Roundup
Girls 4-0 in 
ECC division
The first round belongs to the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team.
The Centaurs played East Lyme on the road and Norwich Free Academy at home and recorded wins over both last week.
Those victories raised their record 8-4 overall, but even better, 4-0 in Div. I of the ECC.
“That’s really important,” said senior Vivian Bibeau. “This has been our goal for all four years since we’ve been here (an ECC Div. I title) and it feels really good to be 4-0 and almost done with the season.”
The Centaurs still have to play New London, Fitch, East Lyme and Norwich Free Academy again but the first three have to come to the Alumni Fieldhouse.
“I’m most happy that we’re halfway through the division and one of the goals is to have a clean sweep. More than anything else, being 4-0 at the halfway point, that gives us an opportunity to keep striving for greatness,” said coach Will Fleeton.
The Friday battle against NFA was a struggle early but the Centaurs found their rhythm in the second half and recorded the 51-40 victory.
The two teams were tied at 15 at the end of the first quarter and the Centaurs held a sliver of a lead, 28-26, at the half.
“Both teams were all over the place,” Bibeau said. “We each had some turnovers. I think we did pretty good staying calm at some points and had some good positives, some good looks.”
Maybe a little too calm at times.
The Wildcats sat back in a zone and the Centaurs were content to play around the perimeter.
“I think we were a bit over patient. I think we were prepared (for the zone), the kids felt confident and it may have been a bit overconfident that we knew we would get what we want eventually- it was going to happen,” Fleeton said.
It happened late in the third quarter and into the fourth.
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain scored four points at the end of the third to put the Centaurs up, 38-32, going into the fourth.
The senior added four more points late in the fourth quarter when the Centaurs scored eight of the last 10 points in the game.
D’Alleva-Bochain finished with a game-high 23 points.
“I was happy with that. Our offense has felt good recently so that’s all we can ask for,” D’Alleva-Bochain said. “We shoot a lot of 3’s which is good and bad. We’re working on getting a better ratio. At the end of the day, though, I can trust my teammates to knock down shots.”
Bibeau was one of those who could be trusted as she hit one 3-pointer in each quarter and finished with 18 points.
Savannah Guernsey led NFA (5-8, 0-4) with 15 points while Jazin Torres added 13.
It was the Centaurs first home game in two weeks.
“It’s nice to be home but there is nothing like a road win as well. It’s a different environment, you’re the away team, it’s a different vibe. A road win, period, is great. An ECC road win is really great,” Fleeton said.
That’s what the Centaurs experienced earlier in the week.
Senior point guard Kaylee Saucier scored a season-high 22 points with six 3-pointers to lead the Centaurs past East Lyme, 58-47.
“That was a good effort by her and it was a full team effort which allowed her to get open looks and she took advantage of those and knocked them all down,” Fleeton said.
D’Alleva-Bochain added 10 for Woodstock while both Bibeau and Elise Coyle tossed in seven apiece.
Caillin Delaney tied Saucier for game-high honors as she scored 22 for East Lyme while Bella Dmowski finished with 16, all in the second half.
Boys’ Basketball
The bench is deep. And boys’ basketball coach Donte Adams is making the most of that depth.
“We played 13 guys against Ledyard so if you’re not performing or it’s just not your night, the great things about our team is that we’re deep and we can get guys in there who will do what we want and that’s what happened the last two games,” Adams said.
The Centaurs do have a constant. Sophomore guard Drake Abdullovski.
Against Montville earlier in the week, Abdullovski scored 25 points to lead the Centaurs to a come-from-behind,76-71, win over Montville.
“We were down the whole game.” Adams said. “In the fourth quarter, we started to make shots and started getting some stops. It worked out.”
Woodstock trailed by eight at the end of the first quarter, rallied to close within two at the half but found itself down by 10 at the end of the third quarter.
That’s when the depth made an impact. Nate Couture came in and made a couple of big plays late and James Dong came off the bench and put down two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
Mert Coker added 13 and Jamie Dean Stewart tossed in 11 for the Centaurs.
Abdullovski was the key ingredient in a 53-42 win over Ledyard. He hit six 3-pointers in the game, went 8-for-8 from the free throw line and finished with 31 points for the Centaurs.
 “We had a slow start and Drake came out and started making some shots (three 3-pointers in the first quarter) which got us going. He definitely came out with a fire under him and he was good for us,” Adams said.
The rest of the team produced snippets of offense with Brody Dexter being the second leading scorer with just six points in the game, a pair of 3-pointers.
“Brody came off the bench in the second half, his number was called and he was ready to play,” Adams said.
The pair of wins against ECC Div. III foes raised the Centaurs mark to 6-4 overall.
But the week ahead will be a challenge.
“We have Killingly on Tuesday which will be a big game. We’re looking to stay undefeated (in Div. II),” Adams said.
The Centaurs and Trailblazers are tied atop Div. II as they both sport 2-0 records.
After that contest, Woodstock hosts Fitch on Thursday. The Falcons came into the week on a 10-game win streak with a 12-1 record. The busy week ends on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. when the Centaurs host another Div. II opponent, Waterford, at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
Wrestling
Aidan Soukaloun and A.J. Landreville both had first-round pins but it was not enough to carry the wrestling team to a win as it fell short to Norwich Free Academy, 57-18, Wednesday.
Owen Hamilton and Rosano Rodriguez added wins by decision to account for the Woodstock points.
The Centaurs fell to 2-10 with the loss.
The Wildcats (2-6) had six victories by pin including first-round finishes by Niam Wallace and Savion Witherspoon.
Boys’ Hockey
The first win of the season remains elusive but the boys’ hockey team did have some cause for optimism this past week.
The Centaurs saw senior forward Alex Haggerty, a transfer from Pomfret School, and junior defenseman Josh May, a transfer from Massachusetts, both make their season debuts on Saturday.
“It’s fantastic,” coach Drew Beaupre said of now having the two players eligible to play. “Josh has been chomping at the bit just waiting; he’s been very patient. Even missing half the season, he made himself known and was a captain right away. He has been working so hard in practice. Haggerty was a surprise and we’re thrilled to get him on the ice as well.”
Unfortunately for May, his first game came when he was a bit under the weather but he still tried to play through an illness which limited his effectiveness in a game in which the Centaurs suffered a common malady for the season – a close loss.
South Windsor got the game winner in overtime and skated off with a 5-4 victory over the Centaurs.
It was the fifth one-goal loss of the season for the Centaurs who dropped to 0-11 on the year.
Still, Beaupre thinks his team can make some noise this year.
“We have some good matchups on the back half of the season so I’m optimistic heading into these games,” Beaupre said.
The coach had hoped for better against the Bobcats.
The Centaurs took the 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to a fortuitous play. Freshman Anthony Malone had been in the penalty box and when he jumped out, Gabe Flannery had just cleared the puck to center ice. Malone took it beyond the defense and beat keeper Owen Sampson one-on-one.
It was not the only heroics of the game for the youngster.
The two teams exchanged goals over the next two periods with South Windsor tying the contest just 12 seconds into the second period on a Wyatt Fouche goal.
Flannery put the Centaurs ahead halfway through the period but it would end 2-2 thanks to a Landon Ayotte tally for the Bobcats.
Patrick Griswold scored eight minutes into the third period for the Centaurs but a Josh Willoughby goal with 1:57 left put South Windsor back on top. What was even more difficult was the Centaurs were whistled for a penalty on the play leaving them shorthanded for the final moments.
Enter Malone. With six seconds left in regulation, Malone found the back of the net to force the extra period with a shorthanded goal.
It would be South Windsor that was celebrating five minutes later, however, when Gerardo Heredia got the game winner for the Bobcats.
Woodstock came up short, 3-2, with its contest with the Westhill/Stamford co-op earlier in the week.
“Coming out of it, though, we felt pretty good,” Beaupre said. “It was our most complete game that we’ve played. We usually take a period off or a couple of shifts off here and there and that was the most complete effort we’ve had so far.”
Cam Perreault scored his first goal of the season in the second period to tie the game at 1 off an assist from Flannery. Ethan Brown-Touissant scored previously for the hosts with 5 minutes, 58 seconds left in the first period.
Westhill/Stamford forged ahead late in the second period on a goal by Sean Comstock with 30 seconds to play in the second 15 minutes.
Griswold tied the game for the Centaurs with 12:22 left in regulation when he put his third goal of the season into the back of the net.
The hosts recorded the win when Parker Dufek tallied with 4:10 to play in regulation.
“It was neck-and-neck the whole way and it was unfortunate that they got that last one and we, unfortunately, ran out of time,” Beaupre said. 
Girls’ Hockey
The girls’ hockey co-op team has been in just about every game they play. It has suffered only two losses by four goals or more and has four one-goal defeats.
But getting wins has been a tall task as was shown by their game against Avon on Wednesday.
Things went from bad to good to worse in a third period that was full of mixed emotions for the Centaurs including disappointment at the end as the Centaurs finished on the wrong side of a 6-3 score to the Nighthawks.
“The season has been rough. Other coaches have been telling me that we are the best 2-9 team in the state. To me, that’s starting to get old. It’s time to win,” said coach Eric Roy.
Things got a little better on Saturday but the co-op still could not bring home a victory — Woodstock had to settle for a 1-1 tie against Trumbull and now sports a 2-9-1 record on the year.
The Centaurs had sixth-ranked Avon on the ropes early. Despite getting outshot in the first period, 13-3, it was the co-op that left the ice with a 2-1 advantage over Avon.
Zi Qing Biondo, with help from Summer Discordia and Ellary Sampson, scored halfway through the first period on the first shot of the game for the Centaurs.
The Nighthawks tied it with 3:35 to play on a Selena Strede goal but with just nine seconds left, Sophia Bonner took a pass from Biondo about 30 feet from the net that was deflected by Discordia for her third goal of the season.
The two teams endured a scoreless second period which opened the door for some early third period fireworks.
Alana Paz tied the game for Avon with a tally just eight seconds in.
Not to be deterred, the Centaurs quickly answered as Biondo took a pass from Bonner to put Woodstock back in front just 15 seconds later with her sixth goal of the season.
“She’s heating up. We’re starting to get her the puck. She’s shooting a lot; she’s scoring and we’re making the plays, getting down into the zone but when one thing works, something else doesn’t,” Roy said.
In this case, the defense against a certain Avon player.
“The third period started a little rough but we fought back and I thought it was going to be all good from there but it took a turn,” Roy said.
In the wrong direction. Junior forward Madison Holl decided she was going to dominate the game for the Nighthawks.
She tied up the contest with 8:41 left in regulation, put Avon ahead a minute later and completed the 2 ½ minute hat trick with a third goal with 6:12 left.
“We had her locked up in the first two periods. We knew she was going to be trouble and she, finally, got free,” Roy said.
Strede then added her second goal of the game to finish things up with 42 seconds to play.
“It’s just difficult in general. We were in it until the very end against East Catholic (on Monday). Here, we were beating the sixth (seeded) team in the state, 3-2, and it’s been the same story for two years- we can’t get over the hump.”
They almost did on Saturday. The Centaurs finished up the week with the close encounter with Trumbull that ended in no decision.
The Centaurs and their hosts both scored in the first period on Saturday. But despite going to overtime, neither team could break the deadlock.
Senior Maci Corradi scored the only goal for the Centaurs off an assist from Mia Auger.
After a week away from the ice, Woodstock battled hard against East Catholic at the Newington Ice Rink and came up on the short end of a 1-0 score to start the week.
The only goal of the game came in the second period when Eagles’ captain Deirdre McKiernan scored in the waning seconds of a five-minute power play.
“I heard a Buffalo Sabres’ coach once say that ‘when you start losing, it’s tough to get on the winning side’. We just have to figure out how to get over it. I don’t know the answers but we’re going to keep trying,” Roy said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

Junior Patrick Griswold (23), who had a goal and an assist in the game for Woodstock, tries to works his way around South Windsor defenseman. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.

Freshman Anthony Malone maneuvers into position. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.

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Senior point guard Kaylee Saucier (10) dribbles past NFA’s Orianna Pescatello in a 51-40 win. 

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Junior Elise Coyle elevates to shoot over NFA’s Alivia Bialowas. 

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Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain goes airborne for two of her game-high 23 points against NFA. 

Photo credit for above photos: (Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media)

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