With a combined overall record of 9-1, the Yorktown Patriots and Washington-Liberty Generals enjoyed strong starts during the early portion of their 2021-22 high-school club ice hockey seasons.
Yorktown was in first place at 5-0 in the Adams Division of the Northern Virginia School Hockey League to start the new year. The Generals, at 4-1, were second in the North Division of the Capital Scholastic Hockey League when the January portion of their schedule began.
The Arlington rivals don’t meet until after the regular season and playoffs are completed in each league. The match could possibly be in late February or in March.
Washington-Liberty’s victories have been over Forest Park, 4-1, Bishop Ireton, 4-2, West Potomac, 6-2, and West Springfield, 8-2. Its loss was to W.T. Woodson, 5-3, when the Generals were without some key players.
Among the Generals’ leading scorers through five games were Talin Sidhu with three goals and six assists and Harry Burmeister and Matthew Clark with three goals and four assists each. Oliver Black has three goals and three assists, Sam Lukas has four goals and one assist, Kyle Wilson has two goals and three assists, Chris Hildebrand has three goals and one assist and Thijs Bakker has three assists.
In goal for W-L, Anders Nelson has a 3-0 record and has made 44 saves. Laura South has the other win.
Washington-Liberty has a new head coach this season in longtime assistant Rob Stewart. Matt Seney had been the team’s head coach the past 13 seasons, but stepped down because he is involved with coaching his three children.
“While I’d love to keep coaching the high-school team, especially the team we have this year with such a great senior class, it was just going to be too much,” Seney said. “W-L is in great hands. Rob has been there 12 years, and he is great for the club.”
During Seney’s tenure as head coach, the program grew from a struggling doormat to a league champion and perennial power.
Yorktown’s top scorers through five matches was Jacob Kirshner with seven goals and four assists. Noah Robinson had five goals and as many assists, Dillon Segal had five goals and three assists, Blair Barta had four goals and four assists, Josh Litterst had two goals and three assists, and Colwell Will and Cole Ransom each had three goals and one assist.
Rowan Foose and Jacob Levy have been in goal for Yorktown.
Yorktown’s wins have been over Kettle Run/Liberty, 5-1, McLean, 3-2, Oakton, 6-2, Madison, 8-1, and Gainesville/Patriot, 13-3.
* Seven players from Wakefield High School are members of the Alexandria City/Wakefield ice hockey squad that had a 6-0 record when the new year began and were in first place in the North Division of the Capital Scholastic Hockey League.
Players from Wakefield have been playing with that club team, formerly named T.C. Williams, since 2016. The seven members this season are the most ever.
Alexandria City/Wakefield and Washington-Liberty have a match scheduled Jan. 21 at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, which is the home ice for the Generals.
Alexandria City/Wakefield ended the 2021 portion of its schedule with a 7-5 victory over the combined Lake Braddock/Fairfax team.
* Bishop O’Connell High School has two club teams playing in the Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League. Each had a victory each, one in the A Division and the other in the AA Division, entering the new year.
All three leagues continuing with regular-season games through January, with the playoffs beginning in February.