With a roster that included 12 experienced seniors, the expectations were lofty for the Washington-Liberty Generals, and the club ice hockey team did not disappoint during the recently-completed high-school season.
For the second straight winter campaign, and third time in four years, Washington-Liberty won the Capital Scholastic Hockey League tournament championship, this season with a 3-0 playoff record to validate a 9-1 regular-season mark.
The Generals nipped Hayfield/South County, 3-2, in the championship match when Ethan Boyagian scored the game-winning goal on the power play in the third period, his second goal of the match. Kyle Wilson netted the team’s other goal.
Wilson, Harry Burmeister, Sean Lukas and Alexander Bogachev had assists. Laura South made 11 saves in goal to earn the win.
The Generals led 2-0 at the end of the first period, then the match was tied at 2 entering their third.
“With so many seniors, we have a deep bench. That allows us to play multiple lines that some other teams aren’t able to do,” W-L coach Rob Stewart said. “That helped us over the season stay fresh, wear down opponents, dominate the third period and pull away in some games.”
Washington-Liberty won its other two playoff matches over West Springfield, 7-3, in the first round, then Forest Park/Hylton, 8-5, in the semifinals.
Burmeister, Wilson and Matthew Clark scored two goals each against West Springfield, with Simon Jackson having one. Burmeister and Wilson each had two assists. Boyagian, Lukas and Andrew Spitzer had assists. Spitzer made seven saves in goal in a backup role to earn the win.
“Andrew stepped in and played well in goal in an emergency situation and that was huge,” Stewart said.
Oliver Black tallied four goals and Clark, Jackson, Will Jamieson and Malcolm Russell-Hunter one each in the semifinal victory. Wilson, Clark and Boyagian each had two assists. Jackson, Burmeister and Will Clarke had one each. South made seven saves in net.
The Generals finished 12-2 overall, losing to the Yorktown Patriots, 7-4, in an annual end-of-season all-Arlington non-league and non-playoff clash to snap an eight-game winning streak.
“It was another very good season,” Stewart said. “We overcame some injury issues early on and got everything going and we played consistently.”
NOTE: Washington-Liberty’s overall playoff record the last four seasons is 11-1 with the three championships. Its lone loss came in the 2020 tournament semifinals.