Roundup
Centaurs finish with a pair
of ties against Ledyard, NFA
Ties have become more the rule than the exception in the ECC this season and the Div. I battle between Woodstock Academy and Norwich Free Academy was another example.
The Centaurs (2-1-3, 1-0-2) scored five minutes into the match when Matt Johndrow tallied off a Ronan Curran assist. But the Wildcats (2-2-2, 2-1-1) tied the match before the half and neither side was able to find the back of the net in the last 40 minutes.
In the past, matches that were played to a draw in regulation time had a pair of five-minute “golden goal” overtime periods to try to determine a winner.
The league decided that in the regular season this year, there would be no overtime which accounts for the additional ties.
“I like the ties,” said coach Dave St. Jean. “I don’t mind that because both teams have played hard and, at least, you get something out of it. It’s tough for a team to walk away without any points after the way both teams played (Friday) and the Ledyard game was the same way. I think it’s alright.”
The Centaurs did come out of the box quickly against Norwich Free Academy.
“We came out firing in the first half but we just have to keep it up, get a bigger lead,” said senior center-midfielder Zach Armbruster. “We just didn’t have the chances after that but they will come.”
Armbruster was again stellar at center-mid.
“He’s been solid for us all season,” St. Jean said. “He stepped into the center-mid role and had a great season last year so we expect it from him now. He’s our captain and is one of the best players in the conference.”
On the other side, the Centaurs did a good job of keeping the Wildcats away from keeper Nate Couture.
“Our defense played amazing. I think we did well,” Armbruster said.
While St. Jean was not unhappy with another tie, he would have preferred to have a little better result.
“We were really looking forward to getting a win (Friday) and keeping pace with the top teams in the division. It’s not the result we wanted but the guys did play hard and we’re still growing,” St. Jean said.
The Centaurs are still in the mix.
Ledyard leads with a 2-0-1 Div. I record with the Centaurs at 1-0-2 and NFA 2-1-1.
“When we talked in the beginning of the season, we had our goals and what we wanted to do and winning the Division was one thing we wanted to do. Winning these games is our expectation so we’re not too disappointed, but our expectation is to win,” St. Jean said.
In a more offensively-oriented battle, the Centaurs finished in a 3-3 tie with the Colonels under the lights down in Ledyard early in the week.
The problem with that was the Centaurs held the lead three times only to see the Colonels rally to tie on each occasion.
“That was tough to lose the lead three times but we’re a young team and don’t have that winning mentality yet. We have to learn how to win. Ledyard has a great team with an All-State player and he was a load to handle. The boys did a good job on him, he just got free a few times and scored some great goals,” St. Jean said.
Johndrow scored a pair of goals for Woodstock while Armbruster added the other on a penalty kick and also had an assist. Xavier Lafleur added an assist and Couture made 16 saves in net for the Centaurs.
Girls’ Volleyball
The East Lyme Vikings were tough a year ago, splitting the two regular season matches with Woodstock and downing the Centaurs in the ECC championship match.
Woodstock lost five of its seven starters on that team to graduation.
“I was talking to (East Lyme coach) Jack (Biggs) before the game and he told me that he pretty much has his whole team back from last year with the exception of Abby (Parulis). That was pretty evident.” coach Adam Bottone said. “I knew they would be a really good defensive team and they were but we didn’t help ourselves with a lot of unforced errors.”
The problems started early in the battle between the top two teams in ECC Div. I as the Centaurs struggled to reach double digits in the first set, losing 25-10.
It didn’t get much better in the second when the Vikings posted a 25-11 victory.
“I’ve been saying this all season to the girls, it’s our inability to be consistent offensively and keeping the ball in play. Sometimes, Lily (Morgis) is getting good balls and she can set them pretty well, sometimes, they are not so great and is doing the best she can and it’s up to the hitters to be more productive and keep it in,” Bottone said.
Only two returning players had extensive varsity experience and the Centaurs are going through some growing pains.
But there was reason for optimism as the Centaurs did make it a bit more difficult on the Vikings in the third set, losing 25-19.
“We’re realistic about where we are in our abilities,” Bottone said. “I think what this showed us while East Lyme is a good team, when we play hard and smart, we can play with them and potentially beat them. It’s just how hard we are playing, are we doing it all the time and how smart are we about our decision-making.”
The loss was the first in four divisional matches for Woodstock Academy.
Gianna Musumeci had 10 digs for the Centaurs while Lily Morgis had 11 assists.
The Centaurs had a pretty good start to the week although there was some of that inconsistency which crept in at times.
The Centaurs had a little hiccup in the second set against Bacon Academy and after an easy 25-16 win in the first set, suffered a 25-23 setback in the second.
Fortunately, the Centaurs recovered to win the next two and posted a 3-1 victory over the Bobcats at the South Campus gym. Musumeci recorded double figures in digs (23) and service points (15). Morgis had 31 assists while Kaylee Bundy had 14 kills, Kennedy McCooey 12 and Vivian Bibeau had both nine kills and nine service points
Woodstock opened the week with a 3-1 victory over Sports Medical Sciences Academy. The Centaurs prevailed 25-22, 25-13, 24-26, 25-11.
Bibeau had 16 service points for the Centaurs including five aces while Bundy and McCooey led the offense with 14 and 10 kills respectively. Musumeci had 11 digs while Morgis added 22 assists.
Woodstock finished the week with a 7-2 record, one win away from guaranteeing itself a Class L state tournament berth.
But getting that next win may not be an easy task.
“I think it will be a challenge over the next six games to get that win with Newtown, Waterford, Glastonbury, East Lyme again, and Waterford again. It will be a challenge but I’m optimistic that we will get there,” Bottone said.
Football
The defense, as it did in the first game for Woodstock against East Lyme, played very well.
The offense still needs a little work as proven by the Centaurs 24-13 loss to New London Thursday.
Both of the tallies for the Centaurs came courtesy of the defense.
“All the credit to New London,” said coach Connor Elliott. “They came out aggressively and, quite honestly, punched us in the mouth early. I thought we were a little flat and that’s something we have to get better at.”
The Centaurs (0-2) did repeat something that they would like to see continue. They scored first.
On the first possession of the game for the host Whalers (1-1), sophomore defensive back Caydem Herlihy jumped the route of the intended New London receiver and took the ball to the house, a 38-yard pick-6 that put the Centaurs up, 7-0.
“Sophomores across the board, new varsity starters and he is one of them who is stepping up and making huge plays. That was a great read. He undercut the receiver and then, he’s gone, off to the races,” Elliott said.
And while that same smile may have existed on Elliott’s face after Herlihy’s heroics, it would be replaced by a less joyous visage just a couple of series later.
The Centaurs forced a New London punt and were able to get into Whalers territory but an incomplete pass, an intentional grounding call and a sack conspired to force a Woodstock punt.
Zhi’Mir Maddox-Moore reeled in the kick at the Whalers 20 and didn’t stop running until he reached the end zone 80 yards later.
The Whalers forced another Woodstock punt on the ensuing possession and were able to move the ball to the Woodstock 24 where they turned it over on downs.
But the Centaurs would give a gift back as New London had a pick-6 of its own on the next play to take the lead for good, 12-7.
“One mistake. A penalty, a drop, a wrong read. That’s where the mistakes happen and, the players feel this too, it’s just hard right now on offense. It feels like everything is rolling downhill on us but it just takes one game to flip it around and that’s what our focus is,” said Elliott.
The Whalers made it 18-7 at the half on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
The Centaurs got it down to the Whalers 17 at the end of the third quarter but, once again, could not seal the deal.
A holding call, a sack and an incomplete pass resulted in New London taking the ball over on downs.
But with seven minutes left in the half, Herlihy put the Centaurs back within range.
The Whalers sent a pass down field and there was the sophomore.
“He was playing centerfield and picked it off on our side of the field and had to run it all the way back. That’s for the team. We had people going down and making blocks. Dylan Phillips, who had been banging bodies all game long, had one of the last blocks at the 5-yard line. There were some positives there,” Elliott said.
Herlihy finished with a 54-yard interception return for his second pick-6 of the game that cut the deficit to 18-13.
But, as luck would have it, New London got the final touchdown in the last two minutes to seal the win.
“We have to not make the big mistake. First, we can’t score if we don’t have the ball so we have to possess the ball, take it away on defense, something that we did a great job of early, and we have to uphold our part on offense. If we can eliminate the turnovers and penalties, we’re fine,” Elliott said.
Quarterback Elijah Poh completed 7-of-18 passes for 73 yards in the loss.
Aidan Soukaloun was the top receiver with two catches for 23 yards and Cooper Harris rushed for 28 yards in 13 carries against a stingy New London defense.
The Centaurs will take on the Valley Panthers, a co-op between Plainfield, Putnam, Ellis Tech and Tourtellotte, at 6 p.m. at the St. Marie-Greenhalgh field in Putnam.
“That’s awesome,” Elliott said. “We’ve been on that field before, it’s a nice field, a grass field and football is supposed to be played on grass. We are definitely excited for the challenge. We had a little 7-on-7 against them this summer so we’re familiar with them. Coach (Pat) Smith does a great job with the program especially integrating all the different schools. It should be a good test for us.”
Girls’ Soccer
The Woodstock girls’ soccer team put a little scare into undefeated Bacon Academy but the Bobcats managed to sneak away with the 3-2 victory at home later last week.
The Centaurs took the early two-goal lead, scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of the match.
Lily Mioduszewski scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Elise Coyle. Kaitlyn Teal followed with her first goal of the season off a corner from Avery Danis.
But that’s where the good news came to an end for Woodstock (0-4-3, 0-1-3 ECC Div. I).
The Bobcats (5-0, 4-0) pulled within one before the half, tied the match with 15 minutes to play and put home what proved to be the game winner with seven minutes left.
Ellary Sampson did make 10 saves in net for Woodstock.
The Centaurs did get a goal but could not rally from an early deficit and fell short to the Coventry Patriots, 2-1, on the road earlier in the week.
Mioduszewski scored the first goal of the season for Woodstock Academy off an assist from Danis with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Sampson had eight saves for the Centaurs.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions, page 5:
Junior Ronan Curran takes a free kick against NFA. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
Senior Kaylee Bundy gets ready to serve against East Lyme.
NFA keeper (1) soars above Woodstock’s Tyler Odorski (16) and Matt Johndrow to grab the ball.
caption, page 8:
Outside hitter Kaylee Bundy (8) and middle hitter Emma Raymond go up for the block against East Lyme. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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