The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity advanced to the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game with a dominating 6-2 win over Rockville/Blair on Wednesday. The Lightning will play undefeated and highly favored Richard Montgomery tomorrow afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. Game time is early at 4:15 pm.
After falling behind early on a fluky goal, the Lightning roared back with a complete team effort. Six different student athletes scored goals and only three student athletes had more than one point; Joshua Miller with one goal and two assists, Adam Levine with one goal and one assist, and Patrick Sell setting an Upper Montgomery junior varsity program record with four assists.
The game started ominously for the Lightning as just one minute and thirty seconds into the game the Rams went out in front 1-0. It was not a very good goal to give up. Rams’ defender Connor Combs innocently dumped the puck down ice from his own blue line. The puck went harmlessly on net and Lightning goalie Landon Bernard nudged the puck ahead three feet in front of the cage. Rams’ forward Ari Gardner outraced everyone on the ice from the Lightning blue line and knocked the puck past Bernard before he could re-set in the net. That sequence would be the only two shots on goal for Rockville/Blair in the first period.
Five minutes later the Lightning would start to take over and dominate the game. Controlling the puck in the neutral zone, Josh Nadler entered the offensive zone on the right wing. His snapshot toward the goal went wild and high over the net. Patrick Sell raced forward on the opposite side of the ice in an attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone at the left point. He was able to bat the puck out of mid-air and down the left wing boards. Adam Levine gathered the puck, turned, and skated toward the bottom of the left faceoff circle. He directed a wrist shot on net from the sharp angle. His shot deflected off a Rams’ defender’s stick, down and past Rams’ goalie Sean Connelly for his first goal of the season.
Three minutes later James Hyman put Upper Montgomery in front 2-1 when he tapped in a rebound that snuck behind Connelly. Sell pushed the puck down the right wing boards to Joshua Miller. Miller fired a wrist shot from a bad angle on net. Connelly made the save, but the puck snuck behind his pads. Hyman beat the Rams defense to the puck and pushed it over the line with four minutes remaining in the period for his third goal of the season, all coming from the crease area.
With just under two minutes before the end of the period Brandon Bernard upped the Lightning’s lead. Both Levine and Bernard came back hard on the backcheck. The Rams turned the puck over just inside the Lightning defensive zone blue line. Levine nudged the puck forward to Bernard who had already circled around to race up ice. Bernard carried the puck down the center of the ice through the neutral zone and into the Lightning offensive end. At the top of the faceoff circles, directly in front of Connelly, he fired a wicked wrist shot high between both Rams defenders, and then by the blocker side of Connelly into the net. For Bernard it was his sixth goal and team leading 15th point on the season. With the majority of play in the offensive zone, at the end of the first period the Lightning had a 3-1 advantage and were outshooting Rockville/Blair 10-2.
Upper Montgomery extended the lead to 4-1 early in the second period. From just inside his defensive blue line, and while the Rams were in a line change, Sell banked the puck off the boards on a nice indirect pass. In stride, Miller collected the puck in the neutral zone and raced wide into the offensive zone on the right wing. He went around the Rams defense on a semi-breakaway and cut in toward the net. Connelly made the initial save on Miller’s forehand shot but was helpless when Bradley Cupples knocked in the rebound into the wide open left side of the net. The Lightning had a 4-1 lead and there was no real pressure being applied by the Rams.
Lightning defender Ethan Hockey was called for interference and Upper Montgomery had no difficulty killing off the minor penalty. Later in the second period, Lightning defender Andrew Gean was called for cross checking behind the net. Once again, the Lightning killed the penalty with ease. For the majority of the second period, the Lightning played responsible defensive hockey. Landon Bernard did not face many high quality scoring chances throughout the entire game.
With a three goal lead to start the third period, the coaching staff’s message to the team was to play disciplined hockey and to make the correct plays. Pucks out of the zone, pucks in deep behind the Rams net, and absolutely to avoid any extracurricular play after the whistle. Even with that message, Rockville/Blair scored just 45 seconds into the third period on a broken play. Off of a faceoff win from the left circle of the offensive zone, Rams center Brendyn Illif won the draw back to defender Aiden Ward. Ward wound up for a slapshot that was blocked by Ethan Hockey. A second attempt by Ward was also expertly blocked by Hockey. Unfortunately for the Lightning, both blocked shots went directly back to Ward. Ward’s third attempt went past the Lightning defense and also past a screened Landon Bernard to provide the Rams with momentum.
However, on the very next shift, momentum changed once again. Rams’ defender JJ St. Aubin was called for boarding Brandon Bernard. The Rams were forced to kill the penalty and all two minutes were played in their defensive zone. Momentum gone. While Upper Montgomery did not score on the powerplay advantage, the Lightning were able to change the momentum of the game after the Rams early third period goal. Ten seconds after the powerplay ended, the Lightning caught a break. Sell fired a wrist shot from the mid-point toward the net. TJ Gottesman was skating through the slot and bent over in an attempt to get out of the way of the puck. He could not and the puck hit him in the lower back. Somehow, the puck tricked over Gottesman’s right shoulder rolled forward and into the net just inside the right post. Gottesman’s first career high school goal again provided Upper Montgomery some breathing room with nine minutes left in the game.
With five minutes left in the contest, a late goal by Miller provided the finishing touch in a game that showcased how well the junior varsity has progressed since the beginning of the season. Miller took a pass from Ethan Hockey and fired a wrist shot past Connelly for the final tally. Tomorrow, the biggest challenge awaits the team in the junior varsity championship game. Upper Montgomery will need to find a way to conquer the Richard Montgomery Rockets who have outscored their opponents 53-12 on the season. The Rockets are undefeated with their 10-0 record, including a 5-2 victory over Upper Montgomery in early November. They have blown through the conference regular season and handled two very good teams in the playoffs. To win tomorrow, the Lightning will have play close to a perfect game and capitalize on the chances they are able to generate.
Game Notes:
- The Lightning held Rockville/Blair to only 14 shots on goal for the game, with just two shots on goal in the first period.
- Upper Montgomery scored on six of its 26 shots on goal in the game.
- The Lightning penalty kill was again perfect in two opportunities and is now 41-46 on the season, 89.1%. The penalty kill has been an area where Upper Montgomery has excelled all season.
- The Lightning junior varsity have won five games in a row.
- The Lightning have upped their record to 7-4-2 on the season with all seven wins coming against conference opponents.
- With the victory, the Lightning advance to play highly favored Richard Montgomery in the junior varsity championship game on Thursday, February 18th at 4:15 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Joshua Miller—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Second Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 1 Assist
Third Star—Patrick Sell—Upper Montgomery Defense—4 Assists