Tennis team
'ain't broke'
If it isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it.
That has been the philosophy that the Woodstock Academy boys’ tennis team has followed over the past couple of weeks.
The Centaurs have been able to keep a steady lineup with David Fleck at No. 1 singles followed by Riley Douglas, Matt Tiffany and Luigi Boselli.
“We’re happy with the consistency and we don’t want to mess it up,” said Woodstock Academy coach Ann Rathbone. “We’ve thrown a couple of things around, but why? We can’t complain about the results.”
The Centaurs did have a bit of a tough go against the two top teams in the ECC, E. Lyme (8-0) and Stonington (12-0), the previous week.
But the boys settled down against Killingly and Suffield early last week and then survived a shorthanded effort against Masuk May 11 to build a four-match win streak and raise their mark to 11-3.
The Centaurs rolled past the Redmen, 7-0, May 8.
Fleck and Tiffany both posted straight set, shutout victories while Douglas was a 6-1, 6-0 winner. Boselli had it the easiest of all as the Redmen failed to field a No. 4 singles player.
The Centaurs have not only kept the lineup consistent in singles, they have also done so in doubles play and it continues to pay off.
Aidan Stewart and Stefan Chervenkova posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory in No. 1 doubles against the Redmen.
Jai Abrams again teamed with Connor Quinn at No. 2 doubles and rolled to a straight set win as well.
Killingly, battling through a winless season, also failed to field a No. 3 doubles team giving Joe Zhou and Evan Haskins a win by forfeit.
The Centaurs thought Suffield, a member of the North Central Connecticut Conference, might pose a larger threat.
The Centaurs breezed to a 6-1 victory.
“Suffield was a little less tough than we expected,” Rathbone said. “Ellington (another NCCC member) was a good test for us and we need those. We would like to play them twice next year.”
Fleck was the only one who ran into difficulty.
The Centaurs’ junior won the first set, 6-3, but it was all downhill from there.
“Sometimes, you run into that in tennis,” Rathbone said. “You suffer a little letdown after the first set and the opponent starts to play better. David thought he should have won that match.”
Instead, Suffield’s Stephen Sattan rallied and captured the 7-5 victory in the second set. Sattan followed with a 7-6 victory in the rubber game, and won the tiebreaker, 7-4, to put the Centaurs behind briefly.
Woodstock Academy rallied when Douglas, Tiffany and Boselli all posted straight set victories. The numbers two and three doubles teams also posted straight-set victories.
Chervenkova and Stewart had a bit of a challenge at No. 1 doubles but survived to post a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win.
Rathbone was concerned about going into the match with Masuk.
Masuk is coached by Steve O’Connell who was recently named the New England Pro of the Year.
Woodstock Academy also had another problem May 11. Only nine players were available to make the trek to Monroe.
That meant the Centaurs had to forfeit the No. 4 singles match.
They overcame the early deficit and posted a 4-3 win. Tiffany posted the decisive victory at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Karma Vijay.
It was the second singles victory of the match for Woodstock Academy which saw Fleck win at No. 1 singles, over Rohit Surehanand, 6-2, 6-0.
The Centaurs also took two out of the three doubles matches in the victory.
“It was nice to have an easier week. The guys are feeling good about themselves and now, we try to get the split with Stonington,” Rathbone said.
Woodstock Academy concludes the regular season this week with winnable matches against Fitch, New London and Norwich Free Academy before a rematch with Stonington.
The match with the Bears will be played at Killingly High School and will be paired with the girls’ match between the two schools. Those matches get underway at 11 a.m. May 18 at Killingly High School.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

..
 

PUTNAM — The Memorial Day observance begin with the parade stepping off at 10 a.m. May 27 from Grove Street and will conclude with a memorial program at Rotary Park.  In case of inclement weather, notification will be on WINY 1350 AM the morning of the parade.  
The parade will feature a lineup of marchers which will include town officials, a National Guard Unit, local veteran groups, VFW and American Legion poppy queens, several civic and fraternal organizations and youth groups. Patriotic music will be provided by local bands and the Putnam High and Middle School bands.
In honor of Day Kimball Hospital’s 125th anniversary, two hospital employees were named marshals.
Parade marshals will be U.S. Navy, LTCDR, Daniel W. O’Neill, MD; and U.S. Army, E-5 Sergeant, Jillian Mancini, MD, who served the country and now work at Day Kimball.
To accommodate older and disabled veterans, who wish to be in the parade, transportation will be available by calling parade Chairman Buster Corey at 860-617-8232.
Following the parade, a speaking ceremony will take place in Rotary Park.  The keynote address will be given by veteran Dr. O’Neill, parade marshal.
All marching units and on lookers are asked to gather at Rotary Park on Kennedy Drive immediately following the parade for the Memorial Day observance ceremony. The program will be led by Master of Ceremonies, U.S. Air Force, A2C, Ronald P. Coderre. The VFW Chaplin, Gerard Salvas, will be announcing the remembrance of deceased soldiers in the State of Connecticut during duty in 2018.  Following the ceremony, the VFW and American Legion will host a free picnic in Rotary Park.  Refreshments include hot dogs, chips and drinks for as long as they last. Chips are provided by Frito-Lay, Dayville.
Earlier in the week, local veterans will place American flags at the graves of Veterans interred in the St. Mary, Grove Street, Nancy Drive, Munyan Road and Rt. 21 cemeteries.  The flags will remain until Veterans Day in November.
The traditional wreath laying and military tributes at Putnam cemeteries, bridges and monuments will be conducted by a National Guard firing squad plus officers and color guards from the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, starting at 10 a.m. May 26.  The Putnam Police Department is providing security and escort services for all Memorial Day observance activities.

.

Lacrosse
team
tourney-
bound
For the first time since the current crop of seniors were freshmen, the Woodstock Academy Centaurs boys’ lacrosse team will play in the Class M state tournament.
The Centaurs last appeared in 2016 when they lost a qualifying round game to Masuk.
They promised themselves a return trip with a 14-4 win over Montville May 11 to raise their record to 7-6.
“I’m extremely proud of this group that has worked hard all year,” said Woodstock Academy coach Michael Noel. “They set out with the goal of making the tournament and they did it with three games still to play.”
The Centaurs didn’t waste any time in the win on the road over the Indians.
Guerin Favreau scored the first two goals for Woodstock Academy.
The sophomore put his first home with 7:21 left in the quarter to give the Centaurs the lead for good. His second came just 32 seconds later and he would finish up the hat trick before the end of the first quarter.
Favreau added two assists, giving him 31 goals and 23 assists on the season. Ethan Haass also finished with three goals before the end of the quarter and Austen LeDonne, who added two assists, capped things off just before the horn sounded to give Woodstock Academy a 7-0 lead.
“It was nice to see them with good energy and enthusiasm for a Saturday morning away game. They knew it was important to come out strong and not let up,” Noel said.
Seth Libby scored twice in the second quarter and Ethan Holcomb added another just before the half to make it 10-1 in favor of the Centaurs.
While Holcomb had only the one goal, he assisted on six others for Woodstock Academy.
Libby also finished with a hat trick while Gabe Geyer, Jackson Chambers (two assists)  Ian Nielsen also scored.
The Centaurs set themselves up for their seventh win with a 12-10 victory over the Rockville-Stafford cooperative program May 8.
Favreau finished with six goals and an assist while Holcomb contributed two goals and three assists.
Haass and Libby scored twice and Alex Wojciechowski tossed in a pair of saves.
Goalie Colin Liscomb made 16 saves.
“We knew the game was going to be competitive and the team remained focused and worked hard for four quarters. We are going to need more of that for our last three games,” Noel said.
The Centaurs did have a rough go against Waterford. The Lancers handed them a 15-6 loss.
Holcomb had three goals and two assists in the loss while Favreau (1 assist), Libby and Haass also scored.
The Centaurs have games remaining at Fitch (Tuesday), Norwich Free Academy (Thursday) and St. Bernard-Wheeler (Saturday).
“I personally think our record could be better at this point. We have the talent and the desire but we need to avoid the self-inflicted errors and maintain our composure at all times,” Noel said. “I told the team that they shouldn’t be satisfied with just qualifying for the tournament. A winning record is something achievable and they need to focus on these next three games.”
Girls’ Lacrosse
The Centaurs girls’ lacrosse team found the going a bit rougher at E. Lyme than it was at home against the Vikings.
In their second meeting of the season, E. Lyme handed the Centaurs a 16-6 loss May 9.
The Centaurs had posted a 5-4 win over the Vikings on their home field earlier in the season.
The win by East Lyme just about ended the hopes of the Centaurs winning at least a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title.
East Lyme can clinch the title with a victory over winless Norwich Free Academy, but the Centaurs will come away with a second-place finish in their first year as a member of Division I.
“As a coach you are never satisfied because you are always setting new goals and helping your athletes reach their potential,” said Woodstock Academy coach Kathleen Johnson.
The Centaurs (12-3, 4-2) got a pair of goals from Emma Ciquera in the loss, giving her 54 on the season.
Ivy Gelhaus, Emma Redfield, Arielle Johnson and Peyton Saracina all had one goal apiece.
The Centaurs did bounce back May 11 to score an 18-6 win over NFA in Norwich.
Saracina did almost half the damage as she scored eight goals.
“Peyton is a great athlete as well as her sister Hallie. Our defense does not receive enough credit for our success.  We would not have the success we have had this year without them,” Johnson said.
Ciquera and Gelhaus (53 goals) scored four goals each in the win while Arielle Johnson and Aislin Tracey also scored and Rachel Canedy had an assist.
 “Every win is a good win. Every player contributed to our win,” Kathleen Johnson said.
Woodstock Academy finishes off the regular season May 15 with the annual Senior Day game against Montville.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

..