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Roundup
Girls enjoy
undefeated
holiday week
It was a nice New Year’s holiday for the Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team.
The Centaurs had plenty to celebrate and plenty to look forward to in 2023 after a 79-19 win over Griswold Friday.
The one-sided win raised Woodstock’s record to 6-1.
“I’m very happy with the record, but I’m even happier with (Friday’s) game,” said coach Will Fleeton. “Our defense held first which created other things and that’s exactly what we’re after for the season.”
The Centaurs didn’t waste any time against the Wolverines (1-4) as they scored the first 13 points of the game.
Sophia Sarkis and Kaylee Saucier hit a pair of 3’s in that early run and after Griswold’s Abby Matheson hit a 3-pointer; Saucier (14 points) and fellow freshman Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain (19 points) ignited another 14-2 run with a pair of treys to put Woodstock 27-5 at the end of the first quarter.
“It’s so much fun playing when everyone is working together, especially hitting those shots early, it’s a blast,” Saucier said.
The Centaurs didn’t take their foot off the gas in the second quarter.
Another freshman, Allison Camara, came off the bench and scored all nine of her points in that second quarter as Woodstock owned a 49-12 halftime lead.
“I hate to use the term ‘bench’ because no one is really delegated to the bench. They are all contributors who contribute in their own way,” Fleeton said.
Saucier had numerous assists early as the Centaurs scored on fast breaks with ease.
“I think we were ready and the energy was there,” the freshman guard said. “We made those shots early and then the assists, getting out and looking to run which led to some easy buckets.”
With a 37-point lead at the half, the Centaurs could have easily lost focus.
That didn’t happen.
“I think defense will do that for you,” Fleeton said. “If we had stopped playing ‘D’, everything else might have gone haywire. If you continue to play ‘D’, even if you take a few ill-advised shots or a few risky passes because you are comfortable with the lead, you can always fall back on the defense. It keeps you stable.”
Sidney Anderson added 12 points in the win while Eva Monahan tossed in 10.
Earlier in the week, Woodstock made its annual trek to Cranston, R.I., for the Cranston Holiday tournament and brought home a pair of victories.
The Centaurs completed the sweep on Wednesday with a 49-28 win over the Prout School. The Centaurs downed Cranston East, 52-28, in the tournament opener on Tuesday.
There was little doubt about the outcome of the game with the Crusaders on Wednesday.
Woodstock broke out to a 15-1 first quarter lead thanks to a strong early effort by D’Alleva-Bochain who scored seven of her 10 points. Anderson followed that up with five of her seven points in the second quarter as the Centaurs extended their lead to 16 at the half, 28-12.
In the second half, Saucier scored nine of her team-high 12 points and Monahan added six of her eight on the day to keep the Centaurs well ahead of Prout.
Tuesday, Woodstock led by only seven at the half against Cranston East, but broke it open in the third quarter.
The Centaurs outscored their hosts, 14-1, to make for an easy fourth quarter.
Senior Leila MacKinnon had a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 16 points to lead the Centaurs in scoring. Saucier also hit a pair of treys and finished with 10 points as did Monahan.
Girls’ Hockey
Goalie helps Centaurs have a busy, but successful week
Coach Eric Roy was expecting it to be one of his team’s tougher weeks with three games, two of them involving long-distance rides, over the holiday break.
The Centaurs girls’ hockey team passed the test as they captured wins in two of the three games.
The Centaurs improved to 3-4-1 with a come-from-behind, 5-4, win over the Wilton Co-Op team on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs skated past the Guilford Co-op team, relying on a solid effort by goalie Elizabeth Morgis, to post a 3-1 win over the Grizzlies.
The only setback came in the middle of the week when the Hamden Co-Op shutout Woodstock, 3-0.
“When you draw it up on paper, that’s how you envision it, we wanted to sneak out with two wins,” Roy said. “We came out with our goal accomplished which made it a great week for us. Tough week and they worked their butts off and accomplished it.”
It was a little difficult early in the season for Morgis.
After starting just one game in her junior season due to the presence of Mia Dang, Morgis inherited the starting spot this season.
While it has been a work in progress, Morgis has been a quick learner.
She delivered a 20-save effort, 10 coming under fire in the third period, to stave off a comeback attempt by the Guilford Cooperative. She put together a 26-save effort against Hamden which kept the Centaurs in the game. And on Friday, despite being hit on a play early, stood on her head and delivered a 35-save effort against Wilton.
“I really am becoming more comfortable,” Morgis said. “I really have to thank my coaches. especially Coach Neal (Robinson), he’s the goalies’ coach for us this year. The first 20 minutes (of practice) is all about stamina and that really builds up being able to be in a game and then we go into drills which makes me even more confident. Plus, it helps that I have a great team to back me up.”
Roy puts it simply, “She’s coming into her own.”
Woodstock needed that to happen. The Centaurs do not have a backup right now.
“She’s all we have and she has played out of her mind. It’s been fantastic to see,” Roy added.
Part of her success, according to Roy, is Morgis’ desire to succeed, shown by her willingness to work.
Roy grew up playing hockey with Robinson and knew he needed someone to work with Morgis so he called on his old friend.
“He helps, in general, with the team but his focus is Elizabeth. They seem to get along well. She always asks if he is coming (to practice) and things are going pretty well,” Roy said.
Things went pretty well against Guilford.
The two teams tussled in a scoreless tie through most of the first period.
But freshman defender Paige Hinckley finally broke through as the puck came loose in a scrum in front of the net and she poked it home with just 21 seconds left in the period.
The Centaurs then made it 2-0 in the second period when senior Caitlyn Flynn scored her second goal of the season with 4:19 to play.
It was the first lead for the team in a game since Woodstock downed Masuk, 6-1, in its season opener.
“Coach (Jeff) Boshka and I looked at each other and said ‘What do we do with this?’” Roy said with a laugh about the 2-0 lead.
The answer was simple. Try and hold on to it. The Grizzlies (2-4) did not make it easy.
They came out in the third period determined to make a comeback and started peppering Morgis with shots.
“That was intense. We had to dig deep, but my team pulled us out of it. We did great. That’s what made the win even more sweet,” the Woodstock goalie said.
Guilford did eventually break through with Julia Crisci getting a power-play goal 6:52 into the period.
The Grizzlies had a couple of other chances, including a point-blank shot from senior Jordan King that Morgis stopped.
“We were in trouble for a little while. We were running around and Guilford came out hungry,” Roy said.
But with just a little over five minutes to play, East Lyme junior Mia Williamson, who had five assists coming into the game, got her first goal for the Woodstock cooperative off an assist from Maci Corradi.
“That was huge,” Roy said. “It took the pressure off. You could see the exhale. All the tenseness was relieved and we were able to play again.”
The Centaurs finished up the week on Friday to play the Wilton Co-Op.
Maci Corradi put Woodstock up early when she scored off the first of two assists in the game by Juliette Hammer with 6:13 remaining in the first period.
That lead held until early in the second when Wilton scored just 2:19 into the period.
It would add two more goals to take a 3-1 lead in the third.
Halfway through the final period, the Centaurs began to fight back as Hammer scored with 7:41 to play.
The Centaurs tied it on a goal by Mia Williamson and Corradi put the Centaurs up, 4-3, with her eighth goal of the season.
“The staple of this team is its tenacity, it never quits. We had some adversity, three unanswered goals, but we buckled down and turned our game around,” Roy said.
Corradi was a key to that as a discussion between her and Roy in the second period led to her strong play in the third.
Senior captain Keynila Hochard added what appeared to be an insurance goal with 2:28 to play.
It turned out to be the game winner as Wilton scored with 55 seconds left.
Boys’ Hockey
Centaurs boys’ hockey now 5-0
It was an easy holiday week for the Woodstock boys’ hockey team.
The Centaurs had just one game to play and that one didn’t take long to decide.
A six-goal flurry in the first period pretty much wrote the script for the outcome as the Centaurs rode it to an 8-2 win over Tri-Town in a Nutmeg Conference game Friday.
Woodstock improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference with the win.
While it was easy for the team, it wasn’t that easy for head coach Mark Smolak.
He, like so many others, came down with the flu and couldn’t take advantage of the time off to work on things in practice.
“I had to miss the two practices that we had on Wednesday and Thursday so I really didn’t get to see what the boys went over. I did talk (with his coaching staff) and discussed what I wanted from the team and the practices seemed positive, but having a week between games I don’t think we were ready to have the consistency throughout the whole 45 minutes of play,” Smolak said.
The Centaurs did have a great start.
Sophomore Maxx Corradi got things off on the right foot for the Centaurs as he took a pass from Noah Sampson (2 assists) and put it into the net just a minute, 24 seconds into the game. Six minutes later, Corradi came knocking again and with help from both Sampson and Donnie Sousa made it 2-0.
Before the end of the period, Corradi would have the hat trick and his ninth goal of the season.
“He was nominated for (ECC) Athlete of the Week and he threw up a hat trick in the first period, that’s pretty good going forward. He’s taking the extra step that we asked of him. Last year, he was a very consistent player with assists and goals. He’s still getting a decent amount of assists and is putting in more goals- that’s what we want,” Smolak said.
Sousa got a tally of his own with 4:46 left in the period which opened the door for plenty more.
And both Jayden Fuller and Max Larkin would also score to give Woodstock a comfortable 6-0 lead. Maybe too comfortable.
“It made it worse,” Smolak said of the early advantage. “We tied the second and third periods 1-1 and our quality of play and decision-making with the puck especially on the defensive end really struggled,” Smolak said.
One of the problems, defensively, was that Ian Sherman was out sick.
“He’s a huge, pivotal piece on the back end for us and (Friday) proved what an important piece he will be moving forward,” Smolak said.
Sampson added his ninth tally of the season in the second period and Seamus Coleman finished things up with a third period goal.
In all, the Centaurs had 12 skaters record points on Friday with Corradi getting four, Sampson three, and Sousa, Larkin and Alex Gessner all recording two.
Gymnastics
It’s never easy on an athlete or, for that matter, a coach.
The Woodstock Academy and Killingly gymnastics teams occupy the same gym just about every practice.
They also share the same coach.
“We’re all really close, good friends, and we all cheer each other on, but in the back of our heads, we’re like rivals,” said Woodstock sophomore Olivia Aleman. “It’s good competing with them.”
Normally, the two teams compete with a third or even fourth team involved.
But in the season opener for both on Friday, it was just the two of them at Deary’s Gymnastics in Danielson.
“When we compete against another team, we’re like together for the most part. So, even the judges can get confused. I will call out a name and the judge will say that’s not the name she has and I have to explain that I’m cheering on another kid in another event,” Tocchio said. “It’s fun to do. Even when they were warming up, I was telling them, ‘You’re not on this team, go warm up over there.’”
When they finally got everything sorted out, Killingly came out on top.
The Centaurs fell in their season opener to their gym mates, 129.65- 129.1.
“We knew it was going to be close. When we did a mock meet and (Woodstock freshman) Julia Kerr was still healthy then, it was within a 10th and Woodstock Academy got the win. It, literally, matters who hits because they are so close,” Tocchio said.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, Kerr was out for the opener with an ankle injury and Maitena Alvarez was not available due to the holiday break.
“We’re hoping that Julia gets good news and will be back soon because she was looking like a rock star,” Tocchio said.
Still, the short-handed Centaurs were in it until the end.
“We didn’t lose by much. I think, later in the season, we will be able to win a couple more meets,” Aleman said.
While Woodstock didn’t pick up the team win, Aleman did get the individual victory.
She finished first in the All-Around with a 36.45 total. That included a first-place finish on bars (9.2); a second in both vault (9.3) and floor (8.95) and third (9.0) on the beam.
“I have been out of the gym for a little while so I’m definitely happy with being able to come back and pull that out,” Aleman said.
Aleman was out with continuing back issues but, more so, because of the flu which so many at the school have suffered from.
“She’s been out of the gym, was pretty sick, had to go on a family trip, but she’s in such good shape that she just came back and did a great job. With some training and her feeling really confident, she will keep peaking,” Tocchio said.
Aleman said she was a little disappointed with her effort on the floor.
“I’m usually a lot better but since I’ve been out, my endurance is kind of low so it was harder,” Aleman said.
All four scoring gymnasts scored above 30 with Emma Long at 30.65, Allie Boyd totaling a 30.45 and Livia Gerum finishing at 30.2.
“It was the first meet so you can’t beat yourself up or get upset at your losses. You need to learn from them so you don’t make the mistakes again. It was a really good start,” Tocchio said of the Centaurs’ effort.
Boys’ Basketball
Once again, the Woodstock boys’ basketball team was in the game until the end.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs just could not get over the finish line against Killingly.
The Centaurs could only get a couple of buckets in the last 4 ½ minutes of the game and fell short to their hosts on Wednesday, 45-38.
The Centaurs had the same thing happen on Friday in Jewett City against Griswold, trailing by only five at the half.
The Wolverines, however, pulled away in the second half for a 50-36 win.
The losses dropped Woodstock to 1-5 on the season.
“We just have to get better at it,” said coach Donte Adams of the team’s troubles in the final minutes of games. “We’re just continuing to work at it every day. That’s the best part about it, the guys come in, ready to work. I think we’re going to get it together. I have to make adjustments. Teams don’t want to play us man, they want to play us zone, the more we work at it, the better we’re going to get.”
It was a rough start for the Centaurs as senior Yianni Baribeau carried Killingly early.
He scored all of Killingly’s first quarter points, 17, to put the hosts up by 10 by the end of the first quarter.
The Centaurs did limit the senior forward the remainder of the way, limiting him to eight points over the next three quarters.
“He got hot early,” Adams said. “I told the guys to stick to the game plan. A lot of their guys are not as aggressive as he is so he is going to get his shots off. We have to live with it. He got hot in the first quarter but we were able to contain him through the rest of the game.”
The Centaurs were down by nine at the half but with Baribeau unable to score in the third quarter, whittled that to five, 32-27, by the end of the third.
Sophomore Garrett Bushey found a bit of a hot hand himself as he hit three 3-pointers in the second and third quarters to help pull the Centaurs within striking distance. Bushey finished with a team-high 13 points.
“Garrett can crash the boards hard, can shoot the 3 and can get inside the paint to get touches there and create for others,” Adams said.
A three-point play by another sophomore Brady Ericson (10 points, 7 rebounds) pulled the Centaurs within four points early in the third quarter and it stayed that way after a Bushey hoop with 4 minutes, 27 seconds to play.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs only got two buckets the remainder of the way, one by Brandon Nagle (10 rebounds) and the other by Ericson while Killingly got one hoop and made 5-of-9 from the free throw line to claim its fourth win in five games.
Nagle and Ericson led the Centaurs with eight points apiece as the Wolverines improved to 6-0 on the season with the win.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Photos by Marc Allard