Roundup
Centaurs fall in ECC championship match to East Lyme; state tournament next
The East Lyme Vikings have been the beast in the ECC this season.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ volleyball team has tried on three occasions to slow the Vikings down. So far those efforts and the efforts of other teams have been futile.
East Lyme walked away on Wednesday with another ECC championship plaque tucked under their arms after a 3-0 victory over the Centaurs in the Div. I championship.
“They were dominant,” coach Adam Bottone said. “But as I have said all year, if we can be consistent, we can play with them. But, passing is not consistent, serving is not consistent, too many easy balls went over the net. The biggest difference between the two teams is that they are aggressive all the time and we’re not. It is not the nature of Woodstock Academy athletes to be super-aggressive.”
East Lyme (20-1), which has not lost a set to an ECC opponent this season, set the tone early.
Senior outside hitter Finnley Wilson, who would be named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament, had seven of her 11 kills for the Vikings in the first set.
East Lyme rolled to the 25-12 win in the first set despite not getting a lot of contribution from their middle hitter, Gigi Arnaud.
The Centaurs wanted to take her out of the match and were largely successful, limiting her to three kills, including the first two points of the game.
But that didn’t slow down the Vikings who prevailed 25-10 in the second set and 25-11 in the third.
Setter Isabella Diep had 24 assists while Libero Jordyn Skinner was a machine from behind the service line in the first two sets and finished with 13 service points.
“They are a solid team,” Bottone said. “They can hit from the outside, both middles are good, their Libero and setter are good. They are just a well-oiled machine and got the job done.”
The Centaurs (15-8) were led by Kaylee Bundy’s nine kills. Kennedy McCooey added five while Lily Morgis had 12 assists.
But there was a tell-tale among the stats. Woodstock had just seven service points, as a team, combined.
“If you cannot maintain serve, you are not going to win, period. It doesn’t give us the opportunity to get the offense going and you combine that with not being able to side out quickly- you have to win the serve-and-receive game if you want to win matches,” Bottone said.
But, at least, the Centaurs got to the tournament final. The Centaurs graduated five of their seven starters from a year ago.
“At the end of last year, I didn’t expect to be back here, I was very happy that we were. I don’t want them to settle for this. It’s not good enough. We have to keep pushing and go further,” Bottone said.
Bundy was recognized as an ECC Div. I All-Star prior to the match. Gianna Musumeci was an honorable mention All-Star, Vivian Bibeau was the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete and Alexa Delmonaco received the team’s ECC Sportsmanship Award.
The Centaurs still have something to look forward to. The Class L state tournament begins next week.
Now, all they have to do is put the loss behind them.
 “I can put this behind and I think (the team) can until we potentially face (East Lyme) again in the (state tournament) semifinals. I think that doubt could creep back in then,” Bottone said.
The Centaurs are seeded fifth in Class L and faced No. 28 Pomperaug in a first-round match on Monday (the match ended too late for this edition).

Football
The football team was a dominant force against Norwich Free Academy on Saturday.
The Centaurs held on to the football for 31 minutes, 14 seconds of the 48-minute game.
They put 250 yards of offense together compared to just 137 for the Wildcats. The Centaurs defense held NFA to just four first downs in the game, just one in the first half.
There was one notable exception, however. The scoreboard.
NFA left the field with its fourth consecutive victory as it allowed the Centaurs into the end zone on only one occasion and posted the 13-6 victory.
“We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” said coach Connor Elliott. “We just have to improve in situational football. We have gotten better at it the past couple of weeks; we weren’t as good as we needed to be (Saturday). Hats off to (NFA). They have a great team, great defense, and it was a great football game. We just have to finish drives.”
The Centaurs (2-5) saw two drives end at the NFA 5-yard line and another at the 11.
Norwich Free Academy came up with the big play early.
On the first play from scrimmage in the game, quarterback Elijah Poh threw a short pass that was tipped by his intended receiver into the waiting arms of NFA’s Xavier Sebastian. The linebacker was able to navigate his way 28 yards into the end zone to give the Wildcats the 6-0 advantage just 18 seconds into the contest.
The Centaurs rallied to tie the game with an 11-play, 7:22 drive to open the second quarter that ended with Poh sneaking in from 2 yards out.
It looked as if the home team had taken the lead in the closing seconds of the half when the Centaurs again drove to inside the 5-yard line. But Woodstock was called for an illegal push in the back that allowed Poh to get into the end zone and three plays later, Tristen Clark intercepted a Poh pass to end the threat.
Woodstock got close enough in the third quarter to try and break the tie but a Wyatt Matulis 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
The Wildcats (4-3) followed with their best offensive drive of the day.
Quarterback Aaron Driscoll (9-for-18 passing, 97 yards) found Jayden Croxton just behind the Centaurs defense and he was able to reel it in for a 37-yard gain to the Centaurs 3-yard line. Two plays later, Ryan Cleary (6 carries, 29 yards) found his way into the end zone.
It was the only blemish of the day for the Woodstock defensive unit.
“(NFA) has been putting up points and that’s probably a good a defensive effort as (NFA’s) offense has seen all year. We played phenomenal. Coach (Cahan) Quinn had them playing great. The buy-in on that side of the ball and how relentless we are in pursuing the football, getting the ball out, getting turnovers when we need them and giving our offense a chance. One play here or there happens. If anyone would have told me we were going to give up just seven points defensively, I would say we win this football game,” Elliott said.
The Centaurs almost answered immediately as Poh (20-for-40 passing, 200 yards) found Alec Nunes (7 catches, 117 yards) for a 6-yard hookup to the NFA 20 which was further enhanced by an NFA penalty which moved it to the 10-yard line.
But the Centaurs went nowhere in four plays and turned the ball over on downs.
The opportunistic defense was there to get the ball back for the offense as a hit by Caydem Herlihy resulted in a fumble recovery by Andrew Landreville at the NFA 19.
The Centaurs worked it down to the 4-yard line but an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal gave the ball back to the Wildcats.
“We just compounded our mistakes, didn’t execute in key situations and that bit us in the butt offensively,” Elliott said.
Both Herlihy and Cooper Harris had four catches in the game for 27 yards apiece and Harris was the top rusher for the Centaurs with 33 yards in 13 carries.
The Centaurs do have something to play for in their final home game of the season on Saturday. They host Ledyard at noon at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Woodstock currently leads the ECC Div. II standings with a 2-0 record.
Both Ledyard and Waterford sport 1-1 records in the division while Windham is 0-2.
A win gives the Centaurs football team just its second ECC divisional title in program history.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” Elliott said. “This (loss) is going to leave a sour taste in a lot of guys’ mouths and, hopefully, it will get us motivated to play Ledyard in a divisional title game.”
It’s an opportunity not everyone thought would exist this season.
“It’s a testament to the work they put in. These kids know, and have proven, they can play with any team in this league. Just the scores, we’re sticking with teams, staying in games, and recently have done a good job finishing them, (Saturday) we did not. I like to finish them a lot better and that will be our focus and our goal; play good complementary football and let the chips fall where may.” Elliott said.

 Prep Soccer
The Prep 1 soccer team was looking forward to a little fun following its match against Vermont Academy on Friday.
The Wildcats, however, took a little of the joy out of the postgame celebration.
Vermont Academy got a late goal and handed the Centaurs their first blemish of the season on their record as the two teams finished in a 1-1 tie.
Woodstock is now 11-0-1 on the season with a match still to be played against Putnam Science Academy on Thursday.
“We were clearly better,” said coach Owen Finberg. “We had so many chances and we only scored once. You have to put your chances in the back of the net and we just didn’t do that. You let teams hang around and we made one mistake.”
That one mistake came with 12 minutes, 6 seconds left in the contest when Miguel Delgado took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Centaurs.
Delgado was playing on the other side of the half when he saw a ball come off the foot of a Woodstock defensive player.
Delgado sprinted to the ball, got past the defender, forced Centaur keeper Theo Guillaume to come out and pushed it past him into an empty net for the equalizer.
It was one of only four shots taken at the Woodstock net by the Wildcats who are the two-time defending NEPSAC Class C champions. Vermont Academy (10-3-2) has stepped up into NEPSAC Class B this season.
The Centaurs did have a host of opportunities and took 10 shots at the goal but only one found its mark.
Obama Ngarambe scored the only Woodstock goal 20:04 into the match when he lined himself up at the far post and re-directed a David Cho corner into the net for his second tally of the year.
The Centaurs were playing without two of their top scorers as Richard Sarpong (college visit) and Daion Swan DaSilva (injury) were unavailable and Reed Pickett was injured in the contest.
“We were playing without those guys and Alex Tevez was out too and Alexavier Gooden is not 100 percent. There are no excuses, though, we still dominated the game and we just have to find ways to score goals,” Finberg said.
Following the match, the team did honor its 14 post-grads and seniors.
Guillaume, Francisco Bianchi, Ozzie Pearman, Gooden, Ngarambe, Yeochan Yang, Nico Ochoa, Nicolae Velicico, Zion Simms, Swan DaSilva, Alexander Escobar, Jack Buyers, Cho and Pickett for their contributions to the program.
“We had a great group of guys who have been leaders all year long and have some so many good things for our program so we’re going to miss them. We still have a long road ahead with the rest of the year with them, thankfully, but it was great to honor them here (Friday),” Finberg said.
Many of them came with Finberg when he took over the prep program.
“It was a bunch of guys who came with me here to Woodstock Academy three years ago. It was awesome to have them a part of the program from the start because they have helped us establish the culture of excellence here. They have given a lot to this program since Day 1,” the coach said.

Prep 2 Soccer
It was a less than thrilling start. But the Prep 2 soccer program put on quite the show in the final 8 ½ minutes on Friday as the Centaurs blanked Putnam Science Academy in a Global Education Sports Partners league match on Friday, 6-0.
The Centaurs finished the season with an 11-3 overall record and 6-0 in the GESP.
They are the top seed for the GESP tournament and will play the fourth-seeded PSA team again this coming weekend in a semifinal contest.
“We’re proud. It was a great effort from the team,” said defensive stalwart Zion Simms said of the season’s accomplishments.
The defense was a key for the Centaurs in the match as it did not allow a shot on keeper Jake Quattlebaum.
“Our strategy is simple; communicate, be organized, be tight and do not allow the other team any chances. It’s as simple as that,” Simms said.
It took a while for the offense to shift into gear, however.
The Centaurs took only four first half shots and only one found the back of the net.
Freshman Mark Maruyama scored his team-leading seventh goal when he took a pass from Jaehee Kim (2 assists) and scored from 30 yards out.
But halftime adjustments proved to be the difference.
“Coach (Finberg) had some good tactics for the second half and (at halftime) told us what to do. We had been training really well this week, especially our throw tactics and how we drop down. It took a while but in the second half, it all just clicked and the goals came,” said Victor Schougaard.
With 8:13 left, Simms made it a 2-0 match when a corner came free in the area and Simms was able to get his foot on it for his first tally of the year.
Schougaard followed with his fifth goal of the season with 7:14 to play.
“I really wanted to score (on Friday),” Schougaard said.
The Centaurs added three more goals in the final 3 ½ minutes with Raul Garcia getting two of them off assists from Jacob Gollop and Yuki Kato getting the other.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

IMG 3340: 
Several girls’ volleyball athletes were recognized prior to the ECC Div.   championship match. From left: Gianna Musumeci was chosen an ECC honorable mention performer; Kaylee Bundy was named a Div. I All-Star; Alexa Delmonaco was the team’s ECC Sportsmanship Award recipient and Vivian Bibeau is the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

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Coach Owen Finberg embraces team captain Ozzie Pearman during Senior Day festivities. Photo by Richard Glemawu/Woodstock Academy.

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Obama Ngarambe scored the only goal for the Woodstock Academy Prep 1 soccer team. Photo by Richard Glemawu/Woodstock Academy.

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Fourteen members of the Woodstock Academy prep soccer program were recognized during Senior Day activities. Photo by Richard Glemawu/Woodstock Academy.

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Minus his helmet, Cooper Harris (13 carries, 33 yards) finishes one of his rushes at the NFA 11-yard line. The Wildcats were called for a facemask on the play which moved the ball to the NFA 5-yard line and two plays later, quarterback Elijah Poh scored on a 2-yard run, the only touchdown for the Centaurs in the 13-6 loss to the Wildcats. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.

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Senior receiver Alec Nunes (17) gets past NFA defender Tristen Clark who stumbled as he made one of his seven receptions for Woodstock. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.

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Quarterback Elijah Poh (16) tries to elude a NFA defensive lineman while looking downfield for a receiver. Photo by Joshua Hernandez / actionframe_media.

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