Langley sophomore striker Jacob Labovitz scored two goals during the Saxons’ season-opening 3-0 win over Wakefield on Monday. Photo by Louise Krafft.
The 2014 Langley boys’ soccer team squandered a stellar regular season by losing to McLean in the opening round of the Conference 6 tournament and failing to qualify for regionals.
On Monday, the Saxons opened the 2015 campaign on a much more pleasant note.
Langley traveled to South Arlington and blanked Wakefield 3-0, taking the first step in what the Saxons hope is a state championship season.
Sophomore striker Jacob Labovitz scored a pair of goals for Langley, and sophomore Sam Golan added an insurance goal late in the match.
“Coming in, we’re very optimistic,” Langley head coach Bo Amato said. “... We’re young, but we’re good.”
After starting the 2014 season with a loss to Yorktown and a scoreless tie against Wakefield, the Saxons went 10-0-1 in their final 11 regular-season matches. But Langley’s season came to a crashing halt in the conference quarterfinals, when the Saxons lost to McLean, 1-0.
Labovitz said the loss drives the Saxons.
“It makes us [hungrier] for this year, to win it,” he said. “It’s always in our back pocket [as motivation] to keep winning. We’re going to come back stronger this year, definitely.”
What did Labovitz learn from the loss?
“I learned no matter what seed you are, no matter where you are in the tournament,” he said, “anyone can beat anyone any day.”
Labovitz helped Langley get off to a strong start against Wakefield on March 16, scoring the team’s first goal of the season in the 24th minute. In the second half, the sophomore gave Langley a 2-0 lead with a goal in the 54th minute.
Amato said he’s looking for Labovitz to score 20 goals this season.
“He’s a good player,” Amato said. “... He just works so hard away from practice. He wants to be a better athlete. He goes and does things to make himself a better soccer player. He has no ego whatsoever. He just wants to get better and better and better.”
Amato described the team’s mindset in a similar fashion.
“They’re hard-working,” Amato said. “One of the beauties of this group versus some of the other Langley teams is there’s really no egos, which is terrific. Typically, we’ve got some guys that think they’re better than everybody else [and] that ends up being more of a cancer than [a benefit].”
Langley’s senior captains are midfielder Daniel Levetown, striker Max McKee and goalkeeper Cole Stinger.
Langley will travel to face Yorktown at 7 p.m. tonight. The Saxons’ home opener is Tuesday, March 24 against Chantilly.
“[Our goal is] definitely win states, [it] has always been our minds,” Labovitz said. “But [we need to] get past districts, I’d say, first.”