Roundup
Woodstock takes lead in Div. II
The Woodstock Academy football team may have had a bit of a rough start to the season but things are certainly looking up for the Centaurs now.
Woodstock won a defensive struggle against Waterford on Friday night, 15-14.
The win puts the Centaurs (2-4 overall) into position to capture the ECC.
The Centaurs lead the division with a 2-0 record, ahead of both Waterford and Ledyard who both sport 1-1 records and Windham (0-2).
“We started 0-4 and this is a testament to them for just sticking with it, trusting the process and that is hard to do when you are not winning football games. This school has won only one division championship in football and that’s where our mindset has to be. We did it against Windham a week ago and did it again this week and it put us in the driver’s seat to potentially win the division again,” said coach Connor Elliott.
The Centaurs need a win over Ledyard on Nov. 8 to claim the division title.
The defense again played a huge role for Woodstock.
“Coach (Cahan) Quinn and the entire staff did a phenomenal job with the defense but it’s the players who have to execute. I thought we were great against the run and forced them into either sticking with the run or going to the pass which plays to our strengths on the outside and we have great linebackers to boot who contained the box and made them go wide,” Elliott said.
Trailing 14-8, the Centaurs drove to the Waterford 47-yard line early in the fourth quarter but their drive stalled out. A 3-yard run, an incomplete pass and a penalty against the Centaurs resulted in a Caydem Herlihy punt.
The boot gave the ball to the Lancers on their own 35 and on the first play from scrimmage, linebacker Cooper Harris stepped in front of Waterford quarterback Lucas Racicot’s intended receiver and had an open sideline in front of him for the 38-yard pick-6.
“Credit to him and the coaching staff, we rep that a lot,” Elliott said. "It comes down to taking practice seriously and in games, it comes natural. I won’t say he knew the slant (route) was coming but he had a pretty good idea. He sat on it, saw nothing was coming out and undercut the route. That play was a microcosm of how these guys prepare week in and week out,” Elliott said.
Wyatt Matulis followed with the extra point to give the Centaurs the 1-point advantage.
But there were still nervous times ahead.
Waterford almost countered as a Racicot to Aiden Giles pass got the Lancers to the Woodstock 15.
The Lancers, however, saw the opportunity disappear when Harris forced a fumble and the Centaurs recovered a fumble on the 8-yard line.
“We jumped right on it,” Elliott said. “Every pregame we do a turnover circuit as part of that and it’s all about ripping the ball out, the second man in trying to strip the ball and recovering fumbles. We won the turnover battle, 4-1, that was the difference in the game.”
The Centaurs then embarked on a time-consuming seven-play drive that ended in a punt.
There was one more deep breath to be had as a Racicot pass to a Waterford receiver near the Centaur end zone, fortunately hit the receiver in the helmet, and bounded away harmlessly.
As has been the case in half of their six games, the Centaurs got on the board on their first drive of the game.
Elijah Laprade gave Woodstock great field position with a kickoff return to the 40 and then the other Elijah took over.
Quarterback Elijah Poh had another masterful game as he completed 21 of 26 passes for 255 yards including a 6-for-6 performance on the opening drive.
The big play being a 26-yard pass to Aidan Soukaloun that got the Centaurs down to the 22-yard line.
It still took five plays before Poh hit Caydem Herlihy with a 4-yard pass and Keegan Brown followed with a 2-point conversion run to put the Centaurs up, 8-0.
“We like to show a lot of different stuff in that first drive and kind of see what works and how (the opponent) responds. It’s good to execute early, get out of the gate and score. We moved the ball pretty effectively all night.”
The problem was the Centaurs didn’t execute at all times in short yardage situations.
Waterford countered on the first play of the second quarter with a Griffin Haffey 35-yard run to cut the deficit to one.
Waterford went up, 14-8, with 6 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter when Racicot completed a 51-yard drive with a 4-yard run.
Poh spread the wealth again as he completed passes to seven different receivers. Griffen Bloom led the way with five catches for 57 yards with Alec Nunes reeling in six passes for 62 yards and Laprade made four catches.
“I told the seniors that we have never really won a game like that before- a gritty, grimy, back-and-forth backyard brawl,” Elliott said. “The last couple of years we have been the team of almost or if only or so close but (Friday) we got over the hump. It’s the kids’ belief, excitement, energy and how they’re playing the game. It’s infectious.”
The Centaurs are finally back on the home field at noon Nov. 1 as they host Norwich Free Academy.

Girls’ Volleyball
The thought changes a bit now that the girls’ volleyball season has reached postseason play.
It’s win or go home.
The third-seeded Centaurs kept their ECC tournament championship hopes alive with a 3-1 win over No. 6 Waterford on Thursday.
While it’s easy to say the mindset changes, it’s not always easy to get that across to players.
“Trying to get the girls to get that mindset is a challenge. I’m just from a different era, the ‘got get it, win at all cost mentality’ is few and far between. How to get them to embrace that mentality is a massive struggle that I have as a coach,” said coach Adam Bottone. “I think they go out there with the intent to play hard and intend to win but their actions aren’t reflective of that mentality.”
The Centaurs are still searching for some form of consistency.
Take Thursday’s win for example. Woodstock won the first two sets easily, 25-10 and 25-9.
Bottone was happy with what he was seeing as his team was very aggressive offensively which balanced some struggles from behind the service line.
Instead of sweeping to victory, however, the Centaurs let Waterford creep back in with a 25-21 third set win for the Lancers.
“That was a letdown by us in the third set as they won it and should not have. It’s still a mystery to me as to how do I get them to not have those letdowns and if they do, how to not let them last so long,” Bottone said.
The Centaurs (14-7) captured the victory with a 25-10 win in the third set.
Kaylee Bundy had 22 kills to lead the Centaurs offensively and fellow senior Lily Morgis had 34 assists and 10 digs. Maggie Beams came on to deliver 19 service points for Woodstock.
“She also did a really good job as Libero in the first two sets and we used her as a server in the fourth set. In those games she played, she had some really nice service runs which she is capable of doing. The thing with Maggie is I don’t get to use her much because we hold her back in case something happens to one of the outsides, not because of injury, but because they may be struggling with something,” Bottone said.
Alexa Delmonaco added 10 digs in the win which sent the Centaurs into the ECC semifinals against second-seeded Ledyard at Fitch High School Monday. (The game ended too late for this edition).
 “We have a mission to be the team that likely faces East Lyme in the championship. We want that opportunity,” Bottone said.
The Centaurs had not faced Ledyard this season and Bottone admitted the Colonels were a bit of a mystery to him.
“I think if we try too hard to change what we do, it ends up negatively impacting us,” Bottone said. “I think we just want to tighten up our service and serve-receive, continue to work with our hitters on their decision-making. If Ledyard or East Lyme or whoever sends us an easy free ball or easy down ball, we really need to make a great pass so that we can run our offense.”
Ledyard came into the tournament on a three-match losing streak to fall to 16-4 but steadied things with a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Windham.
East Lyme, meanwhile, is on an 18-match win streak having not lost since their first match of the season.
“We know what East Lyme has; a really good outside hitter, their setter and Libero are decent, they can hit out of the middle but what we really have to get past is the idea that it is East Lyme,” Bottone said.
The ECC championship will be played on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at New London High School.
The Centaurs will move on to the Class L state tournament where they will likely be the fifth seed and will likely play Rocky Hill in a first-round match and possibly New Milford in the second round at home. The Centaurs would then go on the road to play Ledyard in the quarterfinals and East Lyme in the semis provided the higher seeded teams win.
The Centaurs were the fourth seed for a long time and looked as if they would have to traverse an ECC gauntlet with New London and Killingly as their first two matches before the rankings changed last week.
“East Lyme and Bristol Central (the sixth seed) are legitimate contenders and I always keep an eye on St. Joseph (the 22nd seed). For the longest time, it was looking it would be in our favor as the sixth seed with East Lyme and Bristol Central on the other side of the bracket and then, in a matter of two hours, we went from the sixth seed to the fourth seed and the next day, dropped to No.5. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, it is what it is,” Bottone said.

Cross-Country
Woodstock freshman girls’ cross-country runner Emelia Langevin has been plagued by some late season injuries.
On Saturday, it was a strained hamstring that became problematic as the time for the CIAC Class MM state championship race at Wickham Park approached.
“I didn’t know until race time if she was going to compete,” coach Joe Banas said.
But the freshman did start and she also finished. Langevin gutted it out over the 3.1 mile course, finishing the first mile in 6 minutes, 19 seconds in fourth place. She dropped back to fifth after the two-mile mark and came across the finish line in eighth place in 20:26.
“I’m very proud of Emme. She’s is a phenomenal runner who has not raced her best times yet,” Banas said.
She will get, at least, one more opportunity to do so this year.
Langevin’s finish qualified her for the CIAC State Open championship race on Friday, also at Wickham. She also earned Class MM All-State honors for her top-10 finish.
“It’s a short six days until the Open so we will practice at (Allen Hill) tree farm in Brooklyn and stay off the steep hills. I’m going to allow her to let me know how much she can tolerate at any given time,” Banas said.
The Centaurs, as a whole, were not all that far off from qualifying as a team for the State Open.
They finished fourth in Class MM with 145 points behind Mercy (38), East Lyme (61) and Pomperaug (107). The top two teams automatically qualify for the Open but the Centaurs were just 1 minute, five seconds off from qualifying as a wild card team.
“I told them that they should be very proud of themselves,” Banas said.
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain finished 22nd followed by Olivia Tracy in 34th, Claire Bruneaux in 36th and Bella Amlaw in 45th to round out the top five.
The boys’ cross-country team needed a season-best effort to make the Open but found the going at Wickham a bit difficult. The Centaurs placed 11th as a team led by Lucas Hecker in 28th. Sam Greene placed 41st and Harrison Durand was 52nd for the Centaurs.

Girls’ Soccer
The girls’ soccer team made it to the ECC Div. I tournament semifinals but that is where the road came to an end.
The fifth-seeded Centaurs were shutout by the top-seeded and still undefeated Bacon Academy, 4-0, to close out their season. Woodstock finished 5-10-3.
The Centaurs suffered a loss the week before to Norwich Free Academy which ended their hopes of qualifying for the Class L state tournament.
“It’s something we will have to get over,” said coach Andrea Danforth. “We wanted to make (the season) last as long as we could.”
The Centaurs did have an eventful last week.
Due to the lack of a state tournament berth, Senior Day took on even more importance when the Woodstock hosted Plainfield early in the week.
“It’s always special,” Danforth said. “It’s a time for these girls to come together and have their real final game here at Bentley. Other Senior Days, there may be a tournament game still to come, but this was it. We talked about how special that is for them. I’ve been with some of these girls since sixth grade.”
Senior Day festivities were held prior to the contest with Centaur seniors Kayla St. Louis, Payton Leite, Avery Gallagher, Campbell Favreau, Kaylee Saucier, Jaelyn Knox, Avery Danis and Ellary Sampson recognized.
“It feels surreal. It doesn’t matter if soccer is your sport or not, it’s sad when you see it come to an end, especially when you are playing with girls you love,” Saucier said.
The message prior to the game from Danforth was simple.
“Have fun. We have nothing to lose. This game meant nothing in the grand scheme of things except to go out and win on Senior Day. The seniors wanted it and other girls wanted in for the seniors,” Danforth said.
The game itself turned out to be a thriller. Sophomore Gia Baldyga was the hero for the Centaurs as she fired a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net with 11 seconds left in regulation to lift the Centaurs past the Panthers, 3-2.
“I’m really happy and excited and I think I made up for the (penalty kick),” Baldyga said with a laugh about the goal.
Harper Simoneau had taken the ball down deep into Plainfield’s territory but two Panther defenders took the ball away from her inside the penalty area and tried to clear the ball. They cleared it onto Baldyga’s foot who turned and launched it over Plainfield keeper Aubrie Brisson and under the crossbar.
“It was a beautiful shot,” said Danforth. “I didn’t expect much to come of that play but Gia is such a good soccer player and this year has been about building her confidence because she knows that she belongs out here.”
It was a little redemption for Baldyga.
Woodstock was awarded a penalty kick early in the second half. Baldyga was asked to take the attempt and kicked it over the crossbar.
Danforth said she chose Baldyga because she is totally reliable in practice.
“She kicks it hard too and then, she misses it. I said to (assistant) coach Collin (Billings), she is staying in until she scores and she did,” the coach said.
The Centaurs had jumped out on top when Saucier tallied from 32 yards out on a free kick just 5 ½ minutes into the match.
Woodstock, which had scored just 11 goals all season coming into the match, added a second when freshman Lily Gregorzek found the net off a scramble in front of the goal.
Plainfield, however, rallied to tie on goals by Gillian Brix at the end of the first half and Abby Lawton just 13 minutes into the second which brought on the need for the Baldyga goal.
 “The referees said that was one of the most exciting games they had seen all season. It was back-and-forth, evenly matched and I’m glad we could shut them down when we needed to and come away with the win,” Danforth said.
The Centaurs also got a little redemption, as a team this time, when it played Norwich Free Academy for a second time in less than a week in the first round of the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament.
Danis and Simoneau came through with a pair of penalty kicks to lead the fifth-seeded Centaurs girls’ soccer team past the host and fourth-seeded Wildcats.
The two teams finished in a 1-1 tie in the match with Woodstock taking home the victory, 2-1, on penalty kicks.
Danis put the Centaurs into the lead with a first half goal off an assist from Elise Coyle.
But host NFA came back to tie with 10 minutes, 22 seconds left in regulation and forced the overtime and, eventually, the penalty kick session where Sampson made saves on three of the five Wildcat attempts.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs could not get past the Bobcats on Saturday as Bacon Academy scored twice in each half to improve to 17-0 and advanced to the ECC Championship match.

Boys’ Soccer
It was a bit of a marathon. The boys’ soccer team had to build some time into its Senior Day game early in the week as 15 student-athletes were being recognized.
“A lot of them have been in the program for quite awhile. I coached most of them as freshmen and sophomores when I was at the JV level with them so it’s been fun to watch them grow,” said coach Dave St. Jean. “We also have some kids from the dorms that have joined the program and became part of the family.”
Nate Couture, Nate Faucher, Collin Teal, Aiden Bachand, Jackson Durand, Armbruster, Trevor Gold, Phillip Feaney-Aleman, Spencer Mayo, Quan Sangasy, Tiernan Curran, Abraham McGregor, Aidan Jean, Thatcher Paterson and Emanuel Caderia were all recognized prior to the match with Bacon Academy for their participation in the program.
“This is definitely unprecedented but we have some juniors who are ready to step up next year,” St. Jean said. “It’s not ideal. You would like a certain amount from each grade level but we’re ready to reload.”
Unfortunately, the Centaurs needed to win out against both the Bobcats and Fitch Falcons to qualify for the Class L state tournament.
They fell in both by the same score, 3-1.
“Bacon has a great program, really strong, and Fitch has been hitting its stride and have been hot the last couple of weeks. We had our work cut out for us,” St. Jean said.
Owen McLaughlin put the Bobcats in the lead in the first half on a direct kick that sailed into the back of the net 24 minutes, 46 seconds into the contest.
The Centaurs did make a game out of it in the second half when Bacon Academy was called for a handball in the area. Armbruster was called upon to take the penalty kick and he hammered it home for his third goal of the season with 22:06 to play.
The Bobcats, however, officially knocked the Centaurs out of state tournament play when Stephan Stabach scored on a 22-yard free kick with just under 15 minutes to play and Troy Johnson added his team-best 10th goal of the season for the Bobcats with 6:40 left to give his team a little cushion.
The Centaurs finished up the season at 3-9-4 overall and 2-4-2 in Div. I of the ECC with the loss to Fitch in Groton.
The host Falcons scored two goals in the first five minutes of the match to put Woodstock its heels and then added another with a minute to play in the first 40 minutes.
The Centaurs did counter with a goal by Matt Johndrow off a Brayden De Oliveira assist just three minutes into the second half but it was all the scoring they would produce for the match.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

captions:
IMG 3077: Emelia Langevin traverses the trails at Wickham Park in Manchester on Saturday. She earned All-State honors and a berth in the State Open with an eighth-place finish. Photo by Joe Banas/Woodstock Academy.

2025 It was Senior Day for the Woodstock Academy boys’ soccer team early last week as 15 student-athletes were recognized prior to the match with Bacon Academy. Photo by Jason Tata/Woodstock Academy.

2025 Eight members of the girls’ soccer team were recognized on Senior Day last week. Photo by Megan Preston/Woodstock Academy.

IMG 3261 – Woodstock Academy freshman Emelia Langevin crosses the finish line in second place in the Eastern Connecticut Cross Country championship meet at the Norwich Golf Course Thursday.
 
IMG 3248: Woodstock Academy freshman Emelia Langevin battles the final hill in the Eastern Connecticut Cross Country championship meet at the Norwich Golf Course Thursday. Langevin placed second.
 
IMG 3279: Lyman Memorial senior Hazel DeLucia (left), the winner of the Eastern Connecticut Conference girls cross-country championship meet for a third consecutive time, embraces her cousin, Woodstock Academy freshman Emelia Langevin who placed second.
 
IMG 3322: Woodstock Academy sophomore Lucas Hecker crosses the finish line first for the Centaurs and seventh overall at the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys cross-country championship meet at the Norwich Golf Course last week.
 
IMG 3317: Woodstock Academy’s Sam Greene battles the final hill at the Norwich Golf Course. Greene finished second for the Centaurs and 16th overall in the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys cross-country championship Thursday.
 
(All photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy)

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