Submitted by Langley Lacrosse
May 20, 2010 — For the second year running the Langley Saxons brought closure to the boys lacrosse season of the Chantilly Chargers, what to many with good reason would seem an undeserved exit for a talented and well-coached Chargers squad when two rounds of regional playoff action and the state tournament have yet to take place.
The Saxons (16-1) outpaced their visitors from Chantilly in a tense, 9-7 Northern Region quarterfinal contest at Langley this past Thursday evening to advance to a semifinal clash against the Westfield Bulldogs (12-3), winners on Thursday over the Washington-Lee Generals.
The second-round, region tourney defeat for the Chargers leaves them to reflect on a respectable, 11-5 season that stalled just a game shy of the stage for claiming a spot in the region final and earning a berth in the state tournament.
What amounted to a sparring match between finalists in last year’s overtime drama that brought the 2009 state title to Langley, the see-saw battle this past week featured four lead changes and a goal margin no greater than one for all but five minutes of game time. The first two quarters concluded with the score tied at 2 and 5, respectively, and even the 8-7 edge for the Saxons at the start of the final period did little to convince there was really anything to separate the two sides as the encounter progressed to its final phases.
But Langley defenses held firm, and the hosts were able to play out the remainder with a slim lead bolstered by a late insurance goal that settled Saxon nerves.
Langley attackers accounted for seven goals, including three from Ethan Bailey, a pair from Sean Ahearn, and single goals from Jack Lundeen and Jack Sandusky, while middies Jack Curry and Ryan Miller netted one a piece. Middie Joe Marson and attacker Luke Bowers each provided two for Chantilly, which also got single scores from attacker Brendan Waters and middies Cole Fitzgerald and Jared Golden.
Ryan Long provided first half goal-tending for Langley and was credited with seven saves while fellow Saxon Andrew Spivey made six saves in the second half. Matt Brandenburg went the distance in net for the Chargers making 11 saves along the way.
Big-game jitters rumpled play going both ways in the early going. Chantilly lost an early possession as result of an avoidable failure to advance, then launched some poor passes that went out-of-bounds, while Langley was guilty of a careless offsides infraction plus some poor clearances of its own — one too easily going out-of-bounds and a second comfortably intercepted.
Amidst the salt of unforced errors, however, was some peppery play-making, including the maneuver that produced the opening goal less than two minutes into the contest. Bailey managed a meandering run with possession through his attack area that led to the Saxon senior curling around the crease from behind the cage to fire in past Bradenburg for the early lead. Marson then replied less than two minutes later with an unassisted effort from eight yards to even the score.
Fitzgerald collaborated with Bowers just past the seven-minute mark of the game to grab the lead for the Chargers. The Chantilly sophomores worked close in, with the former earning the assist on his set-up pass and the latter providing a cool finish from the doorstep of Long’s crease.
Langley launched some return fire soon out of the follow-up face-off when defender Robbie Bennett charged into attack, but the senior longpoleman’s outside shot was partially blocked by Bradenburg. The carom popped up kindly for Lundeen lurking near the crease although the Charger goalie forced the Saxon senior into a hasty snapshot that sailed just over the target.
Lundeen was more successful only 20 seconds after the re-start when he picked out Ahearn with a quick pass allowing the sophomore time and space to deposit past the Chantilly senior and tie the game.
Bradenburg was busy again a minute later when he denied Lundeen with a fine point-blank reaction save, this after Langley senior defender Thomas Robinson embarked on a transition fast break and supplied a feeding pass to his attackman at the doorstep. The Charger goalie then parried a promising shot from five yards by Bailey late in the opening quarter, which ended at 2-2.
The teams exchanged blows and the lead during a lively second period but the duel was level at 5 at the close of the first half as a result of a Golden equalizer with just under a minute remaining before the break. The Chantilly junior flicked in over Long when left wide open just outside the goal crease at the end of some confident passing in the buildup.
The Chargers had gone ahead early in the second quarter when Waters cashed in on a man-advantage situation that carried over from the very end of the first period. The senior struck from 10 yards with his shot sneaking in low between Long’s feet after an assisting pass from Chantilly senior attacker Kevin Egan had set up the scorer nicely for the extra-man goal.
Bradenburg displayed some top-shelf goalkeeping when he kept senior Joey Byrne from striking after the Langley senior had been set up by a Lundeen service pass. The Charger netminder provided yet another bit of quality shot-blocking when he employed a kick-save to keep out a menacing shot from Lundeen, but not before Bailey had spun away from his defensive mark and tied matters for the Saxons less than a minute earlier with a bounce shot from eight yards that found its way in past Bradenburg. Miller regained the lead for Langley shortly after the kick-save, with the Saxon senior rolling in a low short from ten yards out off of an assist from Bailey.
Longpole defenders showed well as the quarter progressed. Brenden Dwyer executed a timely intercept of a Chantilly pass behind the Langley cage during build-up of a man-advantage attack by the Chargers. The Saxon junior initiated a shorthanded attack that offered Bailey a good look at Bradenburg’s goal but his shot only caromed in front of net and trickled through the crease area missing narrowly. Chantilly defender Travis Abatemarco matched Dwyer’s earlier effort when the Charger smartly intercepted a Bailey pass headed for a Langley teammate stationed in front of Bradenburg. The senior longstickman then proceeded into a rapid transition attack only to see his rifled shot saved by Long.
Long was alert about a minute later when Bowers excited the crowd with a hopeful, behind-the-back snapshot on net that the Saxon goalie snared just in time. The Langley junior was unable, however, to stop a more conventional goal bid by Bowers that tied the game yet again, the end product of a swift passing sequence that produced Bowers second goal of the evening and earned Chantilly junior attacker Craig Penman a deserved assist. Sandusky nudged Langley ahead for the third time less than a minute later when the junior wheeled around his defending opponent after emerging from behind the goal-line-extended to fire in past Bradenburg, although the 5-4 lead did not survive Golden’s goal and the close of the first half.
Fitzgerald went to work quickly at the start of second-half play to give his Chargers another lead when he edged away from the close checking of Bennett to launch an unassisted strike from seven yards out. The Saxons this time answered with a three-goal barrage within a three-minute span that generated the first two-goal lead of the night. Curry’s 12-yard blast seemed to glance off Bradenburg’s stick on its way into the net to tie the game at 6, with Lundeen getting the assist on the Langley senior’s goal. Bailey then completed his hat-trick about two minutes later with a bounce shot from six yards that was set up by a Bennett steal and run into attack leading to an assisting pass from the defender.
The first two-goal lead arrived with Ahearn’s second goal of the evening and came out of a rare miscue from Bradenburg, who had possession near the out-of-bounds line but under Saxon riding pressure spotted a Chantilly defender for a long, cross-field pass that sailed well beyond its target. The errant pass allowed Bailey to challenge for possession, then break toward goal with little interference and an unmarked Ahearn, who supplied the easy finish into the open net.
Marson pulled one goal back for the Chargers when the senior’s five-yarder out of a crowd of defenders slipped past Spivey, who had come in to replace Long for second-half keeper duties. This shaved the Langley advantage to one again, and with nearly 18 minutes of game time remaining, the chances of a fight-back still looked good. Yet this turned out to be the very last Chantilly could get past the Saxon goalie on this night.
A couple of extra-man opportunities offered the Chargers some hope but neither produced an equalizer. On the first, Bennett blocked a shot attempt, collected the groundball and initiated ball possession into the attack area to **** much of the man advantage. A series of Chantilly shots — from Marson, Bowers, Egan, Waters and junior middie Devon Westerman — tested Spivey but the shots either sailed wide or were grabbed by the sophomore netminder. Attacker Kyle O’Connor came close early in the fourth quarter but the Charger junior’s shot hit the post and bounced wide of any danger.
Chantilly faltered again when tight man marking by Langley on an attempted clear by Bradenburg forced the Charger goalie to hesitate too long and suffer a failure-to-advance call. The loss of possession was made more costly soon after when Lundeen snapped in from five yards to put the Saxons up by two again, calming the nerves of the Langley supporters with a much-welcomed cushion with less than five minutes of game-time remaining. Ball control for nearly the remainder of the battle limited what few chances Chantilly could muster in the closing minutes and assured the Saxons a path to the region tournament semi-final round.
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