Submitted by Langley Lacrosse
The Saxons nudged the Cougars from the Boys Lacrosse Northern Region Tournament with a gritty 6-3 victory over the Concorde District fourth-seed squad this past Tuesday evening.
This first-round playoff contest was actually more high-octane than the relatively low score might suggest, at least compared to the rain-drenched 2-0 encounter between the two teams at this same Langley field nearly two weeks earlier.
More significantly for Coach Earl Brewer’s side, the knock-out win was a pleasant contrast to the outcome nearly one year ago when the Cougars ended the Saxons’ 2008 season in a 6-5 regional playoff thriller at Langley.
Saxon midfielder Joey Byrne delivered a pair of goals, the second of which getting his side the 6-1 advantage at the 6 minute, 47 second mark of the final quarter that largely put the game out of reach of the visitors. Langley attackers Jack Lundeen and Ryan Ningard, midfielder Alex Devlin and defender Thomas Robinson weighed in with a goal a piece.
Oakton midfielder Barrett Johnson provided two goals while attacker Jason Chancler picked up one for the evening in a losing cause.
Both goalkeepers — Saxon Galen Kuney and Cougar Joey McCallum — were kept busy and forced into making several difficult stops throughout the game. Kuney was credited with 13 saves while McCallum turned back 11 Langley scoring attempts.
Ningard’s opening score within two minutes of the starting face-off likely had many thinking that the delightful spring weather had also boosted prospects for a more robust offensive display for the evening. But the game’s plot followed an altogether different route as the score remained 1-0 through the first half.
The first quarter saw the home team with a substantial share of control and possession, with long sequences of passing in attack but few quality shooting chances. Oakton enjoyed improved possession as the half progressed, and had one serious attempt on Kuney’s net, coming out of a well-placed feed pass from a Cougar attacker in to midfielder James Wheatley lurking near the crease, snuffed out by the Langley goalie early in the second quarter.
Oakton got a brief scare with about three minutes left in the first half when McCallum mishandled a back-pass from one of his defenders allowing the ball to slip unguarded to the front of his crease. The Cougar goalie was able to recover just in time to prevent Saxon attackman Ethan Bailey from pouncing on the ball with the open net beckoning.
McCallum blocked a couple Langley shots late in the first half, then created a scoring chance when he heaved the ball downfield with seconds remaining. Kuney thwarted an Oakton effort to exploit the brief unsettled situation in front of his goal as the first half came to a close.
The battle started turning in favor of the hosts just after the half-time break. A bounce shot from Devlin from 15-yards out found its way past McCallum to double the Saxons lead to 2-0 less than two minutes into the third quarter. A Langley penalty coming out of the subsequent face-off presented the Cougars with an extra-man opportunity, but a point-blank save from Kuney denied the one promising shot during the advantage.
Oakton goalie McCallum came up big at his end as well about a minute later when he turned aside an attempt by Langley’s Bailey, who unleashed from about ten yards at the end of a fast break. McCallum was not as successful, however, about two minutes later and with his Cougars in a man-down situation. Lundeen converted from close range of McCallum’s crease off of a feed pass from Saxon midfielder Charlie Scharfen, staking Langley to a 3-0 lead.
Byrne furnished the first of his pair for the evening with little more than four minutes left in the third quarter. The unassisted strike put his side up 4-0 and served notice that with goals at a premium for the visitors, they would be forced into chasing the game for the duration.
The Cougars pressed the play, and with growing possession in attack promptly forced another good save from Kuney on a Wheatley shot with about three minutes left in the third quarter. A cluster of Oakton attempts at Kuney’s cage later in the quarter sought to spark a Cougar revival, but this foray ended as result of a stellar effort by longstickman Brendan Dwyer. The Saxon defender out-raced an Oakton attacker in back-up to an off-target Cougar shot, and resorted to a slide and stretch to get the referee call of possession for Langley.
Oakton finally got its long-sought scoring breakthrough, but not until the start of the final quarter when Johnson delivered an unassisted goal, the first for the Cougars in little over seven quarters of play against the Saxons this year. The middie slipped by the Langley shortstick marker just outside the restraining box, maneuvered into shooting position and launched into Kuney’s net to put the score at 4-1 with nearly 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
Oakton’s relief at finally having penetrated the Saxon defensive fortress was short-lived, however, as Langley replied :25 seconds later with a goal from Robinson. The Saxon longstickman struck at the end of a rapid transition that started in his own defensive area where fellow defender Joey Cortina grabbed possession out of a take-away and quickly moved play into offense with Robinson providing the finish.
Byrne’s second unassisted goal of the evening just before the midway point of final quarter made the task more severe for the Cougars, now trailing 6-1 and with less than seven minutes to keep their season alive.
A succession of Langley penalties — one for 60 seconds and the other for 30 seconds — midway through the final quarter offered a glimmer of hope for the visitors, but neither advantage situation resulted in goals.
Chancler did get the second goal for Oakton, off of an assist from attacker Nick Ward, with four and a half minutes remaining in the game, to close the gap to 6-2.
Johnson then supplied his second of the evening, and perhaps the goal of the contest, with a neat finish off of an impressive end-to-end run. The middie collected the ball deep in his own defensive area, sprinted to other end and finessed around the last Saxon defender to fire in past Kuney from close range to put the score at 6-3 with about a minute-and-a-half left in the game.
But the game clock was as much a foe, as were the Saxons, at this stage for the trailing Cougars, whose valiant efforts to fashion a late-game comeback fell short of their playoff ambitions.
The Saxons improved to 15-1 overall and advance to face Lake Braddock in the quarterfinal round of the regional playoffs while Oakton finished its 2009 campaign with a 5-7 overall record.
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