Deadlocked in sudden-death overtime, freshman J.T. Meyers — filling in for injured teammates — scooped up a loose ball and fed senior Jack Sandusky who fired it into the back of the net to give the Saxons a thrilling 11-10 victory in a rematch of the 2009 state final.
“I was driving down the right and the ball slipped out,” said Sandusky, who finished with four goals. “There was a scrum and J.T. — even though he’s only a freshman — came up with a big ground ball to hold possession for us and give me a chance. That could have cost us the game if it went the other way.”
“Our attack is really deep -- the young guys came in today and we just kept running our offense.”
Langley (6-1) led 7-3 after an efficient offensive first half sparked by Ahearn and Sandusky and supported by a number of nifty saves from junior goalie Andrew Spivey.
But with Ahearn on the sideline, Langley’s offense sputtered tne the Chargers took advantage. Chantilly tied the game for the first time at 8-8 on senior Craig Penman’s goal with 10 minutes 46 seconds remaining and again at 9-9 with 2:51 left on junior Daniel Decenzo’s tally.
Ahearn, who returned midway through the third quarter, fed Sandusky to give Langley a brief 10-9 lead with 31.6 seconds left, but the Chargers answered immediately on Decenzo’s fourth goal on a perfectly executed set play out of a timeout.
The Chargers (9-0) won the overtime face-off, but Spivey deftly deflected a pass to the far post which seemed destined to give Chantilly the game-winner, and the referees awarded the Saxons possession that eventually led to the final goal.
“This has been a great rivalry ever since the state championship game,” Sandusky said. “It’s very intense out there, and it just feels good to get this win.”
Sophomore Luke Salzer scored three goals and added an assist and Ahearn added a goal and three assists for the Saxons who advanced to face Hamburg (N.Y.) in Wednesday’s tournament final. They then have seven days off to recouperate.
“Just like last year, we’ve had guys who didn’t play much last year step in and play well for us,” Langley Coach Earl Brewer said. “We’ve got confidence all the way down the roster. We needed those guys to come through the last couple days and they were huge today.”
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