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Hockey team
tops league
Parity.
It’s a concept most athletic leagues at any level try to have.
The Central Massachusetts Girls Hockey League has certainly stumbled upon it.
The addition of Woodstock Academy to the league this season has left the “B” Division of the league in a virtual deadlock halfway through the season.
The Centaurs finished in a 2-2 tie early last week against the Auburn Rockets in Auburn.
It gave the Centaurs a 3-4-3 overall record and a 1-0-3 mark in the league with divisional road games still to play against Oakmont and Leominster.
The record put the Centaurs on top of the league standings with five points.
Auburn at 1-1-2 is second with four while Leominster 1-0-1 has three and Oakmont (0-2-2) two.
“It’s amazing,” Woodstock Academy coach Jeff Boshka said of the bunched up standings. “All of us in this conference, it’s super close.”
What makes it that way? Boshka said it’s probably the depth or lack thereof it.
“A lot of us are playing two lines and mixing in a third line here and there,” he said. “It’s equal ability and it’s not like any of us are standing out. We’re just all pretty even. It’s not like anyone is coming in and dominating the games.”
Auburn got on the board first with sophomore Reese Levansavich scoring for the Rockets in the first period.
But Woodstock Academy tied it just 2:19 into the second period when freshman Ivy Dowdle scored her first career varsity goal off an assist from Julianna Buoniconti.
The Centaurs took the lead with 6:24 left in the game when sophomore Sydney Haskins scored her second goal of the season with help from Eliza Dutson and Chelsea Willis.
“I thought going into this game, we were going to score more goals. When we went ahead, I thought it was good and all we had to do was play smart and hold them off,” Boshka said.
It was not to be.
A rebound off an Auburn shot just a minute after Haskins’ goal was not cleared by the Centaur defense and Levansavich picked it up and beat Centaur goalie Marie Gravier (39 saves).
Boshka said since it was a game on the road on a smaller rink than what the Centaurs are used to, it was an acceptable result.
The Centaurs, once again, will have plenty of time off.
Woodstock Academy was coming off an eight-day break going into the Auburn game.
It now gets another week and a half off before it plays host to Shrewsbury, Mass., in its final home game on Thursday.
“Looking to the future, it would probably be nice if we added a couple of games, have a couple of games a week. It gives you something to strive for. The team gets amped up for games,” Boshka said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy