Submitted by Langley Lacrosse:
March 28, 2012: A convincing 15-4 triumph over local rivals McLean Highlanders this past Wednesday evening at Langley set the Saxons to what they hope to be smooth cruising altitude on course for another VHSL crown in boys lacrosse. The current state titleholders got their season lift-off 12 days earlier at Westfield with a comfortable 11-1 win against the DC WCAC Bishop O’Connell Knights, followed by a narrow 11-10 victory on the same turf the following night in a tight battle against the Northwest Region’s Battlefield Bobcats, who generated the same kind of turbulence for Langley this time around as they did in the opening round of the state play-offs nearly 10 months ago only to fall short yet again by a single goal.
The Saxons, now with three consecutive state crowns highlighting their portfolio of achievements, can expect to be the target for Old Dominion squads aplenty, with a slate of opponents this season surely eager and prepared to pounce at the first opportunity for collecting a Langley scalp.
But where the Bobcats ably matched the Saxons in firepower and guile, McLean was forced into chasing the game nearly from the start, with their hosts methodically building a 7-0 advantage by the middle of the second quarter. The Highlanders bravely chipped away to close to within 8-3 by the middle of the third period, but a 7-1 scoring margin for Langley to the conclusion rendered the contest a lean portion of stalemate between two hefty slices of Saxon offense.
Langley senior attackmen Sean Ahearn and Josh Sibio each collected a quartet of goals while senior Hunter Bentz and junior Luke Salzer — both middies — contributed a pair each to go with single scores from senior attacker Mike Adams, senior middie Max Mullen and sophomore attacker Billy Orme.
McLean got a pair of goals from junior attacker Coleman Hopkins and solo strikes from senior middie David Cheplick and freshman attacker Alex Morris.
Highlander senior goalkeeper Sam Miller was by far the busiest of the netminders for the evening, with 13 saves to his credit and a boatload of Saxon shots on goal to animate his recollections of the evening’s proceedings.
Senior Andrew Spivey and junior Clay Kennedy split goalie duties for Langley, with Spivey producing three saves while Kennedy furnished four during his fourth-quarter stint, including a cluster of attempts blocked that thwarted the only real threat the visitors posed in front of the Saxon cage in the late stages.
Coach Earl Brewer next takes his Saxons (1-0 in Liberty play; 3-0 overall) to meet the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Barons (2-1) at the West Springfield High School Spring Break Invitational Tournament while Coach Jake Bullock’s Highlanders (0-2, 3-3) travel to face AA Dulles District Woodgrove Wolverines (0-1) of Purcellville.
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