Takes part
WILLIMANTIC — A group of Eastern Connecticut State University students recently traveled to Italy to participate in the Creative Writing Abroad course. The students spent five weeks, writing fiction stories inspired by their travels and experiences at the Studio Arts College International (SACI) in Florence.
Abigail Murren ’19 of Pomfret Center, who majors in pre-elementary education and English, was one of the students who used Italy’s Tuscan views, scenery, art and architecture to inspire their writing. The group took intensive, creative writing workshops in the lovely Renaissance-era palazzo garden at SACI, where they also critiqued and edited each other’s original works of short fiction.
“As an English major with a concentration in creative writing, this course gave me the perfect opportunity to improve my writing while experiencing one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” said Murren. “The amount of inspiration I had from experiencing Florence’s people, culture, and history only strengthened my love for writing, and I’m beyond grateful to have had that opportunity.”
It was a light week for The Woodstock Academy field hockey team.
That probably was a good thing as the Centaurs are battling some illness and injuries.
“We were looking pretty tired,” said coach Lauren Gagnon. “We were down a couple of subs, got a lot of illness and a couple of injuries now, that definitely hurt us quite a bit.”
The Centaurs also had been jostled around practice-wise.
Torrential rain forced their game with Stonington and practice to be canceled Sept. 18.
“It was hard to mentally prepare yourselves,” Gagnon said. “We were prepared to play Stonington. We missed that game, had to prep for East Lyme and we really only had a half of a good practice to prep for the game. It showed.”
The Vikings took advantage of the Centaurs' woes to score a 5-2 victory.
East Lyme took the early 3-0 lead on goals by Nancy Alden, Caroline Real and Katie Durkee.
Woodstock Academy (2-2, 2-1 Eastern Connecticut Conference) suffered another blow when defensive standout Sydney Cournoyer injured her knee.
“We’re waiting to hear on how she is doing,” Gagnon said late last week. “That was definitely a big morale blow to the girls.”
Eliza Dutson came over to the sideline to be with her friend when Gagnon asked her if she was ready to return.
“She gave Sydney a pat on the head and I told her, ‘Don’t worry about her, she will be fine. You’re going to go in and score for her.’” Gagnon said.
Dutson did just that to cut the Centaurs deficit to two.
The injury also did have a silver lining as it gave Katie Boshka a little more playing time back in the defensive end.
“She had never played defense. She had these amazing moves she was doing and she did them all game long. She came up with some huge defensive stops. We were really happy with her performance,” Gagnon said.
Samantha Mowry scored for the Centaurs in the second half but East Lyme countered with a pair of their own, one by Alden, the other by Sarah Healy, to post the victory.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
.
3rd straight
win for PSA
PUTNAM — Putnam Science Academy captured its 3rd straight win of the soccer season Sept. 19 with a 5-0 victory over MacDuffie School.
PSA continues to shock opponents and make a name for themselves as a 1st year program. After tying the #8 nationally ranked Martin Luther King High School in New York, PSA has now outscored the opposition 14-1 in the last three games.
Head Coach Ivan Damulira said: “We’re playing great soccer right now. The ball is moving, kids are making plays and our comradery is really starting to show.”
The Mustangs put the game to bed rather quickly scoring four goals in the first half including a goal within the first minute of the match thanks to Izan Ramos (2019). Ramos then assisted on a goal by Jenluis Henriquez (2019) in the 10th minute and the flood gates were open.
Pinheiro Romulo (2021), Boadi Augustine (2022) and Victor Reis (2021) scored the other three goals as Putnam Science Academy improves its record to 3-0-1 on the season.
PSA 1 Williston 1
Putnam Science Academy started slowly in the Sept. 22 varsity boys’ soccer game trying out different formations as the team continues to find their rhythm with multiple line ups early in the year.
The Academy fought to a 1-1 tie with Williston.
Williston took advantage scoring a goal in the 25th minute after a hand ball gave them a PK opportunity. Williston would take a 1-0 lead into the half but the Mustangs played with better focus in the second half and would tie the game up on a goal by Jorge Mendo (2020). The score remained the same and ended in a 1-1 tie. PSA now sits at 3-0-2 on the season; they have yet to lose a match.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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It may not have determined the outcome of the high school football game, but it certainly changed its trajectory.
Early in the second half with the score tied, Woodstock Academy quarterback Derek Thompson looked like he had completed a pass to Caleb Feen just inside Capital Prep/Achievement territory.
As Feen was being tackled, the ball popped out. Trailblazer defensive back Kadeem McKnight picked up the loose ball and returned it down the sidelines for a 56-yard touchdown.
The early score led to 16 unanswered points for Capital Prep/Achievement Academy which held off the Centaurs, 29-15, at the Bentley Athletic Complex Sept. 22.
After the game, no one truly knew whether it was a fumble recovery, if the ball had touched the ground, or an interception if it had not and whether or not it was a turnover at all.
“I wish I knew what it was. Regardless, it was what was called and it definitely was not easy to overcome. A momentum swing is an understatement,” said Woodstock Academy coach Sean Saucier.
Back on their heels, the Centaurs surrendered two more points when punter Damian Bonneau-Nichols was forced to punt from the end zone. The kick was blocked and the ball fallen upon by senior linebacker Roy Clemons for the safety.
The Centaurs (1-2) did make a defensive stand after punting the ball back to the Trailblazers following the safety and forced them to punt.
Unfortunately, Woodstock Academy failed to move the ball either and kicked it back to Capital Prep who took over on their own 49-yard line.
Jeremiah Taylor (17 carries, 119 yards), on the first play from scrimmage, broke the line of scrimmage and outraced Woodstock Academy defenders to the end zone for the 51-yard score and a 23-7 Capital Prep lead.
It would have been easy for the Centaurs to pack it in.
They didn’t.
The defense stepped up on the next two Capital Prep possessions.
Nick Bedard intercepted a pass on one and the defense forced a punt on the other.
“The defense played really well and that’s a tribute to Joe Humphrey, our defensive coordinator, he worked really hard this week to put in things to combat their offense,” Saucier said.
Midway through the final quarter, the offense delivered.
Derek Thompson (18-for-26 passing, 163 yards) completed a 10-yard pass to Feen (5 catches, 48 yards) following the Capital Prep punt. A personal foul moved it close to the 50 and Thompson found Bedard (2 catches, 53 yards) to take them halfway to the end zone.
The rest came on the next play when Thompson lofted a pass over a Capital Prep for a 25-yard strike to Luis Miranda (6 catches, 48 yards) that made it a one-possession game again, 23-15.
“That was one of the nicest throws and catches that I’ve seen our guys do. That was a halftime adjustment. We tried to figure out ways to beat the man coverage and we did a little switching among the receivers and their routes and we were able to free up Luis,” Saucier said.
The Trailblazers (1-2) responded on their next series.
They put one of their longest series of the day, a nine-play drive that chewed up over three minutes on the clock and ended with Taylor scoring on a 21-yard run with 1:08 to play.
“I think we wanted to do more than just compete (Saturday). I think we had a good chance to win and a couple of unfortunate mistakes kind of did us in. We will come back stronger,” Thompson said.
The Centaurs scored the first touchdown of the game on their first series.
Feen intercepted a Solomon Barlow (6-for-15 passing, 34 yards) pass and returned it to the Trailblazer 24.
Five running plays later, Jaden Dennett (11 carries, 40 yards) took it in from the 1-yard line for the quick 7-0 lead.
Capital Prep responded with a nine-play drive, capped by Barlow’s 13-yard touchdown keeper.
It was all the scoring the first half would see.
“I was thrilled,” Saucier said of the 7-7 halftime score. “I told them that we were in a battle and it was awesome. It was a great game to coach, a great game to be a part of and our kids showed me something this week.”
Saucier, prior to the game, called the matchup a litmus test for the Centaurs.
“We definitely passed it,” Saucier said. “The bar will be raised now in practice. The mental toughness meter is being pushed up, not out of punishment, but out of reaching their potential. I think they showed it (Saturday) and now we have to go after it.”
One thing the Centaurs will have to get better on is turnovers.
Three Woodstock Academy passes were intercepted and it also turned the ball over on two fumbles, one at the Capital Prep 10 and the other resulting in the Capital Prep touchdown.
“The turnovers came at tough times, right when we needed momentum, and we just lost it. I think we have to give it up for our defense, they did an unbelievable job all day,” Thompson said.
The Centaurs go on the road on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. game at Ludlow, Mass.
“It’s a Friday night. I’m sure it will be a great, small town atmosphere similar to Greenfield, Mass. If we can bottle what we did (Saturday) and bring it on the road, I like our chances,” Saucier said.
The Centaurs downed Ludlow, 54-28, last season in Woodstock.
Ludlow is 2-1 on the year and is coming off a 25-16 win over Amherst, Mass., which the Centaurs will host on Oct. 5.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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