Herndon-South Lakes rallies past O'Connell for spring hockey title

By Matt Reider, staff writer

High school hockey in Northern Virginia runs year-round. While teams compete in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League from September through early March, the shorter spring season features more local competition.

The Herndon-South Lakes varsity team (HSL) competes in the 11-team RRHS Spring High School League, sponsored by the Reston Raiders Hockey Club and hosted at SkateQuest in Reston.

The spring season concluded June 10 when Herndon-South Lakes faced O'Connell in the 2026 championship game. HSL earned home-ice advantage by defeating Oakton in the semifinals, while O’Connell advanced with a win over Yorktown.

HSL entered the title game with a 10-1 record. O’Connell brought an 8-1-2 mark, with its only loss coming earlier in the season against HSL.

Junior Noah White led HSL with 25 points in 12 games. Campbell Wilkins topped the team with 13 goals. O’Connell’s leading scorer, Dylan Whiteman, entered the game with 17 points, including 10 goals, tied with teammate Lukas Malagrin for the team lead.

Fans welcomed both teams with drums and cowbells as players took the ice.

O’Connell seized control early and built a 2-0 lead in the first period. Defenseman Ray Baumann opened the scoring at the 11:23 mark when he fired a shot from just inside the blue line through traffic and into the top corner of the net. About five minutes later, Samuel Crean sent Whiteman behind the defense with a precise pass, and Whiteman finished the breakaway to double the lead.

HSL answered in the second period.

After officials assessed Edward Cope a roughing penalty midway through the period, HSL generated offense while shorthanded. Defenseman Stephen Reider collected the puck and fired a long pass to Johnny Petzold at center ice. Petzold carried the puck into the offensive zone before finding Wilkins streaking into the slot. Wilkins buried the pass behind O’Connell goaltender Akshay Vani to cut the deficit to 2-1.

About 90 seconds later, Wilkins struck again. Cal Crosson threaded a pass behind the O’Connell defense, and Wilkins converted the breakaway opportunity to tie the game 2-2 heading into the second intermission.

Both teams traded chances early in the third period as the physical play intensified.

With less than six minutes remaining, Petzold gave HSL its first lead of the night. Using traffic in front of the net as a screen, he stepped into the slot and snapped a shot past Vani. Wilkins collected the assist on the eventual game-winning goal.

O’Connell coach Jim Wisniewski called a timeout with 1:41 remaining and pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker. HSL repeatedly won faceoffs and cleared the puck before Clark Crosson finally found the empty net from just inside center ice with one minute remaining, extending the lead to 4-2.

O’Connell continued to press with six skaters and narrowed the gap when Baumann scored his second goal of the game with five seconds left. The late goal cut the deficit to 4-3, but the visitors ran out of time.

When the final horn sounded, HSL secured the RRHS spring championship with a 4-3 victory.

Players celebrated with family and friends before both teams gathered at center ice for the traditional postgame handshake line. The championship carried added significance for several upperclassmen who will head to different schools this fall. After winning two spring championships and enduring several playoff disappointments over the past few years, they finished their Herndon-South Lakes careers with another title.