The week after finally getting the “Broad Run monkey” off of its collective back, Chantilly’s hockey team laid a rather large egg. A big and bright, six-goal egg that still has players and coaches grumbling about it.
Chantilly had never beaten Broad Run but did so with a 4-1 win on Dec. 5. Seven days later, playing for the first time away from their home rink -- Ashburn Ice House -- the Chargers suffered a 10-4 defeat to Forest Park.
In that game, Forest Park scored three early goals and quickly quashed any momentum the Chargers had gained the week before.
“It just depleted us,” senior forward Cameron Lensing said of the Forest Park loss. “It was a turning point in the season, and it showed us that we weren’t immortal.”
“We went down there and had a bad mentality,” head coach Nate Van Nuys added. “We ended up just getting absolutely smoked by them.”
Playing in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League, a club hockey organization that does not subject players to mid-week practices, can often handicap coaches. Most want to instill some sort of discipline but lack the time or place to do it.
Van Nuys, who also serves as the head coach for Chantilly’s junior varsity football team, knows all about the differences that intense, daily practices can provide.
He doesn’t want his team to be too high-strung, causing players to worry about making the smallest of mistakes, but right now the team’s mentality is just a little too relaxed for the coach’s liking.
“Every team has its own style, but I feel like if we’re going to take down a team like Stone Bridge we’re really going to have to change our mentality,” Van Nuys said. “It’s nothing you can switch on. It’s a club sport. It’s very hard to have consequences, but you’d like to be able to instill some kind of mentality through discipline.”
<b>CHANTILLY BUOYED</b> itself with wins the next two weeks over Osbourn Park and Briar Woods, outscoring the two teams by a combined 13 goals. But Stone Bridge was next and Chantilly struggled, losing 11-2 on Jan. 2.
An 8-5 win over Mountain View the following week had the Chargers at SkateQuest of Reston last Friday night with a 5-2 record, ready to take on the W.T. Woodson Cavaliers. Though the Chargers held only a 2-0 lead after the first period, they exploded for eight goals in the next 20 minutes.
The Chargers’ depth became too much for W.T. Woodson, who was playing without five regular players. The Chargers were able to roll three quality lines, while senior forward Pete Wydler and freshman forward Chris Howland both recorded hat tricks.
“We’ve definitely got a lot of depth,” Van Nuys said. “This is probably the most talented we’ve been in years. We’ve always had good talent, but this year I think we’ve really topped out.”
Van Nuys praised the job that Howland has done. Though he’s only a freshman, Howland has shown exceptional puck control and balance. In the second period last Friday, Howland scored a goal while falling off to his right, tucking the puck over W.T. Woodson goalie Parker Miranda’s catching glove.
In addition to his hat trick, Wydler notched five points, giving him the team lead (16) while playing on a line with his brother Paul Wydler (15 points) -- also a senior -- and classmate Cameron Lensing (15 points).
Lensing leads the team in goals (11), but he fittingly deflected all credit, saying instead that he’s just going to the front of the net, tipping and re-directing them into the cage.
“I have two great wingers,” said Lensing, whose 6-2 team will play Loudoun County/Freedom on Jan. 30. “I’m just crashing the net. They’re picking up the pucks and putting them on the net.”
Chantilly reached the NVSHL quarterfinals last season, suffering an 8-2 loss to Stone Bridge. If the Chargers hope to top the Bulldogs this winter, a change of mentality will surely be needed.
“It’s going to be rough parting with all these seniors,” Van Nuys said. “I’d like to go out on top with these guys … to hit the championship game if possible. But after the performances against Stone Bridge and Forest Park, we’re going to have to make some adjustments to do that.”