Led by head coach Bo Amato, center, the Langley boys’ soccer team won the first state championship in program history on June 13, beating Madison 2-0 in the 6A state final at Robinson Secondary School. Photo by Louise Krafft.
Following Saturday’s 6A state championship match, Langley boys’ soccer coach Bo Amato referenced the saying “players win and coaches lose.”
If the saying is true, then a conversation Amato had with the Saxons prior to the state tournament could be considered a coach asking his players for a favor.
“I hate to break it to you boys, but I looked at my record after regionals,” Amato said to a Langley team on the verge of history. “I’m 98-27-12 [at Langley] and I want to win my 100th with you, not some rinky-dink game next year that means nothing.”
When it came time to step on the field for the state tournament at Robinson Secondary School, Langley not only rewarded Amato with a career milestone, the Saxons left their mark on school history.
After defeating James River 3-0 in Friday’s 6A state semifinals, Langley beat Madison 2-0 in the state final on Saturday, June 13, giving the Saxons their first state championship and Amato his 100th win in eight years with the program.
FACING THE WARHAWKS for a fourth time this season, the Saxons took a 1-0 lead when sophomore striker Jacob Labovitz netted a goal in the 34th minute. Junior Cameron Basco added an insurance goal from roughly 45 yards out in the 77th minute, giving Langley its fourth win of the year over Madison.
Labovitz, a club soccer player who made an effort to play for his high school, finished the season with 26 goals.
“Langley’s never won a state championship and I wanted to help them get it,” he said. “I wanted the school to have it, [and for people to] always be able to look at the front of the building [and] look at the state championship.”
After the match, when players were receiving their individual awards, Amato playfully pretended to bow toward Labovitz.
“I don’t like singling people out because it’s a team sport,” Amato said, “but before the season even started ... he told [his club team] he wanted to play [for Langley High School]. ... He wanted to win and I’ve never in my life at this school had an underclassman so aggressively contact me about wanting to win.”
Labovitz praised Amato, who has also won a private school state title with St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes and a club championship with Annandale United FC.
“He’s a great guy,” Labovitz said. “He keeps me going. He’s always positive with me, never gets down on me [and] makes me a better player.”
Langley senior midfielder and captain Daniel Levetown shared Labovitz’ admiration for Amato.
“He’s a great coach and he’s really pushed me to become the player I am today,” Levetown said. “Without him, we wouldn’t have been here. There’s no way.”
SATURDAY’S WIN bumped Langley’s final record to 20-1-1. The Saxons beat Fairfax 1-0 on May 21 to win the Conference 6 championship, and defeated Madison 2-1 on June 5 to capture the program’s first 6A North region title.
Langley beat Madison 2-0 during the regular season on April 21 and 2-1 in the conference tournament semifinals on May 19. In the region final, the Warhawks jumped out to a 10 lead before the Saxons came back to win something Amato said aided Langley in pulling off the seemingly tough task of beating a team for a fourth time.
“It’s good that we went down a goal in the regional final,” Amato said. “In the first half, we were so poor. They didn’t react to anything I said, so at halftime we had a little talk. If we had rolled them over in the regionals, they would have beat us tonight.”
Langley senior goalkeeper and captain Cole Stinger finished with seven saves in Saturday’s state final.
“High school soccer is so much fun,” said Stinger, who will play for the University of Delaware. “You get to play with your friends, represent your school, have all the fans that we had come out. It’s awesome.”