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Senior Day
The Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse team celebrated Senior Day April 25. Left to right: Ethan Haass (14), Zach Douglas (3), Geoff Vallone (4), Ethan Holcomb (5), Bailey Canedy (6) and Ryan LaTour (9). Photo courtesy of The Woodstock Academy.
Woodstock Academy junior Seth Libby wasn’t about to part with the ball any time soon.
On his way to a Senior Day pizza party following the game with Norwich Free Academy April 25, Libby scooped the ball out of the cage and on to his stick.
It was the ball that he shot that found its way into the back of the net and gave the Centaurs a 10-9, sudden-death overtime victory over the Wildcats.
The ball will never find its way back to the field again.
Libby kept on walking with it.
“That’s what we were looking for,” said Woodstock Academy coach Michael Noel. “We talk about it all the time, composure, and they finally showed it (Thursday).
The Centaurs (4-4, 1-3 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I) trailed 9-8 with 3:51 left in the match after Austen LeDonne snuck around behind the NFA goal and tucked it in to the far corner, just eluding the stick of Wildcats’ keeper Lavery Hill.
But Woodstock Academy was having trouble finding the net again.
It was similar to what happened the game before when Guerin Favreau scored with 1:23 left, but the Centaurs failed to tie the game against Fitch and suffered a 9-8 defeat.
The sophomore midfielder picked up a loose ball with 35 seconds to play and ran the field, taking a shot with 17 seconds left that bounced up and over the goal.
Fortunately, senior captain Ethan Holcomb, despite hamstring issues, was behind the net and the Centaurs retained possession.
Holcomb passed it to Favreau to the left of Hill, he spun around an NFA defender and rocketed it into the right side of the net to knot the game with 7.9 seconds left.
“All game, I was dogging down to my right and taking my left and shooting. It was working. Why not try it again?” Favreau said.
It sent the game into overtime where the Centaurs again knocked the ball loose from the Wildcats in the defensive end.
The Centaurs worked it up field but had the possession stripped.
Holcomb, however, picked up the loose ball and passed over the top to a waiting Seth Libby.
Libby had a chance to score late in regulation. This time, he didn’t cradle at all, just turned and shot. “I was ecstatic when it went in,” Libby said.
So was the entire team who came flying off the sideline. It ended the match just 1:25 into the extra period.
Noel loved the way the Centaurs played early, something the Woodstock Academy coach wanted to see since it hadn’t happened against Fitch.
The Centaurs took a 5-1 lead over the Wildcats with 10:52 left in the first half with Favreau getting two goals and assists on the other three.
But there was still plenty of game left.
No longer were the Centaurs yelling out cutters and it bothered Colin Liscomb in net. The sophomore was lights out, but suddenly the Wildcats (2-5, 1-3) scored seven of the next eight goals and owned an 8-6 lead at the break.
The Centaurs were much more focused after the half and it showed in the confidence of their keeper.
Liscomb played much better in the third and fourth quarters and in the extra period, allowing only one goal over the next 32-plus minutes.
“He’s unstoppable,” Favreau said of Liscomb. Favreau added three assists to his four goals and now has 18 goals and 14 assists on the season. Favreau is the team’s leading scorer with 32 points while Holcomb (16 goals, 12 assists) has 28.
Libby had two goals for the Centaurs in the game with Ethan Haass, Alex Wojciechowski and Geoff Vallone all getting one.
It made for a memorable Senior Day, but the Centaurs still have eight games to play.
So why was it already Senior Day?
Because all of the remaining games for Woodstock Academy are on the road.
The only other game of the week for the Centaurs was the close loss to Fitch.
Favreau, Libby and Holcomb all scored two goals each while Haass and Sean McCusker also tallied.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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Supporter
Putnam Bank is proud to support the Performing Arts of Northeast Connecticut Children’s Programs. The Salt Marsh Opera recently performed Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Center for the Arts at The Woodstock Academy. Pictured along with Pomfret Rectory School students and Salt Marsh Opera performers are Tom Borner, PB president and CEO; Tom Doherty, PANECT chairperson; and Lynn Bourque, PB Senior vice President and Branch administrator. Courtesy photo.
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Remember when phones used to have a rotary dial, twisty chord and screw capped, circular earpiece? If it rang, no matter where you were, in or around your house, you rushed to answer it. There were no answering machines and so a phone would ring until either you answered or, they hung up. And, if you could, you always answered because surely there was someone calling you that you knew and needed to speak with you. A few months ago, I watched a news segment wherein they showed a video clip of two teenagers trying to use a rotary telephone. They couldn’t figure it out, putting an exclamation point on the fact that, when it comes to telephones, times have certainly changed!
Today, we carry our phones with us everywhere, at all times, making us 100 percent accessible to everyone. Rarely do we even need to dial a phone number; we can simply press ONE button and instantly connect with someone in our contact list.
Answering machines, once non-existent in a not-so-long-ago past, are virtually; once again, non-existent since everyone, everywhere, now uses voice mail. And since we are now a society that has less time to wait for anything, if we don’t want to answer a call or can’t answer a call, messages can go instantly to voicemail, making a phone call exchange, for lack of a better description, less time consuming. This is certainly true in my personal life. Professionally speaking, however, Robocallers and telemarketers are making my phone call exchange experience miserable!
In my hospitality profession, I MUST answer the telephone, every time it rings, as the telephone is an integral way in which our guests reach out for our services. But lately, I am getting extremely frustrated and down-right angry when I answer the telephone, because more than 50 percent of the incoming phone calls we are receiving, on a daily basis, are from dreaded Robocallers and telemarketers. I find myself actually placing REAL guests on hold so that I can switch over to answer, what turns out to be, yet another telemarketer. When, and more importantly, WHY, did this type of business strategy become acceptable?!
As a small business, we have tried everything in order to cut down on the number of unsolicited phone calls we receive in a day; Nothing has helped! I have stayed on the line and pressed the “required” buttons and/or spoken to the “required” person and asked to be removed from the calling list. Ten minutes later, They call again. I have yelled and threatened harassment. Ten minutes later, They call again.
It’s almost as if They know that I HAVE TO answer the phone, regardless of whether or not I am in the middle of helping another guest, and They are just purposely toying with me as I am 100 percent certain that my ‘Google listing’ is not in jeopardy, or that my ‘iCloud Account’ has not been breached. Nor do I panic when They call to tell me that my business will surely go under if I don’t authorize the use of some internet advertising service. Once, after answering the phone with my cheeriest, most professional greeting, the Telemarketer on the other end actually said “Hello? Who did I call now?” I responded as politely as I could before placing Them on a longgggg hold “I’m not sure, let me go check…”
RING! RING!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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Thur. May 2
Fund-raiser
PUTNAM --- The DKH Annual Wine Tasting will be held at 6 p.m. at the barns at Stonehurst, Hampton. $40. Benefits the Northeast CT Cancer Fund of DKH. Daykimball.org.
Art Program
POMFRET --- The Northeastern CT Art Guild will hold a meeting and program on Layering and Mixed Media Art at 6:15 p.m. at the Historical Society building on Town House Drive. $5 (may apply to membership). All welcome. 860-377-1869.
Fri. May 3
First Fridays
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Business Association’s First Fridays will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. around downtown Putnam. This month’s theme is “American Sports.”
‘Hello, Dolly!’
PUTNAM --- The Bradley Playhouse will present “Hello, Dolly!” through May 12. www.thebradleyplayhouse.org.
Sat. May 4
Sawmill Event
WOODSTOCK --- Visitors to the Chamberlin Mill will have an opportunity to observe the 19th-century saw under reconstruction and to learn about the process of its rebuilding at 1 p.m. Rain date May 5. www.chamberlinmill.org.
Tag Sale
PUTNAM --- The Congregational Church of Putnam annual tag sale will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The church is seeking vendors. Various sized spaces, inside and out. For info and space reservation call 860-481-2519.
Fund Drive
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Public Library will present a fund drive from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It will benefit The Flutter Foundation, Inc. Please donate clothing, shoes, bedding/towels and accessories. 860-874-5605.
Town Tag Sale
POMFRET --- The 13th Annual Town Wide Tag Sale sponsored by the Pomfret Proprietors will be start at 7 a.m. at Pomfret Community School and the Christ Church with the purchase of maps for $1 to the participating residences/businesses. Other group sites will be hosted at the Pomfret Senior Center to benefit the Pomfret Food Pantry and Veterans Coffee House and the Pomfret Lions Club on the corner of routes 169 and 101.
Book Sale
POMFRET --- The Friends of the Pomfret Public Library will host a Used Book Sale from 7 a.m. to noon in the Pomfret Community School cafeteria.
Tag Sale
POMFRET --- the Christ Church will host a large group tag sale with profits supporting the 2019 J2A (Journey to Adulthood) Pilgrimage Fund.
Art
POMFRET CENTER --- The Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret Center will present “Printmaking with Nature” reception and artist demo from 2 to 4 p.m. May 4 at the Grassland Bird Conservation Center on Day Road. Exhibit through May 15. Free. 860-928-4948.
Sun. May 5
Fishing Derby
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Rotary Club Noe Poulin Fishing Derby will be held at Rotary Park. Registration is free and starts at noon. The derby runs from noon to 3 p.m. For kids 5 and younger through age 15. Prizes.
Concert
CHEPACHET --- The Music at the Meeting House will present "Heartland! Music of the Midwest," at 2:30 p.m. at the Chepachet Meeting House on Rt. 44. All welcome. No charge but a free will offering will be taken. Refreshments. chepachetbaptist.org.
Mon. May 6
Cancer Screening
PUTNAM --- Day Kimball Healthcare is offering free skin cancer screening and prevention information to the public in honor of national "Melanoma Monday," from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hale YMCA in Putnam.
Art Exhibit
THOMPSON --- The Friends of the Thompson Public Library will present, in its Art @ the Library series, “Thompson Public Schools Spring Art Show” through May 30. A reception will be held from 2:45 to 5 p.m. May 6. 860-923-9779.
Book Signing
THOMPSON --- The Thompson Public Library will present a local author event and book signing: Sam “Sam I Am” Ducharme, “Sole Searching on the Appalachian Trail” at 6 p.m. at the library. www.thompsonpubliclibrary.org.
Exercise Group
WOODSTOCK --- The Woodstock Senior Exercise Group will meet from 9 to 10 a.m. every Monday and Wednesday in the Woodstock Town Hall large meeting room on the lower. Minimum fee. Local seniors welcome. Please check the town website www.woodstockCT.gov for current schedule or call 860-928-6595.
Wed. May 8
Nature Program
POMFRET CENTER --- The Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret Center will present “Bird Watch for folks with Limited Mobility” at 8 a.m. at the Grassland Bird Conservation Center on Day Road. $5 for CAS members; $10 for nonmembers. Register: 860-928-4948.
Dinner, Talent
WILLINGTON --- The Eastford Senior Citizens will hold a dinner and talent show at 5 p.m. at Willington Pizza. Caravan possible. $8 per person. For more info and to reserve by May 4, call: 860-538-8868. If you have a talent for the showcase call Tom Buccio at: 518-791-9474, ASAP.
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