Langley, Gonzaga Get Acquainted

When it comes to scheduling ice hockey games, the players and coaches at Langley and Gonzaga believe the same thing: To be the best in their respective leagues, they need to play the best from every league.

That's why Langley, a public school in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League, and Gonzaga, a private school in the newly created Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League, played yesterday for the second time this season.

Top-ranked Gonzaga (6-1-1) earned a 4-2 win over No. 7 Langley (13-4) at SkateQuest Reston, but the result mattered less than the experience -- a fast-paced, well-played, high-level game.

"It's good to get some practice against these teams for when we go in the playoffs against the private teams," said Gonzaga's Danny Cullen, who had one goal and three assists. "I wouldn't be surprised if [Langley] won the public schools this year."

Langley, which lost the season's first meeting, 3-0, was within a goal in both games with less than two minutes to play. And though Saxons senior Tim Rossier said his team wanted to win, it still gained more confidence from this type of loss than an easy win over an inferior team.

Gonzaga "really helps us get to a new pace and since the teams in our district aren't as talented as them, they help us step up our level and play more competitively," Rossier said.

Davis Making His Points

Broad Run senior Jeremy Davis earned four points on Friday in an 8-1 win over Westfield, giving him 31 points -- the most in the NVSHL.

Davis's one-goal, three-assist performance for the Spartans (6-1) brought his season totals to 14 goals, tied for second most in the league, and 17 assists, tied for most in the league.

"Jeremy's rounding out as a more complete player this year," Broad Run Coach Mark Thompson said. "He's always been a goal scorer, but this year, he's seeing the value in setting up people as well. He knows opponents are going to key on him a bit, so he dishes off the puck and gets lot of assists."

Wootton Gains an Edge

Friday's game between Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Wootton was for first place in the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League's Montgomery Division, so with the score tied at 2 midway through the third period -- and both B-CC's Ryan Haughey and Wootton's Chris Hogan playing well in goal -- someone needed to make a play.

Then Wootton senior Scott Futrovsky took a pass along the boards at center ice and hugged the boards as he took the puck into the Barons' zone. As he neared the goal line, he turned left, eluded the defenseman and put the puck past Haughey for the eventual game-winner in a 3-2 victory. The win pushed No. 9 Wootton to 7-0 in league play and clinched a playoff spot.

"It was the best feeling ever," said Futrovsky, who plays club hockey for Montgomery Youth Hockey's Midget U-18 squad. "I just fell on the ice and stayed there, screaming, with my teammates jumping on top of me."

No. 10 B-CC, meanwhile, made some changes because of the loss. Barons Coach J.T. Burton said he will move Michael Kunza from forward to defenseman and alter some of his lines.

"We're starting from scratch," Burton said. "There's not going to be free-form hockey. We're going to get the puck in deep, circle it around until we can get a good shot off."

Catching Up With Fairchild

Former Stone Bridge standout Matt Fairchild recorded his first career hat trick for Air Force on Friday in a 5-2 upset of Denver. Fairchild, a sophomore, earned All-Met honors for the Bulldogs in 2003. Air Force is No. 20 in the U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV Division I poll, and Denver is No. 5.