With productive scoring and some strong shutdown defense, the Yorktown High School varsity ice-hockey club team is enjoying a 5-1 start this season.
The winning record is no surprise — Yorktown has become one of the top teams in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League in recent seasons and has an experienced lineup this fall, including eight seniors.
Yorktown has qualified for the league’s playoffs each of the last few seasons.
Through six matches of the 2025-26 campaign, Yorktown has recorded two shutouts and has held two other opponents to only two and three goals. The team has scored 44 times.
“We have been playing well as a team so far. We have a lot of players who developed when they were younger players on the team in past seasons that are stepping up now,” Yorktown senior captain and defenseman John Chistolini told ARLnow. “We are looking to get more wins, get better as we go along and keep playing with high intensity.”
Defense was at the forefront in Yorktown’s most recent win, a 4-2 victory over a good Stone Bridge squad. The match was tied at 2 after two periods, then Yorktown scored twice in the final period, while shutting out Stone Bridge in that final stanza.
“Our goaltending and defensive back long have been strong,” Chistolini said.
Senior forward and captain Bennett Haas scored two of Yorktown’s goals in the victory, with Logan McGraw and Alexander Czelusniak netting the others. Assists were recorded by Peyton Dunn with two and McGraw, Chistolini, Simon Groves and Andrew Olsen with one each. Senior Peyton Tien is the other captain.
“We have been moving the puck well this season. We have a lot of depth and good team chemistry in games, and our defense has been solid,” Haas said. “We work hard to improve on things and get better in every practice.”
Yorktown’s shutouts were over Riverside, 10-0, and Tuscarora/Loudoun, 8-0 in consecutive contests. The other wins were over Potomac Falls, 10-6, in the season opener at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and against Loudoun Valley/Woodgrove, 10-3.
Yorktown’s lone loss was against host Broad Run (5-1 record) in Ashburn, when the visiting team was missing some key front-line players during a road match played during the holiday break. The setback snapped Yorktown’s five-match winning streak.
In the opener against Potomac Falls, goalie Gunnar Obitts made 18 saves to earn the win to get Yorktown started on the right foot. Yorktown took control by scoring eight second-period goals.
In the win over Loudoun Valley/Woodgrove, Yorktown took charge by scoring eight third-period goals. Obitts earned that victory and has all five wins in goal.
“Our goal is to finish the season strong and make it as far as we can once the playoffs start,” Haas said.
Through six matches, McGraw leads Yorktown with 10 goals and has added four assists. Alexander Olsen has six goals and three assists, Tien has five goals and four assists, Haas has four goals and two assists, Chistolini has four goals, Czelusniak and Simon Groves each have three goals, Benson Kluger and William Dunn have scored two each and Andrew Olsen has a goal and five assists. Peyton Dunn has a team-high six assists.
Josh Hardie, Carter Dunn, Cullen Johnson and Harrison Walker also have scored a goal each.
Yorktown next plays a home match against a strong Independence team (4-0) from Loudoun County on Friday, Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Independence eliminated Yorktown from last season’s league playoffs; the teams both are in the league’s Smythe Division.
Yorktown finished with a 7-5 record last winter, losing its final game to its Arlington rival Washington-Liberty Generals in the annual season-ending match dubbed the “Battle of Arlington.”
The teams participate in different leagues, so the contest is annually held at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex following regular-season and playoff action. The Generals won last season’s Battle of Arlington by a 3-0 score.
Washington-Liberty plays in the Capital Scholastic Hockey League, a championship the Generals won last season after finishing with a 12-2-1 record.
