Lacrosse Playoffs: Langley and Woodson to Meet in Liberty District Final

By Greg Young
Annandale High School Student, DigitalSports Intern

**Video highlights are located in the two video players below. Complete highlights to be posted .**

After W.T. Woodson nearly lost to South Lakes and lost to Madison earlier in the year, the Cavaliers decided to re-evaluate their strategy. They made some personnel moves, and agreed to narrow the teams' goals.

One of those new, simpler goals was to make the Liberty District tournament championship game, which W.T. Woodson accomplished with a 9-3 win over Thomas Jefferson on Wednesday in the first half of the Liberty District Semifinal double-header.

"We just worked a lot harder in practices," said Woodson Coach Jon FitzGerald. "We've got a young team but if we play the way we are capable of playing, we can play with anyone."

The Cavaliers got off to a quick start against the upset-minded Colonials, netting five unanswered goals to build a comfortable -- and what proved an insurmountable -- lead. W.T. Woodson was led offensively by Ross Fernandez (four goals) and also got solid work in goal from keeper Stephen Colangelo, both of whom were first team all-Liberty District selections.

"Our defense was lights out, especially in the beginning," Fernandez said. "T.J. really did not have many quality shots."

Although the Colonials were eliminated, their first-round victory over South Lakes qualified them for the upcoming Northern Region tournament, where they will enter as the fourth seed from the Liberty District.

In Monday's second match-up, Langley defeated Madison, 14-10, on the strength of a whopping seven goals from Ryan Ningard.

However, the game will unfortunately likely be remembered for the controversy that ensued in the fourth quarter. With about 7 minutes remaining in the game, a Madison player rammed into the Saxon goalie and an on-field fight ensued.

Two Madison players -- a midfielder and a defensemen --  were ejected, as well a Langley player. All three players will likely be suspended for one game (either the district championship game or the first-round of the upcoming Northern Region tournament) and Liberty District officials will look at a video tape of the incident to determine if any further suspensions will be handed out.

"I'm very disappointed that we had that problem," Langley Coach Earl Brewer said. "I hope that we've learned a lesson from all of this."

Added Ningard: "We try to look out for one another. But we simply lost our cool."

After the ejections, Langley retained a one-man advantage for three minutes and took advantage of the situation, scoring three consecutive goals to turn a narrow, two-goal lead into a more comfortable, 14-9 advantage.

Although Langley will likely be shorthanded in the championship game, the Saxons say they are still confident they match-up well with W.T. Woodson, which won the regular-season meeting, 11-9.

"We need to move the ball [against Woodson]," Ningard said. "Our defense also needs to tighten up and pass the ball better."
    

Jefferson vs. W.T. Woodson -- 4 minutes, 38 seconds (for Madison vs. Langley scroll down)


Madison vs. Langley -- 5 minutes, 29 seconds (for Jefferson vs. W.T. Woodson scroll up)