Hat-tricks from Adams and Sandusky in 14-5 Win
April 28, 2011 — The Langley Saxons assured themselves top spot in the Liberty District going into the play-off phase of the season with a convincing 14-5 victory this past Thursday evening over a fighting McLean Highlander squad that worked hard battling its local Liberty foe.
The Saxons (8-2 overall, 6-0 in District) still have one district game remaining on the schedule — that a road game on Saturday afternoon against the Thomas Jefferson Colonials (4-3, 3-2). But even with a loss to the Colonials, Langley would still have the best district record among all Liberty teams, and with that, number one seed for the district tournament and a home game against the Fairfax Rebels (0-7, 0-11) to open its play-off campaign.
In the McLean-town clash, Langley attackmen Mike Adams and Jack Sandusky each delivered a hat trick, while junior attacker Sean Ahearn provided one goal. Six Saxon middies also scored, with senior Davis Wagner contributing a pair to go with single goals from senior John Martins and juniors Hunter Bentz, Spencer Gorham, Mike Meyer and Clay Rivers.
Attackman Robert Frazee netted twice for McLean (4-7,1-6), which also got single goals from attacker Andrew Smith, senior middie Andy Chung and middie Brian Sanders.
Goalies at both ends were credited with a total of nine saves for each team. Senior Ryan Long guarded the Langley net for the entire game while juniors Seth Bartow and Sam Miller, and sophomore James Eyer, shared cage duties for the Highlanders, with Bartow starting and Miller handling bulk of the middle portion of the contest. Eyer came on in the very late stages and had two outstanding stops to show for his brief appearance.
Adams opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game, with sophomore middie Luke Salzer zipping in an assisting pass from 15 yards out for the Saxon junior sharpshooter to flick in from just outside the crease. Langley had the bit between the teeth from that point on until early in the second quarter, as the visitors racked up another eight straight goals. Bentz, a second from Adams, a double from Wagner, Sandusky, then Martins took the haul to 7-0 by the close of the opening quarter.
Meyer greeted second period play with a ten-yard bounce shot goal that Ahearn set up with the assisting pass. Sandusky’s second of the game came next after a nicely worked build-up that brought a backdoor pass from Adams to the Saxon senior ghosting in near the goal crease for the easy finish and the 9-0 Langley advantage early in the second quarter.
McLean mounted a fightback getting goals from Frazee, Smith and Sanders, although Adams and Sandusky added one each to their collection before the end of the first half. Frazee had a lot to do weaving through the Saxon defenses before snapping in a left-hand shot past Long from 4 yards out to get his side on the scoreboard.
Adams answered at the end of a nice cutting attack and score a couple minutes later to complete his hat-trick, followed shortly by Sandusky wrapping up his own hat-trick for the night.
Junior middie Nick Baker provided the assisting pass that set Smith for the finish late in the period, with the McLean senior getting off his shot as he was stumbling to the ground eight yards outside the crease. Sanders then received a nice pass from Frazee that set the junior well for his five-yard strike with about a minute left in the half, but still left the Highlanders looking up at an 11-3 scoreline at halftime.
The hosts enjoyed a more productive third period, shutting out Langley and grabbing a pair of goals of their own to reduce the deficit to six. Frazee picked up his second goal of the game on a transition play with junior defender Conor Gilmartin bursting into attack along the side line. The longpole player spotted his unmarked teammate and provided the crossing pass for the Highlander junior to deposit into Long’s net from just outside the crease. Chung then struck from eight yards out, the McLean senior scoring with only four ticks left in the period off an assist from sophomore attacker Doug Steeten.
The final quarter saw choppy play, numerous penalties, extra-man advantages gained and lost, and three Saxon goals. Gorham fired in from four yards out, followed by Ahearn’s precision strike from distance and a seven-yard left-hand shot from Rivers to complete the scoring ledger.
Langley looked good for an additional pair of goals in the final minutes of the game if not for some sharp goalkeeping by late substitute goalie Eyer, who twice found himself alone against a Saxon in possession, both times bravely coming out of his crease for the goal-denying block.
With the loss, the Highlanders end up seeded seventh for the upcoming Liberty District play-offs, although their opponent will not be known until the Liberty District regular season schedule concludes early next week.
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