The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity prevailed over the Northwest Jaguars 3-1 Sunday evening at Skate Frederick in a game that was tarnished by horrendous officiating. Both coaching staffs were beyond frustrated with the officiating as many phantom penalties were called on both teams and 15 total powerplays were handed out in the non-physical junior varsity game. Upper Montgomery’s student athletes should be commended for keeping on task and getting the necessary two points out of the game. The Lightning benefitted from Northwest’s most talented student athlete, and the Montgomery Hockey Conference’s junior varsity goal scoring leader, Brady Graham missing the game. A win versus last place Churchill in the regular season finale will clinch the second seed in the upcoming junior varsity playoffs. Upper Montgomery would finish the regular season tied for second place in the conference standings but would hold the tiebreaker by virtue of its recent victory over Rockville/Blair.
The Lightning got off to a quick start in the game. Just 30 seconds in Greg Felder scored his second goal of the season off of a wrap around from behind the net on a broken play. Adarsh Nair pushed the puck from the right wing deep into the offensive zone where the puck was collected by Brandon Bernard. Bernard carried the puck behind the net where he lost control. Felder collected the loose puck at the side of the net and swung it toward the goal where the puck snuck past Jaguars netminder Joseph Dean giving Upper Montgomery the early 1-0 lead. Seven seconds later the penalty parade began. Off the ensuing faceoff, Micah Chin was called for tripping. Before the penalty expired, Lightning defender Stephen Shkeda was called for hooking.
A short break in the penalty parade allowed the Lightning to take what would be a commanding 2-0 lead. Brandon Bernard staked into the offensive the zone and circled around the net. Adam Levine was in front of the goal occupying the Jaguars defense and his positioning blocked the Jaguars defense from coming out to guard Lucas Eyman. Eyman received a centering pass from Bernard and fired a low wrist shot by Dean stick side for his second goal in as many games. Then, it was back to more penalties. Coincidental roughing minors to Schiab Younis and Lightning forward TJ Gottesman followed soon thereafter by an interference penalty to Jaguars defender Drew Blurton where he literally did not touch an Upper Montgomery player. On that powerplay the Lightning were called for too many skaters on the ice when they did not have too many skaters on the ice.
While on the too many skaters penalty kill, Andrew Gean was called for tripping on a beautiful defensive play that was no penalty at all. Through the shorthanded play, the Lightning kept the Jaguars off the scoreboard and exited the first period with the score still 2-0. Shots on goal in the first period were Jaguars nine and Upper Montgomery two, with both Lightning shots on goal finding the back of the net.
A scoreless second period saw Upper Montgomery squander a five on three skater advantage for nearly a minute and a half after a cross checking penalty to Tommy Petzold and a tripping penalty to Trevor Bartolomeo. Toward the end of the period, Lightning center Josh Nadler was called for hooking. While killing the penalty, Cole Howerton was questionably checked from behind by Jaguars forward Schiab Younis. The Lightning powerplay was cut short when TJ Gottesman took his second roughing penalty of the game. With all of the powerplay time, it was another period with low shot totals. Northwest had seven shots on goal while Upper Montgomery managed five shots on goal.
The Lightning began the third period on the penalty kill and it quickly became a five on three advantage for the Jaguars as Cole Howerton was whistled for roughing. Superior penalty killing by Brandon Bernard, Adam Levine, Andrew Gean, Josh Nadler, Josh Miller, Stephen Shkeda, and Henry Honacki did an excellent job all game long controlling play when the Jaguars had the powerplay allowing Northwest to generate very few offensive opportunities. As soon as the five on three advantage ended, Greg Felder took an unnecessary and bad boarding penalty in the offensive zone. While shorthanded, Josh Nadler took his second hooking penalty of the game while backchecking through the neutral zone. His penalty turned into Northwest’s third five on three advantage of the game. Upper Montgomery was able to kill off the five on three portion of the penalty, but the Jaguars finally broke through off of a faceoff play. Jaguars center Nikhil Mudunuri won a faceoff from the left faceoff circle into the slot area and directly to Northwest forward Ben Linteris. Linteris’ wrist shot beat Landon Bernard high to the glove side and brought the Jaguars within one with seven minutes left to play.
The Lightning had an opportunity to put the game away on the powerplay with five minutes left in regulation. Parsa Faroghi was called for tripping but Upper Montgomery did not muster any good chances on net. With thirty seconds remaining on the powerplay, Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for hooking. Off the defensive zone faceoff, Brandon Bernard took the puck from deep in the Lightning defensive zone and skated up the left wing. He entered the offensive zone and stickhandled wide. As he reached the top of the left faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot short side past the blocker of Dean giving Upper Montgomery a 3-1 lead. The Lightning could not relax just yet as seconds after Bernards’s four on four goal the penalty kill was needed to once again thwart the Jaguars. The penalty kill did the job. A roughing penalty to Northwest forward Ben Weiner with a minute and a half left in the game prevented the Jaguars from mounting a comeback as the Lightning played keep away with the puck while on the powerplay to end the game.
Game Notes:
- Northwest outshot the Lightning by a wide 28-14 margin helped by the many Jaguars’ powerplay opportunities.
- The Lightning have won back to back games and are undefeated in their past three contests, 2-0-1.
- The Lightning killed off eight of the nine Jaguars powerplays including three separate five on three opportunities.
- Landon Bernard stopped 27 of 28 shots on goal for the win and a .964 save percentage.
- The Lightning powerplay was dreadful once again, going 0-6 in the game including a lengthy five on three advantage.
- The Lightning will look to continue their recent hot play on Tuesday afternoon, February 1st when they return to State Frederick to take on the last place Churchill Bulldogs in the final regular season game of the year.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Center—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Second Star—Andrew Gean—Upper Montgomery Defense
Third Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 1 GAA, 27 Saves, .964 save %