Langley and Chantilly Boys Lacrosse Advance To Championship Game

The and matched up earlier in the season and it was a tough intense battle. On Wednesday in the VHSL State Tournament at it was the same thing all over again. Langley was led by senior attack Mike Adams who had six goals and six assists, including the game-winning goal with 10:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. His teammate, junior attack Sean Ahearn chipped in with two goals and two assists to help lead the Saxons back to the state championship game for the third year in a row.

Annandale, the Northern Region runner-up was leading 7-4 just minutes into the third quarter behind three goals from senior Nick Lalande but they were outscored 6-0 in the final 17 minutes of the game. Lalande had his third goal assisted by his brother, Zack in the third quarter but Langley took control and fought from behind in the heat where temperatures reached mid to high 90's and might have even reached 100 during the game.

In the second semi-final, it was a back and forth contest between Albemarle and , the Northern Region champions. The Chargers didn't take long to get on the scoreboard getting their first goal 1:45 into the contest with a shot from junior attach Daniel DeCenzo. He finished the game with three goals and two assists to help Chantilly win 11-7. The game was tied at three after the first quarter but the Patriots took advantage late in the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead into halftime.

Just like in the first semifinal one team took control of the game in the second half and in this game it would be Chantilly who went on to outscore Albemarle 7-3 to advance to the state championship game. Other high performers for the Chargers were junior Luke Bowers and senior Kyle O'Connor. Bowers scored all four of his goals in the second half and had one assist while O'Connor had two goals of his own.

There were nine penalties called in the game and as a result of that three of the game's goals were scored by the way of a man advantage and all but five of the goals had an assist. This was the second straight Northwest Region opponent Chantilly had to face in the tournament after defeating Patrick Henry-Roanoke 15-9 in the quarterfinals.

Chantilly will be competing for their second state championship after winning one in 2008. That year they won the Concorde District and the Northern Region just like they did this year. Langley is going after their third straight VHSL Boys Lacrosse State Championship. The championship game will take place on Saturday night at 8 PM at. It will be the final game of the 2011 VHSL Spring Jubilee and the victor will be the last champion crowned on the "Day of Champions" as champions will be crowned in softball, baseball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls lacrosse.