-13-1) with a goal 30 seconds later.
The Centaurs finally pulled away in the third period when Sousa scored just 1:01 in and Corradi added his second goal of the game 3 1/2 minutes later.

Indoor Track
Woodstock indoor track coach Josh Welch saw his name removed from the indoor track record wall at the Alumni Fieldhouse courtesy of Christian Menounos.
The sophomore finished the 1000m race at the State Open Indoor Track Championship in 2 minutes, 36.67 records to break Welch’s former school record of 2:37.22.
Unfortunately for Menounos, even that was not good enough to earn a place as he finished ninth in the race.
“It was just a crazy deep 1000m competition. If he was just a half-second faster, he would have qualified for New England’s and Nationals but he’s excited about the school record,” Welch said.
One athlete who did qualify for the Nationals was senior Bella Sorrentino.
She also established a school record, this one in the girls 55m hurdles in 8.87 seconds. While she also did not get a place for her effort at the State Open, it did qualify her for the National Indoor Track.
Eaton not only qualified for the Nationals but also the New England’s as he placed sixth in the shotput with a heave of 49-feet, 7-inches, surpassing his previous personal best by 2 feet.

Girls’ Hockey
The Woodstock girls’ hockey cooperative season came to a close on Saturday night.
“It flew,” first-year coach Eric Roy said. “I thought we were just in the preseason and now, here we are. But it was a good season. I have no complaints about the season. We went through some adversity, we’re young, so we’re just going to build on that.”
The Centaurs finished up the year with a 7-2 loss to the Suffield Cooperative program on Saturday.
It concluded a year in which the Centaurs invited players in from other Eastern Connecticut Conference schools such as East Lyme, Ledyard, Wheeler and Fitch as well as a non-ECC school, Norwich Tech.
“It went better than I expected,” Roy said. “I figured we would be struggling along, suffering some bad losses here and there but we fought every game. We haven’t had many lopsided games.”
It looked like the game against the Wildcats would go down as the worst loss of the season as the Centaurs struggled through the first two periods.
They had seven penalties called against them which resulted in four power play goals for Suffield. Senior Natalie Ewald scored two of those for the Wildcats and also added a shorthanded tally.
Suffield broke out to a 7-0 lead over the first two periods but the Centaurs won the third period, 2-1.
Juliette Hammer scored her third goal of the season off an assist from senior Keynila Hochard with 8 minutes, 15 seconds left to play. Freshman Riley Faber then added her second goal of the season just a little under a minute later.
“All season long, this has been a third period team. I don’t know what it is. In the offseason, I’m going to go home and figure out how to make them think it’s the third period, every period because they’re a different team and they just go and usually win the third period,” Roy said.
Freshman Maci Corradi finished as the team leader in scoring with 17 points, 13 of those points were goals. Mia Williamson (3 goals) finished with 13 points, Sophia Gouveia (6 goals) added 12 and Hochard finished with 11.
The Centaurs finished with a 3-17-1 overall record, 3-12 against Connecticut opponents.
But it wasn’t the record that truly mattered to the coaching staff or the players.
It was just putting a program like this together.
“We’re incredibly hopeful (for the future). We have a great group of girls. This program is getting better and better and people want to be a part of it. It’s so cool to see the various schools seek us out and want to be a part of it. It gives girls the opportunity to play this awesome game. I’m excited,” assistant coach Jeff Boshka said.
The last week of the season for Woodstock girls’ hockey got underway with another long road trip.
The Centaurs traveled to Shelton to play the Trumbull/St. Joseph cooperative program early in the week. The hosts skated away with the 4-1 win.
Trumbull scored the first two goals before Gouveia scored her sixth goal of the season, and third in the last two games, just 48 seconds into the second period.
Trumbull, however, got the last two tallies to take home the win.
The Centaurs followed that up with a trip to West Haven on Thursday.
The West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two periods before the Centaurs attempted another third quarter rally.
Caitlyn Flynn did get a goal for Woodstock off an assist from Gouveia in the third period but the rally fell short.
 
Girls’ Basketball
Centaurs fall in ECC quarterfinals
The Woodstock  girls’ basketball team was looking forward to playing a perennial state power like New London.
Even though the Centaurs knew the going would be difficult, it was good experience to get a young team ready for the tougher roads that will lie ahead not only in the upcoming state tournament but also in the years ahead.
The top-seeded Whalers proved to be as tough as advertised as they posted a 74-30 win over the Centaurs in an ECC  Div. I tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday.
Prior to going to the game, Woodstock Academy coach Will Fleeton was looking at it as a learning experience.
“It’s got to be good, because I believe our freshmen, at this point in the season, are already in their sophomore year. We’re learning, we’re growing and we’re going to take something from this as a group that will help us in the future. Any trip to play a quality team will only help us as well,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs hung tough early, trailing by only five points at the end of the first quarter.
But an injury made things difficult and helped allow the Whalers build a double-digit halftime lead that the Centaurs could not put a dent in.
Freshman Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain led Woodstock with 10 points while senior Leila MacKinnon added eight.
The Centaurs, as the eighth-seed in the tournament, had a battle against Waterford Wednesday in an ECC Div. I tournament play-in game where they prevailed, 52-36.
Waterford (6-15), the ninth seed, was troublesome in the first half with Lucy Walker getting 10 of her 11 points in the first quarter and Julia Knowles had six of her 11 in the second.
That helped propel the Lancers to a 24-20 halftime lead.
“We tried to extend the defense a little bit. We didn’t come out of our man (defense) but we came out of our comfort zone, tried to extend, pick up three-quarter court and added a little pressure to see if (Waterford) could handle that. I think we were able to force turnovers which got us some transition points,” Fleeton said.
Woodstock in transition is Woodstock Academy at its best.
D’Alleva-Bochain flourished as she scored eight of her 16 points in the third quarter when the Centaurs outscored the Lancers, 17-4.
“We went down at halftime, talked to one another, and decided that we just had to execute what we know and play basketball,” D’Alleva-Bochain said.
In all, the defense held Waterford to just 12 second half points.
“When you play defense, you get more offensive possessions and limit theirs. That helps you score more, too,” D’Alleva-Bochain said.
Sophomore Eva Monahan picked it up in the fourth quarter with six of her team-high 18 points.
In what was a marked improvement from the 2021-22 season, the Woodstock girls’ basketball team finished the regular season earlier in the week with a 12-8 overall record.
The Centaurs final regular season game didn’t take place too far from home as they traveled to Killingly early in the week and gave their hosts a tussle before falling, 37-33.
It was a defensive struggle throughout with Killingly holding a 12-10 first quarter lead.
But the scoreboard was pretty quiet in the second quarter with only eight points being scored and Killingly clinging to an 18-12 lead.
It got closer after three quarters as the Centaurs closed within three and got within a bucket with 3:29 left in the game when they trailed by only two, 31-29.
Killingly, however, was able to hold on for its 11th win of the season.
Sophia Sarkis led Woodstock with 12 points, all of those coming in the second half.
The sophomore also continued her fine performance from outside the arc with a pair of 3-pointers.
D’Alleva-Bochain added seven points to the Centaur attack.
The season is not over for the girls’ basketball team although it will get a much-needed and much-deserved break.
Woodstock has qualified for the Class L state tournament.
The official pairings have not been released yet but the Centaurs sit in the 15th slot and will host the No. 18 team, likely Masuk from Monroe, in a first-round game on Feb. 27.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

caption:
Celebrates
Sophomore Christian Menounos, right, celebrates with Woodstock Academy indoor track coach Josh Welch at the State Open indoor track championships. Menounos erased Welch’s name from the Woodstock Academy indoor track record board with his performance in the 1000m.

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