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Oakton ice hockey earns first win
Prior to Friday, Oakton's 0-3 start might have produced a bleak outlook for the rest of its Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League season; however, with tonight's 6-2 win over Woodson (2-2) at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the Cougars' playoff hopes have been swiftly rejuvenated.
With the score tied at two and time ticking away in the second period, Oakton's Sean Miller delivered the decisive tally at 8 minutes 46 seconds. Miller's goal came from inside the right dot on a wrist shot that landed in the upper right-hand corner of the net.
“I was really lucky. I just came around, saw an open net, shot the puck and scored,” Miller said, simply describing his first goal of the season. “I think our philosophy all season is to just go hard all game. Play as hard as you can and whatever happens, happens.”
Miller and his teammates have endured a rocky start to this 2007-08 campaign. Oakton played three of the top teams in the NVSHL to open the season in Broad Run, Langley and McLean - who's combined record prior to Friday night was 11-1.
“We've been working hard in our other games ... we just haven't got the results, so it was nice to get it out there, work hard, and get the positive result,” said Oakton coach John Alexa. “I think we just felt that we were controlling the play. If we could continue to throw pucks to the net and assert ourselves, eventually [the pucks] would go in.”
Even though Woodson doesn't have a winning percentage comparative to teams like Broad Run and McLean, the Cavaliers started fast out of the gate. Talented forward Brian Beatson scored perhaps the prettiest goal of the evening to stake Woodson to an early 1-0 lead.
Picking up the puck near his own blue line, Beatson dashed into the offensive zone, flipped the puck to his backhand and fired a shot over the catching glove of Oakton goaltender Jack Owens.
“[Beatson] has a lot of offensive talents and you saw them tonight. That's typical of Brian,” said Woodson assistant coach Gill Egan, who's also spearheading the idea of having Woodson shoot at an empty net during its next practice, hoping his players will visualize scoring a goal.
Beatson's goal was answered quickly by Oakton, as captain Will Byrne scored on the power play at 7:38 of the opening stanza.
Woodson's Ian Alexander initiated the scoring to begin the second period. Alexander took a pass from defenseman Davis Mayberry and stuffed the stuff the puck past Owens to reclaim the Woodson lead.
Oakton's Aaron Rubalow tied the game at two, cleaning up a rebound at 1:34, and with the two teams trading goals, Oakton was due next to strike. “We crashed the net,” Alexa said. “I was telling the guys, 'Just go to the net and good things happen because that's where the goals are.'”
Woodson's start to the 2007-08 season featured wins over Lake Braddock and Potomac Falls/Park View, but their biggest test of the season may come next Friday in area heavyweight, Langley.
“They know how to put the puck in the net,” said Woodson's head coach, Keith Dean. “You don't want to give them anything easy in front of the net. Our defense is going to have to play a solid game and it's going to start in front of the net.”
Meanwhile, Oakton has found its magic. Behind Miller, Rubalow and two goals from Devin Ichikawa, the Cougars fought hard for a win tonight and nullified a difficult start - something that's not lost on Oakton senior Ty Herrinton, who assisted on Byrne's goal and scored a goal of his own in the second period.
“The first two games of the season we were playing tougher teams and we weren't expecting to win. It felt good to get out there and put a team away handily and get the monkey off our backs," he said. “We just hope to – and a lot of teams aren't expecting too much from us – surprise some teams in the future.”
Oakton will first look to surprise Madison/Marshall in NVSHL action next Friday.
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