The head coach was new, but the end result was the same — a league championship for the Langley Saxons ice hockey team.
Langley won its fourth straight Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League postseason high-school tournament by defeating Battlefield, 6-4, in the title match at the Ashburn Ice House on Wednesday, March 5.
The championship was Langley’s fifth in seven years.
As the new head coach, Bradley Nicholas led Langley to a 12-1 record in the 21-team league, after the Saxons lost their opening match in November to Heritage/Rock Ridge by a 2-1 score.
Prior to that season-opening loss, Langley had a winning streak of 34 matches over the preceding three seasons.
In the playoffs, Langley achieved a 3-0 record, defeating Riverside, 5-1, in its first match, and then nipping Independence, 3-2, in the semifinals.
In the win over Battlefield, Qixiong Sun scored three goals and James Wu, James Plourde and Ethan Zhao scored one each. Assists went to Haakon Osland, Donovan Ramos, Nicholas Samburg, Justin Grant, Aidan Flaherty and Owen Slamowitz.
Wu scored all three goals in the semifinal, two unassisted, with Jihan Eksi having one assist.
Against Riverside, Eksi scored two goals and Samburg, Sun and Grant Segal one each. Assists went to Zhao, Flaherty and Elijah Cohen.
Harrison Smith was in goal for all three wins. He had an 11-1 record during the season.
Wu was Langley’s top goal-scorer with 12, and Alexander Oehm was next with 10. Sun had seven. There were 14 different players who scored goals for Langley.
The Saxons’ defense was strong all season, with four shutouts. Battlefield’s four goals were the most Langley allowed in any match.
