ECC
championship
next up for
Centaur
harriers
The most exciting part of the season lies ahead for the Woodstock Academy girls’ cross-country team.
The Centaurs will take part in the ECC championship meet Oct. 21 at the Norwich Golf Course.
“I’m very excited for this meet,” said senior Linsey Arends. “I’m a little nervous because we’ve had a lot of meets that have been close together with little rest time. So, we’re hoping to get a little rest, get some speed work in and perform super well on Thursday.”
Arends finished second in the ECC championship meet when it was last run two years ago. The winner was Bacon Academy’s Jordan Malloy and both were only sophomores.
The rivalry will be renewed Oct. 21. The two ran against one another in the Wickham Park Invitational medium varsity race recently with Malloy just edging out Arends by 13 seconds.
“I do want to catch her,” Arends said. “I was trying to keep up with them at Wickham and it was like, ‘Ooh, not today’ but I did break 20 (minutes) which was my goal and it was amazing to do. I wasn’t that far behind and could see them (Tolland’s Peyton Bornstein, Suffield’s Emily Brydges and Malloy finished in front of Arends) the whole way. Hopefully, I will get (Malloy) at ECCs but I know it will be good competition and we’re both going to have fun. I like having Jordan and Peyton there (Bornstein will not run at the ECC championship) and knowing I will be racing them because it’s a friendship that I feel I have cultivated over the four years.”
Head coach Joe Banas said for Arends to catch Malloy will take some work and strategy. “Linsey has to run the perfect race and what I mean by that is that she has to let (Malloy) take it out and needs to sit on her. With a half-mile or mile left, just try and press it. We hope it doesn’t come down to the final sprint because we’ve seen Jordan and she can outkick Linsey but I think Linsey has a shot,” Banas said.
As far as the team, it finished in third place at Wickham, 49 points behind first-place finisher E. Lyme whom it will also have to compete against at the ECC championship.
While that may seem like it a lot, it’s not the points, but the overall time of the two teams that matters. The Vikings were just a minute ahead of the Centaurs.
“It’s not impossible,” said assistant coach Josh Welch. “It will be a tough race and we’re going to have to have everything go right but I think we can push them a lot. We started to break into their pack at Wickham and showed we could mix it up. Who knows?”
The Centaurs finished the dual-meet portion of the season with an 8-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in Div. I of the ECC after a pair of wins last week.
Woodstock downed host NFA 22-39 and Griswold 15-50.
The ECC championship meet will also determine the regular season champion in all of the ECC boys’ and girls’ cross-country divisions.
Arends finished 33 seconds ahead of the field, crossing the line in 22 minutes, 11 seconds. Her fellow captain, Carah Bruce, was third overall in 22:47, just three seconds back of NFA’s Sophia Jones.
Julia Coyle, Lauren Brule, Leah Castle, Tessa Brown and Sydney Lord finished in the five through nine spots for the Centaurs.
“They’re flipping around quite a bit,” Welch said of the constant change in order of finish behind Arends. “Some of that had to do with wrong turns and other things and things shifted in different ways but they are all up there, pushing each other, which is awesome.”
Arends said: “There is a little behind the scenes rivalry going on within the team because I know a lot of the girls want to protect their varsity spot. It’s a really good thing that it’s happening,” Arends said. “It doesn’t directly affect me but if I see them coming down together to the finish line, I try to get them to race it out because it’s good to have someone running right next to you. It gives you that little bit of fear and motivation and the ‘I can’t let her beat me’ feeling especially when it’s your friend.”
The Centaurs will be able to run only seven in the varsity race of the ECC which created a quandary for Banas: “I have a hard decision to make. I have eight girls who really deserve to go,” Banas said.
Boys’ cross-country
Academy senior Ian Hoffman continues to improve. Hoffman finished fifth overall in the Centaurs final dual meet of the season against host NFA and Griswold. The Centaurs finished with a 5-4 overall record and a 0-3 mark in Div. I of the ECC as they lost to the Wildcats 27-30 and the Wolverines 22-34.
Hoffman finished in 17 minutes, 57 seconds and was just 22 seconds behind first-place finisher Michael Strain of Griswold.
“It was very good to see and he looked like he belonged there,” said coach Peter Lusa. “Now, he has a vision in his head as to where he needs to be (in the ECC championship race). Who the players are, who he should go out with and who he should not go out with.”
Lusa fully expects to see Hoffman, a senior, finish in the top 10 in the ECC championship.
“It’s going to be tough. He will finish the race exhausted. He will have to put it all out there and I think that will put him into good stead in (the state championship meet) the following week,” Lusa said.
Hoffman’s teammate Vincente Bastura placed seventh at Mohegan Park with Christian Menounos in ninth. But they were off the pace of the leaders a bit. Bastura finished 1:07 behind Hoffman.
“There was a significant gap between our first and second runners. The first pack kind of brought themselves along and the second pack stayed together for a bit and then Vince emerged from it and ran by himself with no one to chase after,” Lusa said. Seamus Lippy was 10th for the Centaurs.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
caption, page 4
Hopeful
Woodstock Academy senior Linsey Arends hopes to bring home an ECC individual title from the Norwich Golf Course this week. Photo by Josh Welch.
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
Oct. 1
Joshua Rock, 39, Smith Street, Putnam; third-degree assault, disorderly conduct.
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Griffins lose close game
POMFRET — The Pomfret School boys’ soccer team lost to Westminster School, Oct. 2, 3-2.
According to coach Patrick Burke, Pomfret goals came from: Fred Coulibaly 13th minute (assist to Nate Watson) and Eumir Rodriguez, 30th minute (assist to Devin Walcott) Javier Alonso had five saves.
Burke said: “Games like tonight’s game under the lights at Westminster are the epitome of what we missed during our hiatus from competitive play last fall. Two evenly matched teams battled for the entire 90 minutes tonight, and both teams can be proud of their effort. As is often the case with soccer, the difference in the game came down to a couple of crucial moments, and Westminster was able to take advantage of their final one to earn the win.”
The game started off on the wrong foot for Pomfret as Westminster was able to score on a relatively routine action just 1 minute into the game. Pomfret needed to respond and some nice play from Cole Castro, Declan Chapman, Grant Maurer, Nate Watson, Devin Walcott, and Fred Coulibaly got us momentum. Cole put Declan through for a nice run and in the 13th minute a great combination between Devin, Nate, and Fred allowed Fred to drive home a shot to the near post.
Griffins’ defense of Ethan Forbes, Gerald Gao, Eumir Rodriguez, Lawrence Viola, and Henry Cattell remained solid and goalkeeper Javier Alonso cut out a few crosses and attempts from Westy’s talented attacking threats. Pomfret would take a 2-1 lead in the game’s 30th minute. Devin’s dangerous set piece was met by Eumir. His first attempt was saved, but his follow up effort allowed him to put a high quality finish into the top of the net. Up 2-1, Westy continued to attack and in the 40th minute were able to score on a quick counter that evened up the scoreboard.
With the score tied 2-2 both teams knew the second half would be highly competitive, and Westy had the first great opportunity. Javier made an outstanding one-handed save to keep the score tied, and a few minutes later Grant and Devin sprang Declan who forced Westy’s keeper into a fine save of his own.
Then Caleb White, Dylan Tran, and Kaya gave Pomfret valuable minutes and the game was quite even. Unfortunately, in the game’s 79th minute a routine ball from Westminster was able to get through Pomfret’s lines and allow their hardworking forward to go in for a finish. Down 3-2 Pomfret continued to push. Devin went close on a set piece and then set up Grant on another. Grant’s header hit the goal post and went wide.
It was a bit frustrating to lose tonight as we felt we deserved, at minimum, a point (a tie).
Loses to Williston
POMFRET — Earlier in the week, Pomfret lost to Williston, 3-1
The Pomfret goal came from Dylan Tran, 75th ( assist Declan Chapman) and Javier Alonso had 10 saves.
Coach Patrick Burke said the boys’ varsity soccer team knew they were in for a test with Williston, which recently become one of the strongest class B teams in New England.
In the first half, Williston dominated the pace and possession of the game. Fortunately for Pomfret’s defense and goalkeeper Javier Alonso were up to the task. Gerald Gao, Eumir Rodriguez, Ethan Forbes, and Lawrence Viola faced pressure but responded effectively each time. Javier came up with some strong saves, while defenders were winning one-on-one battles. Then midfielders Grant Maurer, Devin Walcott, Declan Chapman, Kaya Horvath, and Caleb White found more of the ball. An unfortunate PK call in the game’s 28th minute gave Williston a 1-0 lead and just two minutes later a long shot also found the back of the Pomfret net and Pomfret was down 2-0.
After a tactical change at half time, Pomfret out more organized and energetic. Nate Watson, Caleb White, Fred Coulibaly, and Cole Castro worked hard on the flanks and the defense remained poised. Midfield pressure allowed Grant to put Declan through for a close chance that went just over the crossbar. A few minutes later the pressure kept mounting, and a strong win from Grant led to a through ball to Declan whose cross found the feet of Dylan. Dylan calmly powered a shot past the on rushing keeper to make the game 2-1. Van Horvath gave Pomfret a spark and they had a few opportunities as Nate, Grant, Eumir, and Declan came close. Pomfret was pushing for an equalizer but a mistake from a Pomfret set piece gave Williston a free run.
By Patrick Burke
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John Cavaliere was happy to use his connections to land his new coaching job at Putnam Science Academy. Nick Schmidt was hoping to use anything but his connections to land one, too.
Both were hired recently to be the new head coaches of PSA’s Elite and Varsity boys’ basketball teams, respectively.
The 33-year-old Cavaliere spent the last eight years at Concordia College, where he worked his way up from volunteer assistant to head coach. Running the Clippers the last three years, Cavaliere opened a pipeline with PSA, bringing on two former Mustangs – Dan Porcic and Luc Brittian – to play for him there. When Concordia closed down in the spring, Cavaliere went looking for another college job. But a certain prep school came calling.
“Because we were so small,” Cavaliere said, “and because we didn’t have success, and because I had my head down and was trying to build that thing as best I could, I probably didn’t have the best connections throughout colleges. It ends up that the connections I built here, when a spot opened up, Coach Espinosa reached out. I only had to think about a little bit. I love the commitment to excellence here. The standards that they put in, and how successful they are and how their kids are successful.”
Schmidt’s connections to the school are not quite as direct. His father is long-time St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt, who has had great success recruiting PSA players in the last few years, namely Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi.
After graduating from Alfred University, where he was a four-year member of the basketball team, Schmidt served as a graduate assistant coach for two years under his father, and worked closely with Lofton and Osunniyi. He then took a position as an assistant coach at Division III Catholic University in Washington, D.C., last year, and was offered the position with the Mustangs in late summer. This will be his first head coaching job.
“I never want to ride (my dad’s) coattails,” he said. “I never liked that title of being ‘Schmidty’s kid.’ I wanted to make my own name. I could’ve stayed at St. Bonaventure and been with him my whole career. But I wanted to do it my own way. You’re not just trying to use your dad’s name, you’re doing it on your own. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Both have already paid immediate dividends to the program. Not only are they working with their own teams, but they are at every Prep team practice as well, running drills and working with guys one-on-one.
“Both of these guys are going to bring so much to our program, and not just as the coach of their own teams, but also assisting me at the Prep level,” Tom Espinosa said. “I know we are very fortunate to have both of these guys on the sidelines at Putnam Science Academy.”
Cavaliere’s team play tough, they will play with energy, and they will be together. After that, Cavaliere said, everything else will fall into place.
“It starts with me,” he said. “I come from a philosophy of being a coach, you’re a leader by example. You must show that you’re the hardest worker in the room, provide the most energy, and be positive every single day. That can never slip. Because if you demand that from your team, you must show it yourself, otherwise you’re just not being truthful.”
“We’re not going to get outworked, we’re not going to give up. Ever. We’re not backing away, no matter who you are. We’re coming at you, we’re bringing the fight to you. If you’re able to run your stuff against us, we’re not playing our style of basketball.”
Schmidt can get loud too, though he said he’s not over-the-top.
“I’m very competitive, so I want to win. I do tend to get loud, I’m not over-the-top. If I’m yelling, it’s for a reason. Usually it’s just to get the guys going a little bit. I’m not a yeller. If I’m mad at you for something, I’m just going to pull you aside, I’m not going to try to embarrass you or anything.
“For me being a coach the biggest thing, my biggest philosophy, is having relationships with my players,” Nick said. “No matter what you do on the court, it’s about how you treat the kids. I think that’s the biggest thing, having a positive impact on their lives.”
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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