Roundup
Centaur Prep Soccer team off to a 5-0 start
It has been an impressive start for the Woodstock Academy Prep 1 boys’ soccer team and that strong beginning continued on Saturday.
The Centaurs traveled to New Hampshire to play High Mowing School and made the journey worth it as they posted a 4-0 win in their first Prep Premiere League match of the season.
The Centaurs are now 5-0 and the preseason No. 1 prep soccer team in the country, according to si.com, has been building quite the resume.
Woodstock downed No. 2 Berkshire School, 7-0, handed No. 4 Loomis Chaffee a 4-1 defeat and took down another top-10 program, the Pennington School, 3-0.
“I think the beginning of the season is really important for us, not just to get off to a good start and build some momentum but all three of those wins were at big showcase events. Those are the ones that a lot of college coaches are at and are very important to get the guys the exposure that helps them get to the next level,” said coach Owen Finberg.
Richard Sarpong had a big outing for the Centaurs against High Mowing School as he finished with the hat trick, three goals, that gave him six on the season, tops on the team.
Alex Tevez added a goal and an assist with Nico Ochoa and Alexavier Gooden adding assists.
“You have to start with the teams that you play year in and year out to give yourself a chance to get a good (tournament) seed and a strong run in the playoffs. There is that chance to win a league title before you do anything else. We’ve had success in the first two years of the Prep Premiere League, winning two championships, and we got off to a good start with three points,” Finberg said.
The Centaurs are a veteran squad with nine out of their 11 starters returning to the program this season.
“The opportunity to have that development and continuity and for guys to understand what we want to do and being able to step into a bigger role this year has proven to work very well,” Finberg said.
Sarpong has been one of those who has been around for a while, he is playing for a third year for the Centaurs.
“He is a dynamic, attacking talent and is doing extremely well. David Cho is a player who will be headed to Marshall University in January and they have one of the top Division I programs in the country and he’s been excellent in the midfield. Our captain, Oscar Pearman, has been with us for four years and is really stepping into a much bigger, not only leadership, but in a playing role this year. Obama Ngarambe is similar to Pearman as he has had to take a much bigger role and is playing a lot of minutes,” Finberg said.
The Centaurs have thus far played all of their games on the road but that will change this coming Saturday when they host Darrow School at 2:45 p.m. at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Prep 2 shuts out Putnam Science Academy
When you have two prep school programs located in close proximity to one another, it only makes sense to get together on the field.
Such is the case with the prep program and Putnam Science Academy.
The two got together with the Centaurs Prep 2 unit handing the Mustangs a 4-0 loss in the backyard derby.
Lucas Passinha Braz led the offense for Woodstock, which improved to 3-2, with a pair of goals. Mark Maruyama and De’Ari Trott also scored for the Centaurs while Fabian Crespo had two assists and Mack Gallagher added another help.
The Prep 2 soccer team has a pair of matches this week as it traveled to the Hoosac School in New York for a match on Monday and will also play on Saturday as it hosts Mount St. Charles at 12:45 p.m. at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Girls’ Soccer
The relief in the eyes of the girls’ soccer team was evident. The Centaurs opened the second half of the season on Friday and came away with their first victory. Woodstock posted a 2-0 victory over Waterford.
“It’s something that we have awaited,” said senior center-midfielder Avery Danis. “We had a really tough week. We had conversations about if we’re going to change; it has to happen now so I was happy that we made it happen.”
Coach Andrea Danforth agreed with those sentiments. “It’s huge to win,” Danforth said. “I wanted to make sure that we had a good season and, generally, we’ve been feeling happy with the team chemistry but executing on the field is the most important. We did that (Friday).We can all breathe.”
The win raised the record to 1-5-3 overall and 1-1-3 in Div. I of the ECC.
Even though the record may not be wonderful right now, the season is far from over.
“We had a long talk and were realistic about where we are at, what we need to do and the mindset that we need for the rest of the season. It was a really good, honest conversation and we’re ready to go now,” Danforth added.
The girls’ soccer team can still qualify for league and state tournament play.
The Centaurs jumped ahead of Waterford when Danis took a pass from Kaitlyn Teal and fired a lengthy shot that eluded Lancer keeper Trinity Flynn and found the lower left corner of the net 18 minutes, 4 seconds into the contest.
It was the first goal of the season for Danis.
“No one expects me to score, especially me, I’m not someone who scores so I felt proud of myself and the team effort,” she said.
The defense did its part as it kept Waterford away from keeper Ellary Sampson who had to make only two saves.
Sophomore Lily Mioduszewski and senior Kaylee Saucier led that effort.
“I think it’s really important for the defense (to have a clean sheet),” Mioduszewski said. “Defense is like the structure of the team and from there, we get to see the whole field in front of us. Having a strong ‘D’ is really important and it keeps the team together.”
The Centaurs did lose a key part of that defense from a year ago when Freya Robbie matriculated to a Div. I program.
“I think our defense is very solid still. Both Lily and Kaylee are great athletes and solid soccer players. We’re missing Freya but we have Kaylee and Lily. I have to look at the stats but if you look at how many goals we’ve conceded this year at this point and compare it to last year, I think we’re doing better. I think we’ve given up less goals and that’s a testament to the defense,” Danforth said.
Woodstock has allowed just 10 goals all season long.
But they had scored only three coming into the game with the Lancers and Danforth was happy to see them almost equal that number when the Centaurs scored again in the second half.
The Danis goal set the tone for the game as it forced the Centaurs’ opponents to do the chasing.
That helped set up the second goal as Natasha Oatley brought the ball downfield, got it to Teal who worked through three defenders and then got help from Campbell Favreau who put it into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.
“A huge conversation we’ve been having is grit, who has grit? You need grit to play, you need grit to win and we had more grit (Friday),” Danforth said.
The Centaurs had opened the week with a strong first half effort against undefeated Farmington but the River Hawks got an early second half goal and went on to post a 3-0 victory at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Boys’ Soccer
Keeping up with the top teams in Div. I of the ECC. It's what the boys’ soccer team is hoping to accomplish this season.
The Centaurs accomplished that with a win over Div. I foe, Windham, early in the week but then saw a victory slip out of their hands on Saturday when Fitch scored a pair of late goals to deny the host team.
One thing Dave St. Jean can do this season: He can look down his bench and get some contributions.
"We're pretty good. We have a nice bench," St. Jean said after his team posted a 2-0 win over the Whippets. "They come out, they provide spark; they're talented. There is not a lot of drop between our starters and reserves so it allows us to keep the pedal to the metal."
It was the reserves who got the Centaurs on the board first in the second meeting of the season between the Centaurs and Windham..
Trevor Gold picked up his first assist of the season as he found Phillip Feaney Aleman on a cross from the right side of the net to the left and Aleman took advantage to put one in from about 15 yards out 23 minutes, 14 seconds into the contest to give Woodstock a lead it would not give up.
"That's two seniors who have been with the program for a while. That was a great cross and a great finish. We work on it a lot in practice so it was nice to see it happen in a game," St. Jean said.
The defense stepped up early in the second half.
The Centaurs were still nursing the one goals lead when the Whippets were awarded a free kick from 35 yards out.
Kevin Mejias Guarcas took the kick and sent it inside the six, Centaurs goalie Nate Couture could not come up with the ball but his defense stepped up.
Nate Faucher, looking at the net, was still able to keep the ball from going over the goal line by kicking it straight up in the air.
"I just saw the ball go through all of us. I thought it was going to be cleared but then I thought it was going in so I knew I had to get to it and I just kicked it and hoped for the best, Faucher said.
The ball did go up straight, hit the crossbar and bounded away from the net.
"I haven't had to do that before," Faucher said.
Just a couple of minutes later when junior Matt Johndrow scored his fifth goal of the season with 25:09 to play to give the Centaurs a little insurance.
"I got the ball out wide. We had been moving it well and Trevor (Gold) got it and he dinked it to me and I turned and had the shot," Johndrow said.
The left foot did the trick as the junior sent the ball into the corner to the left of Windham keeper Alex Pomo.
The defense did the rest as keeper Nate Couture only had to make two saves.
"It feels fantastic," Faucher said of the shutout. "I'm so happy to be back. I missed the past few games with an injury and it was amazing- we played so good."
The vibe was a bit different Saturday on the Centaurs home field.
The Centaurs saw their record slip to 3-2-3 overall and 2-1-2 in Div. I of the ECC as Fitch rallied for a 2-1 victory.
Brayden De Oliveira scored his fourth goal of the season off an Aiden Bachand assist to put Woodstock up on the scoreboard.
But the Falcons got the equalizer with seven minutes to play in regulation and just four minutes later, scored what proved to be the game winner.
Volleyball
Coach Adam Bottone knew the stretch of six matches his Centaurs have in front of them would not be easy.
And while that was true in a pair of trips to Newtown and Glastonbury during the course of the week, things were a little better on Wednesday at home in the friendly confines of the South Campus gym.
That’s where the Centaurs blanked ECC Div. I foe, Waterford, 3-0.
The win was the eighth of the season for the Centaurs and meant they qualified for the Class L state tournament.
“I’m definitely happy to get that done,” Bottone said. “Another season in the postseason is definitely a good thing.”
The Centaurs had a talk prior to the game about how important it was to defeat the Lancers, something they will have to do again Wednesday in Waterford and Norwich Free Academy to put them back in the conversation with East Lyme for the top spot in Div. I.
“That would keep us, at least, second in the division and, if by some freak accident, we can beat East Lyme – (the Vikings) are a solid team, they are really good --- but if we could knock them off, we would be tied for first place. That wouldn’t be a bad thing but I think second-place in Div. I is also an awesome place to finish,” Bottone said.
East Lyme is currently 4-0 in the league while the Centaurs sport a 4-1 mark.
The Centaurs did get a bit of a break against the Lancers who lost some key ingredients to both graduation and transfer and then suffered a key injury recently.
“Waterford had a lot of younger girls out there. They have their setter back, who is pretty good, but they are playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Bottone said.
A strong team effort carried Woodstock to the win over Waterford.
Kaylee Bundy had six kills while both Vivian Bibeau (eight service points) and Kennedy McCooey added five.
Lily Morgis led the team with nine service points including four aces and had 14 assists.
Bottone said his team’s receive was strong again, like it was against East Lyme.
But even in the win over the Lancers, the hitting efficiency was not what the coach needs to see.
“We’re not hitting the ball well and are making a lot of unforced errors and that is what is really keeping us out of games- the inability to maintain serve which is a direct result of us not being able to terminate. We’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on that in practice and we’ve seen some slight gains,” Bottone said.
The defense in back has been pretty solid.
Senior Gianna Musumeci was more than effective as she made 22 digs against Waterford.
“We let some balls drop here and there but I think we let more balls drop in the past. I still get frustrated by the ones that drop but the ones that are happening now aren’t as frequent so I’m happy with the defense,” Bottone said.
It was not an extended stay in Newtown for the Centaurs as the hosts posted a 3-0 straight-set victory early in the week.
Bundy had nine kills and Morgis added 15 assists for the Centaurs but Newtown still prevailed 25-17, 25-16 and 25-22. McCooey had eight digs while Musumeci had seven service points and Bibeau added five for Woodstock Academy.
The Centaurs finished up the week on Friday as they hung with Glastonbury but still suffered a 3-0 straight-set defeat at the hands of the Guardians.
The loss dropped the Centaurs to 8-4 on the season.
Glastonbury posted 25-19,25-20, 25-19 victories over Woodstock in the match. McCooey had 10 kills while Bundy added eight. Musumeci had 14 kills.
Football
Coach Connor Elliott feels his football team is as “explosive” as it’s been in several years. Unfortunately, while the offense has been able to move the ball as evidenced by quarterback Elijah Poh throwing for 287 yards against the Valley Panthers on Thursday, it hasn’t resulted in a lot of points.
The Centaurs slipped to 0-3 as they could muster just one touchdown in a 22-6 loss to the Valley Panthers, a co-op consisting of athletes from Putnam, Tourtellotte and Plainfield High Schools and Ellis Tech, at the St. Marie-Greenhalgh field in Putnam.
“We measure our explosive plays by 10 or 15 yards or more and I feel like we had a handful of both of those but it was those things that have plagued us all year, some penalties and lack of execution in the red zone,” Elliott said. “The silver lining is that we’re moving the ball now. Our perspective is that this is a young team with a lot of new guys playing together but that’s only a silver lining and it doesn’t result in wins.”
The first drive of a game has typically been when Woodstock has been most successful this season.
It was again against the Panthers as Poh connected with senior receiver Alec Nunes (6 catches, 136 yards) on passes of 28 and 17 yards to get the Centaurs to the Panthers’ 15. But three incomplete passes and a run play that failed to net a yard resulted in the ball being turned over on downs.
The Centaurs second possession ended in a punt and on the second play of the second quarter, the Panthers struck first.
The Panthers got a receiver open downfield behind the defense and it resulted in a 79-yard touchdown pass.
“Part of that was just sophomore mistakes. It’s a learning process for them. It happens; they’re upset that they let it happen. We were also a little short-handed up front which I think showed. Our run defense has been pretty good all season but we were missing a couple of key guys,” Elliott said.
That helped the Panthers who were able to generate a rushing game and scored on runs of eight yards in the second quarter and from nine yards out in their first possession of the second half.
The Centaurs drove inside the Valley Panthers 30-yard line on both of their remaining first half possessions and on every possession of the second half, stalling at the Panthers’ 25-yard line but then putting the ball across the goal line early in the fourth quarter when Poh found Nunes with a 14-yard pass for a touchdown.
The Centaurs also drove down to the Panthers’ 14-yard line in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs and a 57-yard pass from Poh to Griffen Bloom got the Centaurs down to the 10 but they turned it over on downs at the Panthers 2.
Poh completed 16 of 32 passes on the night.
“He would be the first to tell you that he missed a couple (of opportunities) that he would like back but he’s a perfectionist. I told him that he was doing enough and for every read he may have messed up, he also made some amazing throws and plays as well. He’s growing, as the stats are showing, and we’re getting there. I feel bad, in a sense, for the players because they are working so hard and it just hasn’t manifested in a win yet,” Elliott said.
Bloom finished with two catches for 82 yards and four other receivers caught passes.
The Centaurs only ran the ball 15 times with Cooper Harris getting 26 yards on the ground in six carries.
“We were effective when we did run it (4.5 yards per carry against the Panthers) but it’s a week-by-week thing. The way (the Panthers) played defense gave us a great opportunity to take shots which we did. When you fall behind a team like Valley that likes to run the ball a lot, you can’t really play into their hands by having long drives of your own. We felt the pressure in the second half to go down and score as quickly as we could,” Elliott said.
The Centaurs do take a break as this is their bye week before they return to the Bentley Athletic Complex for their only home game of October against the Griswold/Wheeler co-op Oct. 11.
“I think it’s good in the sense that it allows us to take a breath,” Elliott said of the bye week. “Frankly, I feel like the coaches are pressing a little bit, the kids are pressing a little and it gives us a chance to slow down a little, clean up the stuff that has plagued us, a lot more situational work, a lot of third down and red zone stuff. We need to get that confidence that when we get inside the 20, we can finish drives. If we start doing that, start scoring points, it leads to wins and the confidence will grow from there.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Jaelyn Knox: Woodstock Academy senior Jaelyn Knox is shadowed by Farmington’s Kayleigh Phillips in a girls soccer match won by the River Hawks, 3-0, at the Bentley Athletic Complex last week.
IMG 3037: Sophomore Gia Baldyga of Woodstock Academy confronts a Farmington player in a match won by the River Hawks last week at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
IMG 3032: It was a battle of sophomores at midfield as Woodstock Academy’s Claire Anderson (right) and Farmington’s Sofia Perdomo battled for the ball. The River Hawks won the larger battle, the match, 3-0 over the Centaurs last week at the Bentley Athletic Complex. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.