Ice Hockey: Oakton Falls to McLean in Close Game

Frustration for a hockey team can come in many forms. There’s the frustration that comes from knowing your team is outmatched and simply can’t play with another team. And then there’s the frustration that comes from knowing you have all the tools needed to win and simply don’t take advantage. 

For the Oakton High School hockey team, Friday night’s 3-2 loss to McLean at Reston SkateQuest was a game where the talented Cougars had multiple opportunities to win, but walked away disappointed.

After a tightly played opening where both teams traded shots on goal, Oakton’s standout senior Sam Buck opened the scoring in the first period with a power play goal to put Oakton up 1-0 with 6:57 left. In vintage Sam Buck style, he outraced multiple McLean players down the ice, circled behind the net and beat McLean goalie Michael Laywood for the goal. 

Oakton held the lead into the second period when McLean’s Grady Paine was able to knock in a rebound with 11:32 left to knot the score at 1. That goal seemed to shift the momentum, as McLean began to dominate the second period, keeping the puck in their offensive zone for long shifts and putting constant pressure on Oakton’s goalie Drew Sandler.

The Cougars withstood the pressure until McLean’s Nick Baker cruised down the right side of the ice untouched and scored a power play goal to put McLean up 2-1 with 6:30 left in the second period. 

Oakton seemed to regain some life in the third period and started to get some offensive pressure on McLean, but Laywood was solid in goal, turning away multiple Oakton opportunities.

Finally, Buck was able to tie the game with 3:25 left with a perfectly placed wrist shot for his ninth goal of the year, and it looked like Oakton might be able to at least salvage a tie. 

But McLean quickly answered with the game-winner as Remi Paine poked in an unassisted goal with 2:43 left. Oakton didn’t let up, pulling the goalie with about 30 seconds left and just missing a last-second shot that would have tied the game.

“I’m disappointed,” said Oakton’s head coach John Alexa, “but you have to give McLean credit. They hustled and did a lot of the little things needed to pull out an evenly matched game and that was the difference.”

The game had a great atmosphere, with fans packed all the way around the rink and a huge contingent of Oakton students parked behind one of the goals. 

Oakton is now 2-4 for the season, losing all four games by a total of six goals. But the team can’t let their frustration linger. They have less than 24 hours to try turn around the rest of the season as they face Dominion in a 9:20 p.m. game Saturday at the Ashburn Ice House.

— Bob Sandler contributed this report