It’s now three straight league championships, including consecutive undefeated seasons, for the Langley Saxons.
With their second-straight 13-0 campaign (3-0 in the playoffs), the Saxons earned the top seed and won the Northern Virginia Scholastic Ice Hockey League championship, defeating Stone Bridge, 4-1, in the high-school club-team title match at the Ashburn Ice House.
After a first-round bye, Adams Division champion Langley nipped Briar Woods, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, then blanked Oakton, 3-0, in the semis.
The title was the team’s fourth in six years. The Saxons have won 34 straight matches over three seasons and have earned 16 straight playoff appearances.
“We did not walk into this season thinking about winning another championship,” Langley coach Patrick Keough said. “We had the players focusing on winning shifts, winning periods and winning small portions of a game. The rest will take care of itself.”
Langley was led by a stingy defense, headed by junior goalie Harrison Smith and a couple of converted forwards. Smith had 11 wins and was chosen as the league’s Player of the Year, an award seldom given to goalies.
The Saxons allowed only 14 goals (just three in the playoffs) and recorded six shutouts, including three in a row early in the regular season.
“We had a good goalie and smart defensemen who could move the puck well and keep it out of the zone,” Keough said. “If you do things well defensively, it’s easier to win.”
When Langley possessed the puck and with offensive coordinator Ian Keough giving instructions, Langley netted 73 goals.
Keough said good depth, coming from a strong junior-varsity program, allowed Langley to play four lines at times. That was another success factor, helping to wear down opponents.
“That was a huge advantage, because we were able to keep our legs fresh, keep the tempo going and grind down our opponents,” Patrick Keough said.
Smith and senior forward and team captain Noah Scheinerman were Langley’s two all-league players. Scheinerman led the team in scoring with 13 goals and 17 assists.
Scheinerman had a goal and two assists against Stone Bridge (10-2-1). James Wu and Alexander Oehm each had a goal and one assist, Nicholas Samburg had one goal and Chris Valko and Aidan Jacques each had an assist.
Against Oakton, Scheinerman, Owen Slamowitz and Peter Kuligowski scored goals, with Valko and Jacques having assists. Scheinerman, Samburg and Wu scored against Briar Woods. Scheinerman, Samburg, Jacques and Ethan Zhao had assists.
With its goalie pulled, Briar Woods had a 6-3 man advantage for the final 50 seconds, but Langley was able to survive and skate off the penalties to win.
“That was a long minute,” Patrick Keough said.
Wu, Valko, Oehm, Jacques, Samburg, Zhao, Slamowitz, Kuligowski, Grant Segal, Andrew Abousleiman and James Plourde were other goal-scorers for Langley. Jihan Eksi, Brady Nicholas, Aidan Flaherty, Zain Abutaa, Ethan Osurman and Siddharth Immidisetti also played in a number of matches and made contributions for Langley.
