By Angela Watts
Assistant GM, Washington D.C. Metro Area
** Click the links to the left to access a photo gallery and dozens of highlights from Sunday’s championship game!
Hundreds of elated Langley fans poured out of the bleachers at Westfield High School at nearly 11 p.m. Sunday night and flocked to the fence line where — as they hooted, hollered and high-fived — a loud chant of “We want the Chief!” broke out.
They got him alright — just when they needed him most.
Saxon senior midfielder Alex Devlin, nicknamed the Chief by his teammates, delivered the game-winning goal just 1 minute, 4 seconds into a sudden-death overtime period to lift Langley to a 4-3 victory over Chantilly and its first Virginia AA/AAA state championship in program history.
The overtime heroics not only left the Saxons fans clamoring for the fiery red head, whose hair was cut into a fresh Mohawk that matched many of his teammates, but also seeking his autograph.
Devlin obliged, leaning over the fence after all of the trophies had been awarded and dozens of pictures had been taken to sign the T-shirts and jerseys of the Langley faithful that had patiently waiting for their moment to congratulate him.
“I’m speechless, for once in my life,” said longtime Langley Coach Earl Brewer, who was overcome with emotion. “Alex deserved to score the winning goal. He’s been our go-to guy all year, really, and he’s a wonderful young man.
“I mean, they call him the Chief for a reason. He’s just the Chief. He’s the man.”
Goals were hard to come by for both teams in this defensive battle, as both Chantilly senior goalie Derek Kegerreis (eight saves) and Langley senior goalie Galen Kuney (six) shined behind their fellow defenders. But a well-placed shot by Charger senior midfielder Mike Turpyn with 1:11 remaining in regulation knotted the score at 3.
It was somewhat poetic considering Chantilly sophomore midfielder Devon Westerman had scored what appeared to be the game-tying shot earlier in the fourth quarter only to have it waived off because Charger Coach Kevin Broderick had called time out a split-second before Westerman released the ball.
“It was just a battle out there,” Brewer said. “I could never have predicted it would be such a low-scoring game.
“When they got that goal at the end I thought the momentum was going their way a little bit. But our kids have been like this all year. No matter if we’ve been down or been up, they’ve just fought, fought, fought.”
Langley senior midfielder Matt Cronin won the face-off to start the overtime period, and as soon as junior defender Thomas Robinson advanced the ball into Chantilly’s half of the field Brewer signaled for a time out. The plan was simple: Put the ball in Devlin’s hands.
“We wanted to clear the side for Alex and let him go one-on-one,” Brewer said. “He got off a good shot the first time, but I think it just went wide.”
The Saxons maintained possession after Devlin’s miss-fire, and both junior attacker Ethan Bailey and senior attacker Kyle Maida took shots of their own before they were able to feed the ball back to Devlin.
Working from the right side, Devlin retreated and brought the ball back out to mid-field so his offense could reset. He then immediately darted back to his right, worked his way to the outside shoulder of his defender and bounced in a shot that found the back right corner of the net.
“I was going in and, I mean, he’s a terrific goalie so I knew I had to put almost a perfect shot on,” Devlin said. “And I did, and it went it.”
Devlin raced behind the goal as pandemonium erupted in the home stands and then leapt into the outstretched arms of senior attacker Ryan Ningard. Senior midfielder Jeremy Kuney and Bailey were next to join the pile as the entire Saxon team shredded their gloves and masks and flung their sticks high in the air as they raced to join the celebration.
“I was standing on the crease and I didn’t even see the shot go in,” Jeremy Kuney said. “I just saw Alex’s arms go up in the air … and it was unbelievable. I didn’t even know how to react. It just feels like a first time for everything right now. It’s really awesome.
“And for our fans to come out in such force tonight and to be so loud and so supportive … it was great to win a state championship for them.”
Brewer whole-heartedly agreed.
“I feel so good for our student body,” he said, beaming. “They were amazing up there tonight. I feel so proud of our school, so proud.
“I’m just so happy. I think I need to hug somebody!”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
Chantilly (16-3) 1 2 (0) — 3
Langley (21-1) 2 1 (1) — 4
Goals — Chantilly: Danny Abatemarco, Jared Golden, Mike Turpyn; Langley: Ethan Bailey, Joey Byrne, Alex Devlin, Ryan Ningard.
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