RUTLAND — The under-construction Woodstock High boys lacrosse team rode over the mountains on Saturday for its season and Vermont Division I opener at Rutland.
Playing on a field for just the third time since practice began last month, the Wasps were down only a goal at halftime before surrendering three of the third quarter’s four tallies and losing, 10-8.
Jed Astbury’s expertise led to the visitors winning 19 of 21 faceoffs, but their dominance on the draws was outweighed by struggles to corral ground balls.
“That’s where we lost the game,” said 11th-year coach Brandon Little, who guided the Wasps to a 14-2 record and the state semifinals last spring. “But I’ve seen worse opening days for Woodstock, and I know we’ll get a lot better.”
Senior attackman Caden White scored five times for the Wasps, who also received single goals from Astbury, Lucas Piconi and Field Willis. Astbury and Willis also had one assist each.
Senior goaltender Gabe Marsicovetere never looked comfortable, making three saves and bringing the ball past the center line four times during the first half before ceding that duty mostly to Astbury and Isaac Emery after intermission.
White said practicing inside Union Arena’s hockey rink and on its cement floor has left several of Woodstock’s collective skills unpolished.
“Things like transition, ground balls, picks, you need to be able to practice them on grass and in open space,” White said. “Being indoors makes the defense lazy, and the attackmen and middies get too comfortable being so close to the net. Our spacing was terrible, and there were just a lot of things we know we can build on.”
Little was generally pleased with the Wasps’ defense, led by senior Ora Astbury and sophomores Charles Green and Louis Mills. The Wasps struggled with clearing and running their offense at times, but Little said he expects fewer bobbles and missed connections in coming weeks.
“Once our hands get a little bit better and we can receive the ball in the (offensive) crease, good things will come from it,” he said.
The early schedule doesn’t do many favors for Woodstock, which visits perennial Vermont power Champlain Valley on Monday and Mount Anthony two days later. It’s a solid bet that the Wasps now have also circled May 13, the date of a rematch with visiting Rutland.
“When we meet them down the road, it will be a different game, for sure,” White said.
Notes: Rutland High enjoys an artificial turf field in excellent condition with what appears to be a recently installed all-weather track around it. That’s in contrast to Woodstock, which has no track and where the boys lacrosse field remains partly covered with snow and ice. “We’re probably two weeks away from getting on it,” Little said. … Last year’s semifinal berth was the Wasps’ first in four years. … Rutland first competed in the playoffs in 2000 but has never reached a state title game. Woodstock, which debuted in 1993, is 4-4 in such contests but hasn’t played in one since 2003, when it lost to Middlebury.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.