Girls Lacrosse: Langley Falls to Oakton in State Final

A Langley High girls lacrosse win over Oakton High remained elusive Saturday, as the Saxons fell short of the AAA Virginia High School League title in their third loss to the Cougars this season. 

The Cougars carried an early lead to victory, defeating the Saxons 12-7. 

Though Cougars jumped to a 3-0 lead to start the game, the Saxons showed they were not ready to give up the title without a fight, scoring two straight goals — one from Kelly Martins on an Margo Swomley assist, and one from Olivia Sisson on an Ellie Glasgow assist — for one-point deficit with 13:30 remaining in the first half. The Cougars then pulled to a 5-2 lead, and Glasgow scored on a pass from Sisson for the Saxons' last goal of the first half. The Cougars added one more goal to put the score at 6-3 at halftime. 

The second half started with a Cougar goal, but Grace Goettman answered about a minute later to keep the Saxons' deficit at three. The Cougars then scored two straight goals, which the Saxons again answered with two straight goals from Hayley Soutter, one assisted by Glasgow. But the Cougars began to pull away, going on a 3-0 scoring spree over the next 16 minutes. The Saxons scored the last goal of the game — a shot from Soutter on a pass from Nicky Pritchett — with five seconds left, but the game stood far out of the Saxons' reach with a final score of 12-7.

"We played well below our capability. Part of that is that Oakton played their game very well, they always do," head coach Richard DeSomma said.

DeSomma said they wanted to follow a similar game plan as the one they used against Oakton in the Northern Region Championship, in which they slowed the game so far down, they ate more than 10 minutes off the clock.

"This time, had we gotten ahead, we would've done the same thing," DeSomma said. "... We just didn't play like we normally play."

Regardless of the final score, DeSomma is proud of his team and their 2012 season — at least, he will be once the hurt from Saturday's loss goes away.

"I think it was an excellent season. ... You can go a lifetime of coaching without getting to a state final," DeSomma said. "So from that standpoint, in a week or so it'll feel like more of an accomplishment."