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Practice
Ethan Holcomb battles teammate Alex Wojciechowski in a Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse practice. The two will be working together this season in the midfield for the Centaurs. Photo by Marc Allard.



It’s the second year for Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse coach Michael Noel.
That’s a good thing.
“We are motivated this year. They kind of know more how I work and how I want them to work. I think we’re ahead of the game,” said Noel. “I learned a ton last year about what kind of talent we have and I think we’re more athletic this year.”
Last year, the Centaurs doubled their win output of the year before and finished 6-10.
That was just one win away from securing a Class M state tournament berth.
It might be a little tougher this season.
Woodstock Academy was bumped up by the Eastern Connecticut Conference to Division I and will have to play the likes of E. Lyme, Fitch, Norwich Free Academy and Waterford twice each.
“That was a little bit of a surprise,” Noel admitted. “I think we’re up for the challenge. We have some great returning players.”
The Centaurs lost only three starters from a year ago.
Ryan Wojciechowski, who finished with 21 goals and 9 assists, will be tough to replace in the midfield.
“He’s going to be missed with his scoring prowess and he was also a very good defender. Hopefully, his little brother (Alex) can step up and take his place,” Noel said.
The Centaurs also lost goalie Carson Hadley to graduation and defenseman Liam McDermott (9 goals, 7 assists) who opted to play golf this season.
A player new to Woodstock Academy, Colin Liscomb, will fill Hadley’s spot in front of the net.
“He transferred in this year and he’s pretty good at goalie,” senior Ethan Holcomb said. “Carson will definitely be missed, but Colin is pretty good”
The Centaurs still have some key pieces in place.
Last year’s leading scorer, Holcomb (25 goals, 18 assists), returns for his final year before heading to Keene State to play lacrosse at the Division III collegiate level.
“It’s definitely special,” Holcomb said of his final year in a Woodstock Academy uniform. “I played (lacrosse) from fourth through sixth or seventh grade, stopped, came back in my freshman year, found I liked it again, and now, I’m going to college to play.”
Holcomb returns in the middle along with sophomore Guerin Favreau (23 goals, 17 assists).
“Guerin and I can run, we found that out last year,” Holcomb said with a laugh. “Last year, he and I had pretty big scoring seasons and I think (Ethan) Haas (16 goals, 4 assists) will step up along with a few other attack men like Seth Libby (1 goal).”
If there is one place that Noel would like to see improvement, it would be up front.
“We were looking for more from our attack last year. We would like to be able to score from the bottom and from X and I think we have the talent to do that this year,” Noel said.
In addition to Favreau and Holcomb, Austen LeDonne (6 goals, 2 assists) and Sean McCusker (4 goals, 1 assist) will patrol the middle with Gabe Geyer as a long-stick middie.
“We are most athletic in the back,” said Noel. “We have Zach Douglas, Bailey Canedy, and Ryan LaTour, who I have high hopes for. I’m hoping these guys learned from last year that they have to keep their composure and not hurt the team. We need to make sure we’re playing solid defense with our feet and our sticks and not just hacking away.”
Will it all add up to, at least, one more win and a state tournament berth?
“I think we definitely have the potential to make the state tournament this year,” Noel said. “It’s always a goal. I’m liking us this year. I think we’re ready, even with being in ECC Division I, to take the next step.”
The Centaurs will quickly find out where they stand in the division.
Boys’ lacrosse schedule
Date  Opponent  Time/ Location
Apr. 4  Montville  4 p.m./ Home
Apr. 8  Capital Prep  4:15 p.m./ Home
Apr. 9  St. Bernard-Wheeler co-op  4 p.m. / Home
Apr. 11  Norwich Tech-Wind. Tech  3:45 p.m./ Home
Apr. 18  Waterford  4:15 p.m. / Home
Apr. 20  Rockville-Stafford  11 a.m./ Away
Apr. 23  Fitch  4 p.m./ Away
Apr. 25  NFA  4 p.m./ Home
Apr. 30  Stonington  4 p.m./ Away
May 2  Nor. Tech-Windham Tech  3:45 p.m./ Away
May 9  Waterford  7 p.m. / Away
May 11  Montville  11 a.m./ Away
May 14  Fitch  4 p.m./ Home
May 16  NFA  4:30 p.m./ Away
May 18  St. Bernard-Wheeler  11 a.m./ Away
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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It’s a bit of a puzzle for Woodstock Academy softball coach Jason Gerum.
He has the pieces for what he feels will be a successful team; he just has to make them all fit.
That’s why Gerum has elected to play as many scrimmages as possible this spring.
“We loaded up (on scrimmages). Some years you don’t want to, you want to practice things, but this year, we have players, we just have to figure out where to put them. With so many girls who have played a lot of games outside of Woodstock Academy, we have to piece them into where we think we need them and to do that, we have to see them in live action,” Gerum said.
The Centaurs finished 9-13 last season but lost their entire outfield (Haley Armstrong, Naomi Rivard and Ciri Miller) and third baseman Casidhe Hoyt to graduation.
The problem is Gerum has four different players vying for the third base job; five who are quality second basemen and four who have experience at first base.
He has one experienced outfielder, sophomore Cam Corrado.
“I’ve got to figure out what’s best for the team. We’re definitely going to have girls playing out of their normal position because of the way we graduated. It will be a matter of who fits where best and who will be strongest in certain areas to get some decent players in the outfield. That will be the biggest feat in the preseason to figure that out,” Gerum said.
One piece the Centaurs don’t have to worry about is shortstop Hannah Burgess.
The senior is coming off a junior campaign that saw her hit .551 with six doubles and three triples and tied for the team lead with Hoyt in RBIs with 23.
“I can’t believe it, this is so weird,” Burgess said of this being her final season in a Woodstock Academy uniform. “I’ve been a part of this team for the last four years and it’s so surreal that it’s almost over.”
While her Woodstock Academy career may be coming to a close, her softball career is not.
Burgess committed to play for Division I Colgate University in December.
“It’s easier because I’m not worrying about it anymore, but it’s, honestly, still a lot of training for the first day I step out on to a college field. I definitely would like to do something special this year, maybe a run for the (Eastern Connecticut Conference title) and get into the state tournament again,” Burgess said.
For that to happen, the Centaurs have to be solid in the circle.
Gerum thought he had a choice of three pitchers.
That number is down to two.
Senior Hannah Wotton, who threw the most innings for the Centaurs last year (80) and posted a 5-9 record decided not to come out this season.
It leaves Gerum with a pair of sophomores.
Mackenzie Leveille (58 innings pitched last year) and Megan Preston (7) committed to play the game in the offseason.
“I would have liked to have that senior experience with the sophomores – last year was great to have them rotating and have some depth there – so we narrowed the depth a little this year and don’t necessarily have the experience but I believe Mackenzie and Megan got great experience as freshmen,” Gerum said. “They will be a good 1-2 punch that will keep us in games.”
The pitchers will have help.
Behind the plate is an experienced catcher in senior Julianna Nuttall and she is backed up by dependable sophomore Marissa Mayhew.
“Julianna has been unbelievable, Marissa comes in off the bench and they’re both very good,” Gerum said. “Julianna is the leader on the field. She’s experienced, she’s tough; she brings a lot to the table. I’m feeling pretty good in that area.”
Nuttall also hit .327 to help with the offense which also features Cam Corrado (.318), Heather Converse (.304, 3 doubles, 10 RBIs), Maia Corrado (.289, 3 doubles, 8 RBIs) and Hannah Chubbuck (.284, 13 RBIs).
“I haven’t seen us hit too much yet, but we’re pretty strong defensively and last year, we were pretty strong offensively. We should be pretty good,” Burgess said.
There is one part of the conversation that Gerum is very happy about.
It’s where he said that the Centaurs have a lot of girls playing a lot of games outside of Woodstock Academy.
In the past, Gerum said only two or three may have played travel ball. Now, his whole lineup with the possible exception of one or two are playing softball year round.
“It’s allowed us to, at least, be very competitive,” Gerum said. “When I first came here and we played the ECC Large schools, it was a mercy (rule game). I’m not saying we can’t get mercied here or there, but we can also mercy teams. We’re having good games with them. We still haven’t been able to beat them all, but we’re having good games with them.”
The Centaurs will have to hope they play well against teams like East Lyme, Fitch, and Norwich Free Academy since they are in the same division in the league as them and will play each of those teams twice.
“The schedule is always a gauntlet,” Gerum said. “Of course, we can get a lot better, we only won nine games (last year), but we’re also playing very good opponents. I think we’re always in the middle in terms of competitiveness, if we were in an average league, I think we win three-quarters of our games and go 15-5 every year. In ECC Division I, we are playing some of the top teams in the state twice and we have Griswold, Stonington, Waterford as our crossover games. That’s 50 percent of our games playing state-ranked teams. We want to compete with and beat those teams. Make the ECC and state tournaments. We haven’t won a state tournament game yet, we’ve made it the last four years, and now, I would like to take the next step and see if we can make a little run.”
The Centaurs open April 4 on the road at Bacon Academy.

Girls’ softball schedule
Date  Opponent  Time/ Location
Apr. 4  Bacon Academy  4 p.m. / Away
Apr. 6  Fitch  11 a.m. / Home
Apr. 9  Griswold  4 p.m. / Home
Apr. 11  NFA  4 p.m. / Away
Apr. 13  Stonington  11 a.m. / Away
Apr. 16  Fryeburg (Maine)  10 a.m. / Home
Apr. 16  East Lyme  4 p.m. / Home
Apr. 18  Plainfield  11 a.m./ Home
Apr. 23  Killingly  4 p.m. / Away
Apr. 25  Tolland  4 p.m. / Away
Apr. 27  Lyman Memorial  11 a.m. / Away
Apr. 29  Waterford  4:15 p.m. / Home
May 1  NFA  4 p.m. / Home
May 3  Lyman Memorial  4 p.m. / Home
May 6  E. Lyme  4 p.m./ Away
May 11  Valley Regional  4:30 p.m. / Home
May 13  Fitch  6 p.m. / Away
May 15  Hale Ray  6 p.m. / Away
May 17  Montville  4 p.m. / Away
May 20  Haddam-Killingw. 4:30 home

Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy


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The Prep basketball season may be officially over with no more games to be played but that doesn’t mean the season ends for hopeful seniors who are looking to land a scholarship. Case and point Putnam Science Academy’s Kareem Reid.
Reid had a lackluster senior season with the Mustangs battling a lingering knee injury throughout most of the season. Reid, being the hardnosed player that he is, tried to play through the injury after the new year but trainers told him to take it easy and therefore his minutes reduced. The 6-foot, 8-inch lefty forward with a 7-3 wingspan does offer a Division 1 program the word that you hear often around sports — potential.
Schools, looking to bank in on potential, recently came knocking at Reid’s door after the Putnam Science Academy senior announced on social media that he would re-classify into the Class of 2019, forgoing a possible Post-Grad season for the Mustangs.
Last week Reid tweeted: “After discussing it with my close ones and taking the time to think over, I have decided to re-class back to my Class of 2019 as I feel I am ready for the next step in my journey.”
The news broke and spread like a wildfire on Twitter with UConn, Georgia, South Carolina, Penn State, Providence, St. Bonaventure, Ohio State, Rhode Island, Minnesota and VCU all reaching out shortly after hearing one of the most talented big men of the 2020 class all of a sudden became available this year. Putnam Science Academy has been in the middle of hosting open gyms, allowing college coaches to come stop by and take a look at the talented group of players Head Coach Tom Espinosa has in his arsenal. The gym was a little more packed than usual this past week when Missouri, Sienna, Bryant and New Mexico stopped by to watch Reid play.
After practice, Espinosa said: “Kareem is one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet. Not only that but he’s a very intelligent kid as well. We saw up-close how this past season went and even though it wasn’t Kareem’s best season, he still provides energy and size that a lot of these Division 1 programs look for.” When asked about the buzz created on Twitter after Reid’s decision, Espinosa said: “Not surprised at all. One of those top programs are going to get a kid who will bring it every day in practice and continue to improve his game at the next level.”
Reid has yet to make a decision in regards to next year and what college he will decide on attending and there is no timetable for a decision.

Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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