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Langley's reasons to win
The Langley boys lacrosse program wouldn't have folded had the No. 3 Saxons been unable to upset top-seeded Woodson during last Friday's Liberty District tournament final.But playing without the district's Defensive Player of the Year, a first team All-District attack and an honorable mention All-District midfielder, coach Earl Brewer's team sure played like its future was on the line.
Langley shook off the suspensions of seniors Brett Burnette, Greg Bentz and Tim Goeke -- who were sidelined for their roles in an altercation that occurred during the Saxons' 14-10 semifinal win over Madison last Wednesday -- and answered its coach's emotional pregame challenge.
“I told them that they could use those suspensions as a rallying cry, or another reason to lose,” Brewer, whose team's 8-3 win over Woodson ensured the school's first Liberty title since 2003. “I knew they would choose the rallying point.”
In the absence of its leading scorer in Bentz, Langley turned to rejuvenated Ryan Ningard for offense. The junior midfielder, who took the field for only the second time all season without a cast on his left wrist, notched the game's first tally nearly seven minutes in and later added two goals in the game's final three minutes.
After playing with a broken carpal bone and a cumbersome cast on his left wrist for the entire season, a cast-less Ningard took the field for the first time against Madison, offering a scintillating seven-goal, two-assist performance to prove that he was back at peak form.
“It was hard to fit my glove over my cast, so I couldn't bend my wrist,” explained Ningard, whose team played host to West Springfield in the first round of the Northern Region tournament Tuesday, which ended after The Times went to press. “I couldn't do anything with my left hand, and I'm mostly a left-handed player.”
Much like its regular season, Langley's eventual success appeared in doubt until the very end because after a scoreless third quarter -- a rarity -- Woodson senior Paul Gaski brought the Cavaliers within one only 14 seconds into the final period.
Gaski's third goal of the game left Langley (11-3) reeling. Of course, that was until senior Ken Bickel picked the perfect time to net his first marker of the season for the Saxons. Bickel, who also was a standout defenseman on Langley's hockey team, controlled the ball near what would be the point position on his hockey team's power play.
Instead of looking to pass, Bickel chose to drive the net and fired a shot to the right of Woodson's goalkeeper.
“That was the turning point for us,” Ningard said, “and it put us into overdrive.”
But, as it turned out, the keenest observation may have been made on the opposing sideline.
“We knew they were going to be sky-high, even though they lost three of their top players,” said Woodson coach John FitzGerald. “Human beings have this instinct of survival and they just put it all together. They played like it was the last game of their lives and we didn't.”
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