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Sports

Saxons Come up Short in Regional Championship

Settle for second seed in next week's state tournament

The Langley Saxons lost a hard fought battle against the Lake Braddock Bruins Friday night to finish runners-up in the Northern Regional Tournament.  Captain

Dylan Price gave the Saxons the lead with a terrific header in the opening minutes of the second half, but the bruin responed less than a minute later, then once more late to steal the victory.  As disappointing as the loss may be, the season will continue with next week’s state tournament.

“It was frustering to them score on things we had addressed in practice,” coach Bo Amato said.  “But it was a close game, and you’re not going to win them all.”

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The Saxons were slow out of the gates, defending decently well, but not stringing together many passes or creating many chances.  They finally got the better of the play late in the half, but a long distance chance from Farhan Kahn was there best opportunity, and not enough to trouble the Bruin keeper.

The second half was a different story, however, as the Saxons stormed out to an early lead, thanks to the persistence of Dylan Price.  When a deflected clearand fell to the foot of Price with just the keeper to beat, the senior captain toe poked it past the keeper but was robbed by the post.  He refused to be denied on the ensuing corner kick as he skied over two Bruin defenders to emphatically head it into the back of the net.

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Unfortunately for the Saxon faithful, a quick mental lapse following the goal would cost them, as the Bruins responded with a goal of their own less than a minute later, and just like that the momentum had shifted.  The Bruins began winning the 50/50 balls and getting the better of both the possession and chances on goal.    After missing a few opportunities, Lake Braddock finally capitalized on a lob over the top to take the lead.

“I felt they played with a little better pace than us,” Amato admitted.  “They were more athletic than us up top and it showed tonight.”

Langley had a couple good chances to pull one back, most notably Josh Ellis’s rocket off the crossbar, but in the end the Saxons would have to settle for the runner up trophy and the second seed in next week’s tournament.

“With a little luck we win, with a little bad luck for them we win,” Amato reflected. 

Looking to the future, and the daunting task of taking on the Cox Falcons in Virginia Beach, coach Amato said they will simply live up to their name.

“We’re the Saxons, how many countries did they conquer?” he joked.  “Not even they won all the time.  We’ll just regroup on Monday and take it from there.

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