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A new head coach delivered a familiar result for Langley as the Saxons defeated Battlefield 6-4 to secure their fourth consecutive Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League postseason championship.
The victory Wednesday, March 5, at Ashburn Ice House gave Langley its fifth league title in seven years.
Qixiong Sun powered the Saxons in the championship match with three goals. James Wu, James Plourde and Ethan Zhao added one goal apiece, while Haakon Osland, Donovan Ramos, Nicholas Samburg, Justin Grant, Aidan Flaherty and Owen Slamowitz recorded assists.
Bradley Nicholas guided Langley to a 12-1 record in his first season as head coach. The Saxons’ only loss came in their November opener, when Heritage/Rock Ridge edged them 2-1 and ended a 34-match winning streak spanning the previous three seasons.
Langley swept its three playoff games. The Saxons opened with a 5-1 win over Riverside before slipping past Independence 3-2 in the semifinals.
Wu scored all three goals against Independence, including two unassisted. Jihan Eksi provided the other assist.
Eksi scored twice in the Riverside victory, with Samburg, Sun and Grant Segal contributing one goal each. Zhao, Flaherty and Elijah Cohen supplied assists.
Harrison Smith played in goal throughout the postseason and finished the season with an 11-1 record.
Wu led Langley with 12 goals, followed by Alexander Oehm with 10 and Sun with seven. Fourteen Saxons scored at least once during the season.
Langley also recorded four shutouts. Battlefield’s four goals in the championship were the most the Saxons surrendered in any match all season.