The Upper Montgomery Lightning completed a run for the ages by defeating top seed and undefeated Richard Montgomery 2-1 to win the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game Thursday afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. The win completes a stunning turnaround from last season when the Lightning finished dead last in the conference standings, a season in which they were not very competitive. This year, after a slow start to the season, the Upper Montgomery Lightning won their final six games and will forever be CHAMPIONS!
Upper Montgomery was a substantial underdog coming into the championship game against Richard Montgomery even while finishing in second place in the regular season conference standings. The Rockets had blown through the regular season and their first two playoff games to arrive at the championship final with a 10-0 record and having outscored their opponents 53-12. In conversations leading up to the game, it was felt around the league that the final would be a coronation of the experienced and talented Rockets team. Upper Montgomery’s appearance in the final was a nice story but the team had no real chance to prevail. The confident Lightning squad thought otherwise. They were out to prove they belonged and were a worthy adversary.
At the opening faceoff, Richard Montgomery started five student athletes who were all juniors or seniors and saw regular playing time on the Rockets varsity squad. However, it was clear from the beginning of the game that the Lightning would not be intimidated or pushed around. The Lightning competed all over the ice and did not allow Richard Montgomery to generate speed through the neutral zone or many good scoring opportunities. The Lightning forwards backchecked hard and did not allow any outnumbered rushes up ice. With 3:46 seconds left in the first period, the Lightning went on the first powerplay of the game. Rockets forward Jacob Swivel was called for roughing on a check without an attempt to play the puck. As was the case for most of the season, the Lightning generated very little on the abbreviated powerplay which was cut short after only a minute when Lightning center Josh Nadler was called for slashing.
A rather uneventful first period ended with no score and low shots on goal totals for both teams. Richard Montgomery had five shots on goal and Upper Montgomery had four shots on goal in the period. The flow and feel of the game was that the first goal would be critical to deciding the eventual champion. As the game went along in the second period, it appeared that Upper Montgomery continued to gain confidence with the score still tied 0-0. The Lightning were skating strong and playing fast. They exited the defensive zone well and continued to get pucks in behind the Rockets defense. Bradley Cupples found himself in alone chasing down a puck rolling toward the net, but he was only able to get a whack at the puck sending it on net. He was unable to lift the puck high enough to get it over the glove hand of Rockets netminder Ian Hutchinson. Richard Montgomery continued to be thwarted entering the Lightning defensive zone and they were not generating many good offensive scoring chances.
With five minutes remaining in the second period, the Lightning were back on the powerplay after Rockets defender Ellison Mohan was called for hooking. Upper Montgomery had good puck movement and some opportunities with the advantage but were unsuccessful in getting one past Hutchinson. After the powerplay ended, the coaching staff made a subtle line change with Cupples centering Joshua Miller and Adam Levine. Levine who had been out on the recent powerplay for the first minute, was substituted in at right wing. Off of an offensive zone faceoff, Cupples won the draw from the left faceoff circle back to the right point. Lightning defender Geroge Benedick controlled the puck at the blue line and skated left toward the center of the ice as Levine fell back and covered at the right point. With the Rockets blocking up the center of the ice, Benedick dropped the puck down to Cupples in the left corner and retreated back to his right defense position. Levine who had been covering for Benedick at the right point, broke down the center of the slot and received a nice pass from Cupples while in stride. Levine shot low, stick side, back across from where Hutchinson had just moved coming across the goal crease to face up to the impending shot. Levine’s shot slid just inside the left post giving Upper Montgomery the lead late in the second period with 2:38 remaining. It was the monumental moment in the game as the Lightning had grabbed the lead against the heavy favorites.
A holding penalty late in the second period to Lightning defender Andrew Gean provided some tense moments for Upper Montgomery. Once again, the Lightning penalty kill was up to the task and did the job. The second period ended with Upper Montgomery on top 1-0. Shots on goal in the second period were Richard Montgomery again with five while Upper Montgomery had nine. The shots on goal totals through two periods were Richard Montgomery ten and Upper Montgomery 13.
The Upper Montgomery faithful were noticeably tense as the team tried to protect the one goal lead. The Richard Montgomery faithful were also noticeably tense as they never expected to be trailing heading into the third period. The Rockets’ tenseness was palpable on the ice as Richard Montgomery student athletes began trying to do too much and Upper Montgomery was able to create turnovers and easy clearing attempts. Although Richard Montgomery began directing more pucks on net, the shots were from far out near the blue line or very wide bad angle shots outside the faceoff circles. Landon Bernard did not have any difficulty making the saves.
With just over five minutes left in the game, the Lightning would score a very important insurance goal. Stephen Shkeda kept the puck in the offensive zone at the left point after a Rockets’ clearing attempt was not fired hard enough around the boards from the far right corner. He fired a rising wrist shot toward the net. It appeared to be a harmless shot that Hutchinson was following all the way in. As the puck went past him in the left faceoff circle, Joshua Miller stuck his stick out waist high and deflected the puck causing it to begin flipping end over end. The trajectory of the shot changed enough that the puck floated up over the catching glove of Hutchinson and into the top right corner of the net. Now up 2-0, the goal gave Upper Montgomery added energy and a small amount of breathing room. It also created a very nerve wracking five plus minutes of high drama.
Richard Montgomery immediately turned up the offensive zone pressure after falling behind by two goals knowing that their season was slipping away. The Rockets’ renewed tenacity was rewarded when a turnover in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone helped cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:22 left in the game. Off the turnover, Tyler Senko found the puck loose in a pig pile in front of the crease and fired it past Landon Bernard (19 saves, .950 save percentage) setting up a wild finish to the championship.
The final three minutes of the game were intense with Richard Montgomery pressing to score the tying goal. Upper Montgomery forwards and defenders were sliding all over the ice giving everything they had to get pucks across the blue line and out of the defensive zone. Once at the red line with possession, pucks were dumped deep into the Rockets end of the ice, a strategy that worked successfully for the next two and a half minutes of game action. With 47 seconds left in regulation, Richard Montgomery pulled Hutchinson for an extra skater. Upper Montgomery continued to defend with pressure on the puck and prevented the Rockets from getting clean looks at the net. Many Rockets shots were blocked in front, and others went wide of the net. One last clearing effort into the neutral zone as the clock reached zero coincided with the Lightning streaming off the bench in celebration. Sticks and gloves were thrown into the air and strewn across the ice as the team swarmed around Bernard celebrating the first championship in Upper Montgomery history.
Game Notes:
- Shots on goal in the championship game were relatively even, Richard Montgomery with 20 and Upper Montgomery had 18.
- The Lightning gave up only eight goals over their final six games of the season.
- Landon Bernard led all Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) junior varsity goalies with eight wins.
- Landon Bernard finished the season with an .880 save percentage and a 2.69 goals against average.
- Brandon Bernard led all Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) junior varsity skaters with nine assists. His 15 points led the team.
- Joshua Miller scored his team leading eighth goal of the season in the third period, a key insurance goal that eventually became the game winner.
- Greg Felder finished the season as the team’s penalty minutes leader with 32 penalty minutes in only six games played.
- Adam Levine scored goals in back-to-back games, his first two goals of the season. Both goals were the first goal scored by the Lightning in the semi-final game and also in the championship game.
- The Lightning penalty kill was again perfect in two opportunities against the Rockets and finished the season 43-48, 89.6%.
- The Lightning junior varsity finished the season winning six games in a row and were undefeated in their last seven games, 6-0-1.
- The Lightning finished the season with a record of 8-4-2. A significant turnaround from last season’s 1-6-1 record.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Championship Win, 1 GAA, .950 Save %
Third Star—Bradley Cupples—Upper Montgomery Center—1 Assist