Week of Sept. 2: Tough opponents make for a difficult start for Centaurs

Heather Miller came to Woodstock Academy this past spring as head coach of the girls lacrosse team.

Because of that, she had thought she would know a lot of her players in this, her first season as head coach of the Woodstock Academy field hockey team.

“I don’t know as many of them as I thought I would. There are very few but it did help that I know some,” Miller said with a laugh.

The program is not large this season.

The Centaurs were unable to field a junior varsity team.

But that is not a problem according to the head coach.

“I would rather have one solid, full squad versus two squads that are more mediocre just to have bigger numbers. This way, I think they will have more playing time and experience, get more touches on the ball and we can have a constant rotation,” Miller said.

Offensively, the Centaurs have Grace Pokorny and Clara Dowdle returning with Abby Converse holding the center together, playing either midfield or back depending on the situation.

Pokorny was the team’s leading scorer a year ago with four goals and four assists while Dowdle added two goals and three assists.

The team, however, produced just eight other goals and that is something that Miller is working on, trying to find some chemistry to raise those numbers.

The big thing for the group up front, and the team as a whole, is working together and passing well which is why they came out of the pregame huddle for their first match against Lyman Hall with a one-word shout, “connections.”

“It’s our game focus and right now, we’re just trying to connect with our passes and receiving., connect with our communication. We’re trying to have our backs connect with our midfield and our midfield with our forwards so there is not such a big gap. We’re trying to connect with stick down, a basic, fundamental skill, that we need to work on so the foot foul doesn’t happen so much,” Miller said.

Audrey MacPherson will anchor a young backfield.

“We’re very green,” Miller said. “When it comes to knowledge, skill and cohesiveness, so it’s going to take a lot of work. A lot of these girls have not picked up a field hockey stick since last week, that’s when they picked it up for a first time ever. We have three or four girls who really know the game, but the rest are green.”

Liz Roberts and Kaylyn Converse will be in the cage for the Centaurs.

Woodstock Academy opened the season against the Trojans, who hail from Wallingford, and had a two-hour yellow bus ride to the Bentley Athletic Complex.

It didn’t seem to bother them as they opened a 4-0 first quarter lead on goals from Hailey Speranza, Kaylin Findley, Jordyn Pollio and Olivia Shim.

They extended that lead to 5-0 at the half en route to the 8-1 victory.

Eight different players scored for Lyman Hall.

Dowdle scored the only goal for the Centaurs off an assist from Pokorny.

“I didn’t know anything about them, really didn’t know what to expect coming in. Our next game is Stonington and, just like lacrosse, we’re in a very tough conference,” Miller said.

The Centaurs went from the frying pan into the fire against the Bears.

The Centaurs hung in but could not find the back of the cage in a 6-0 loss at the Bentley Athletic Complex.

Woodstock Academy gave up a goal in the first 19 seconds to Marina Lewandowski but the goals did not come fast and furious for Stonington (2-0).

The Centaurs hung in, giving up just one other first quarter tally, two in the second and one each in the third and fourth quarters.

Misha Lewandowski and Anna Lettiere each had two goals for Stonington.

Lizzy Roberts had 10 saves for the Centaurs.

The defense continued to limit the goals against when the Centaurs took on Somers on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the offense could not get untracked again and the Spartans posted a 4-0 win to drop the Centaurs to 0-3.

What Miller wants to establish before the end of the season is a little cohesiveness.

“I want the girls to be tougher, not be afraid. Field hockey is a very aggressive sport and you can get hurt. That stick and the ball hurt and you have to be low on the stick. It’s not for the faint of heart, you have to have grit and toughness, you can’t be afraid to go to the ball. The courage to do that, to build their confidence and to see them come together,” Miller said were her goals for her inaugural season as head coach of the Centaurs.