Author: chucklevine

The Upper Montgomery Lightning defeated BCC 4-3 on Friday night securing their first ever victory over the Barons. In the prior sixteen seasons that the Upper Montgomery program has existed, the Lightning had only earned a tie against BCC two seasons ago on Halloween. All of the other contests between the two programs had gone in favor of BCC. Now, it is just the Churchill Bulldogs that the Lightning have never beaten, coincidently also earning a tie two seasons ago. This year’s season opener was an extremely exciting game for the Lightning to have made history with the graduation of nine seniors and with two top juniors departing the program this season. The young mighty Lightning were the team to get the first ever win over the Barons.

In nearly every game this season Upper Montgomery is likely to dress a lineup that is short on varsity experience. In the season opener, the Lightning dressed the following student athletes who had never before skated for the Upper Montgomery varsity team; junior varsity all-time leading scorer, senior TJ Gottesman, ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin, ninth grade defender Luke Hudson who wound up playing forward against the Barons, sophomore defender Avery Evans, and ninth grade defenders Lillian Robbins and Matt Rivera. Each new student held their own when called upon allowing the entire team to receive adequate rest throughout the contest.

BCC controlled the majority of play during the opening period although most of their shots on goal were from the exterior or from long range. Halfway through the period, Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel was called for a two minute minor penalty for interference. With a bit of scrambling and some Barons shots fired wide of the net from in close, Upper Montgomery survived the extra skater advantage keeping the game tied. Five minutes later, the Lightning’s most experienced defender, junior Brady Berkhammer was headed to the penalty box for a slashing penalty. It was during this second powerplay of the period, that BCC converted to take an early 1-0 lead.

Upper Montgomery cleared the puck down ice. It was stopped by BCC netminder Vivienne Boyle at the left side of her net. She left the puck for the Baron’s most talented skater, defender Grady Jiggens, to carry the puck up the left wing boards. As he approached the defensive blue line, Jiggens sent a cross ice, diagonal pass to the right wing of the ice at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. His pass was right on the money for BCC forward Evan Williams. Williams skated into the offensive zone and he fired a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Upper Montgomery’s sophomore goalie, Ilan Shterenberg made the save on Williams’ initial shot. Williams kept skating toward the net and he outhustled the Lightning defense to the puck just outside the crease near the right post. The puck had bounced over some sticks and clanked off of a skate, but Williams stayed with the play and he shot the rebound past Shterenberg’s left leg pad into the back of the net for the powerplay goal.

Rather than sulk in having fallen behind, Upper Montgomery answered back quickly, on the very next shift. Berkhammer had the puck at his own blue line along the right wing boards. He sent an outlet pass to sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng received the pass on the left side of the ice at the center red line of the neutral zone. Zheng entered the offensive zone down the left side of the ice shielding the puck from the BCC defense with his body position. He pulled up at the top of the left faceoff circle and found junior center Owen Robbins coming into the offensive zone down the middle of the high slot. Robbins collected Zheng’s pass and riffled a rocket of a wrist shot to the left side of the net that went high past Boyle’s blocker and screaming into the net. The first period ended knotted at one with BCC having the advantage in shots on goal with thirteen while Upper Montgomery countered with seven.

Upper Montgomery looked much more comfortable in the second period as the team got into the flow of the game and relaxed. Realizing that they could compete with BCC contributed to the Lightning becoming more confident and offensive minded as the game progressed. Ten seconds into the middle period, Lightning senior center, Henry Honacki crashed into a BCC defender with his back turned. Honacki was called for a minor penalty for roughing. He was lucky that he was not called for a check from behind as that would have brought an additional ten minute misconduct penalty. Upper Montgomery’s penalty killers stood tall and neutralized the Barons’ powerplay as the Barons continually fired wide of net with open looks.

Four minutes into the second period, Upper Montgomery went to their first powerplay of the game when BCC forward Brady Page was called for elbowing. With forty seconds left on Page’s penalty, one of BCC’s top defenders, Benjamin Lyons was called for hooking as Upper Montgomery had possession of the puck in the slot setting up for a prime scoring chance. The two penalties gave Upper Montgomery a 5-3 powerplay and a great opportunity to take the lead. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the BCC defensive zone, Robbins won the draw with his feet to the side boards. With body position, he shielded BCC’s center which allowed Zheng to come over to assist and win the puck along the left wing boards. Zheng sent the puck back to the left point to Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton turned to his right and sent the puck across the blue line to his defensive partner, sophomore Miles Wendland. Wendland stepped in from the right point and sent a rising wrist shot toward the net from the right faceoff circle. With Bhasin standing in front setting a screen, the unseen puck thudded into Boyle’s shoulder and she was late to corral the biscuit. The puck fell behind her and Robbins was there to slam home the rebound from a foot outside the goal line. For the Lightning it was a welcome outcome to score early on the powerplay especially since the team did not score on the powerplay last year until the final regular season game of the season.

Scoring as quickly as they did, Upper Montgomery remained on the extra skater advantage for another one minute and forty five seconds. A minute later BCC was able to clear their defensive zone. Wendland hustled back and outskated an onrushing BCC forward in the left corner of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He quickly advanced the puck along the left wing boards to Zheng inside the Lightning defensive zone. Zheng advanced the puck further up the ice finding Robbins at the red line in center ice. Robbins skated into the Barons defensive zone and cut to the middle of the ice. From up top of the offensive zone near the blue line, surrounded by four BCC skaters, he lined up and fired a shot low along the ice that beat Boyle stick side. Upper Montgomery was ahead by two goals at 3-1 halfway through the game.

On the next shift two very poor clearing attempts by high level experienced students led to the Lightning being hemmed in the defensive zone. Before the BCC offensive sequence was finished, Berkhammer had taken his second slashing minor penalty of the game. On the ensuring powerplay, BCC would score with one second remaining before Berkhammer was set to return to the ice. Off of a rewind in the BCC defensive zone, Jiggens had control of the puck along the right wing boards. He sent a cross ice pass to his defensive partner Jeronimo Castano-Tellez on the left wing at the BCC defensive blue line. Castano-Tellez skated the puck out of the defensive zone, through the neutral zone, and toward the offensive blue line where he dumped the puck around the boards and behind the net. Along the right wing boards BCC forward Leo Alley-Strocher controlled the puck and skated into the right wing corner. He then sent a pass to the crease that came all the way through sticks and legs of BCC forwards and Upper Montgomery defenders.

BCC forward Ramin Jacobs settled down the puck along the left wing boards and dropped the puck deep into the left corner to Alley-Strocher. Alley-Strocher took the puck behind the net from left to right. From the right corner he sent a backhand pass to BCC forward Julia Reitz along the right wing boards. She sent a return pass down to Alley-Strocher in the right corner. Alley-Strocher’s next pass to the mid point looking for Castano-Tellez was deflected by Reitz’s stick which slowed the puck down for Castano-Tellez to step into a one time slap shot. His shot hit traffic in front of the net where the puck bounced off sticks and bodies over to Jacobs. Jacobs sent an unselfish pass across the crease to a wide open Alley-Strocher all alone at the back right goal post. Alley-Strocher had no problem easily tucking the puck home as he was behind Shterenberg.

With four and a half minutes remaining in the second period the Lightning were called for a phantom too many skaters on the ice penalty. Its hard to have a too many skaters on the ice when there are only the five permitted skaters. The referees completely blew the call. Maybe because the team was mad, the penalty killers bared down and used a determined effort to kill off the BCC extra skater advantage. It was Upper Montgomery’s best penalty killing effort of the evening.

Forty five seconds into the penalty kill, Upper Montgomery turned on the offense. A BCC forward lost control of the puck in the slot area. Upper Montgomery’s coaches had Robbins playing back on defense during the penalty kill and he cleared the puck out of the slot to the left wing boards just outside the defensive blue line. Cassel sped after the puck and he outraced the BCC defender who was also chasing after the puck. Cassel gained control of the puck and he skated up ice down the left wing. At the left faceoff circle he curled around and sent a forehand pass from the left side of the ice to the right goal post where Philip Shkeda had followed the play into the offensive zone. Shkeda was alone in front. He possessed the puck and fired from right in front of Boyle. His shot banked off of her left leg pad and went up over her pads and into the net for the shorthanded goal.

Just after Shkeda’s goal, Alley-Strocher was called for a tripping minor to eliminate the rest of the BCC powerplay. With its two goal lead restored late in the second period, Upper Montgomery played the four on four shift in a defensive posture similar to still being on the penalty kill. The Lightning did not want BCC to gain any momentum to take into the third period. Shots on goal in the second period were even with Upper Montgomery placing twelve shots on net including the three that got past Boyle. BCC fired eleven shots on Shterenberg.

Upper Montgomery played chip and chase hockey for the entirety of the third period. Shifts were kept short. Each Lightning student athlete was instructed simply to clear the puck over the defensive blue line to relieve pressure. If the Lightning had possession of the puck in the neutral zone, it was an automatic dump from the red line deep into the BCC defensive zone, making the Barons carry the puck up the full length of the ice going through all five Lightning skaters to create offensive chances. If by chance Upper Montgomery was pinned in their defensive zone, the students were told to ice the puck. In high school hockey, line changes are permitted after an icing call. So, icing the puck allows tired skaters to depart the ice and it settles down the game for a little while. Upper Montgomery played through a couple of chaotic moments in the opening five minutes of the third period and then went on the powerplay.

Back to back penalties called on BCC gave the Lightning a prime opportunity to widen the lead. First, Jiggens was called for tripping and then twenty seconds later Lyons was called for high sticking. BCC was down two skaters for a minute and forty seconds and both of their top defenders were in the penalty box. Unfortunately, Upper Montgomery was not able to finish off a couple of good scoring chances with the puck trickling just wide and then Boyle making a nice save on a shot from point blank range. The powerplay did allow for additional time to come off the clock leaving only the second half of the third period remaining when BCC was finally back at full strength.

The Lightning coaching staff began to shorten the bench to protect some of the younger students from being put in unfavorable matchups and situations on the ice. As time continued to wind down, the BCC pressure ramped up with all five skaters taking offensive chances in an attempt to try and climb back into the game. That pressure paid off with an Upper Montgomery icing with less than three minutes remaining in the game. BCC called timeout and pulled Boyle in favor of an extra skater.

When play resumed, the faceoff was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone in the right faceoff circle. The draw was tied up in the faceoff dot. BCC’s Page poked the puck to the right corner. Williams shuffled the puck lower around the curve toward the back of the net to Alley-Strocher. Alley-Strocher fed the puck out front with his backhand. Coming down the slot from his left point position and wide open was Lyons. He fired a snap shot along the ice to the far side of the goal past Shterenberg’s right leg pad. The Upper Montgomery right wing was in the corner puck chasing and left the slot unguarded permitting Lyons to have a clear route to the slot. It took only eight seconds with the goalie pulled for BCC to close the score to 4-3.

The final two and a half minutes were intense. Lightning skaters gave maximum effort to shield Shterenberg and to preserve the one goal lead. A few long clearing attempts missed the empty net resulting in icing calls. The last icing coming with two seconds remaining in the game. A tie up on the final faceoff draw allowed Upper Montgomery to secure the historic victory. Along with the win came important standings points to open the season on a high note. It felt good for the program to finally break through and defeat an opponent that had owned the Lightning over the past decade and a half.

Game Notes:

• BCC outshot Upper Montgomery 34-27 for the game.
• Upper Montgomery dressed six students who had never before played in a high school varsity hockey game.
• Junior center Owen Robbins scored his first career multi-goal game and finished with his first career hat-trick. He added an assist for a career high four point game.
• Miles Wendland and Aiden Zheng each contributed two assists.
• Both teams were 2-5 on the powerplay. For Upper Montgomery the powerplay success was a welcome change from last season when the Lightning miss-fired on their first 46 extra skater advantages, not scoring on the powerplay until the final game of the regular season against Bullis.
• Upper Montgomery won it season opener for the first time in four seasons. Last year’s squad began the season 1-7. In 2022 – 2023, the Lightning started the year 1-4-1. With Northwest / Quince Orchard appearing on the schedule on Halloween evening, the worst that Upper Montgomery will begin the season this year is 2-1.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action next week in another late night affair when the Lightning hosts the Rockville / Magruder Rams. Game time is at 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Owen Robbins—Upper Montgomery Center—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Miles Wendland—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie–Win, 31 Saves, .912 Save Percentage

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faced off against the Churchill Bulldogs Friday night dressing only seven skaters. The team rotated three defenders and four forwards the entire game. Faced with four students out-of-town with their external travel teams, three students ill with the virus circulating through Damascus High School, two students injured, and one student suspended, some observers may have thought that Upper Montgomery was going to be trounced by the Bulldogs. Not so fast!

Putting forth a heroic effort, Upper Montgomery’s vastly outnumbered roster of senior defenders Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell along with ninth grade defender Matt Rivera stood tall. The four forwards sold out all evening long to get the puck out of the defensive zone and to dump the puck in deep into the Churchill defensive zone. It was an outstanding effort by senior AJ Marks and sophomores Aiden Zheng, Mason Jagoz, and Ilan Shterenberg, the Lightning’s varsity goalie who skated out and played forward to assist the junior varsity.

In the pregame preparation meeting, the Lightnin’g’s coaching staff instructed the team to go out play hard and have fun. There were no expectations on the outcome of the game as it was such an unfair request of these young students to play with hardly any rest in between shifts. If a team forfeits a game, they are prevented from participating in the season ending junior varsity playoffs. Thus, the Lightning were left to summon the fortitude to compete and make it extremely difficult for Churchill. And, compete they did!

The first period was played even although Upper Montgomery finished the period outshooting the Bulldogs seven to four. Upper Montgomery spent the period making sure that they had multiple skaters back on defense to force the Churchill skaters to skate through a couple of defenders on each shift to bring the puck up the ice. The Lightning’s defense held the blue line forcing Churchill to dump the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone and chase after the puck. Upper Montgomery was patient and comfortable simply to pound the puck off the boards out to center ice and let the Bulldogs try and gain the offensive zone again and again, over and over.

With four minutes remaining in the first period, Shterenberg got his stick caught under the skates of a Churchill skater and took a minor tripping penalty. Upper Montgomery remained in a tight box and Churchill fired several shots wide of the net. Other attempts were blocked by the Lightning penalty killers who quickly iced the puck to relieve pressure. Five seconds after the successful Lightning penalty kill, Churchill center Elias Elhallou was called for a minor roughing penalty behind the play. Upper Montgomery showed gumption by forcing Churchill senior goalie Nicholas Nelson to come up with several challenging saves to keep the score tied. Shterenberg had two quality scoring chances from in front while the Lightning were on the powerplay.

Churchill played much better in the second period but could not pull away from the tiring Lightning. Three minutes into the second period, Bulldogs defender Michael Dong was called for a minor hooking penalty. The Lightning struggled a little on their second powerplay opportunity and did not nearly muster as much offensively as they did on the extra skater advantage at the end of the first period.

After Dong’s penalty time expired, Churchill ramped up the offensive pressure once again. Upper Montgomery swatted the puck down ice to relieve the pressure and get repositioned. Churchill forward Oskar Sims retrieved the puck in the left corner of his defensive zone. He fired the puck up ice along the left wing boards. As the puck crossed the Churchill defensive blue line it deflected off of a Lightning skater to Churchill forward Saami Yousufi in the neutral zone. Yousufi sent a pass to Elhallou on the left wing entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. It was a very close play at the blue line and barely onside as Elhallou motored up the left side of the ice. At the top of the left faceoff circle, Elhallou jump cut and juked to the center of the ice while avoiding Sell, the lone Lightning defender back on the play. Coming in alone down the slot, Elhallou shifted the puck from his forehand to his backhand and slung the puck past Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand to give Churchill the lead.

If the Bulldogs thought that jumping into the lead would cause the Lightning to fold they were sorely mistaken. Upper Montgomery continued to play hard and fight for loose pucks earning yet another powerplay chance when Dong was sent back to the penalty box for a cross checking minor with four minutes remaining in the middle period. Upper Montgomery had a few chances on powerplay number three but could not get one by Nelson to tie up the game.

Then, as time wound down in the second period, Upper Montgomery’s forecheck paid dividends. A turnover was caused by Zheng getting in heavy on the forecheck to the left of Nelson. His poke check loosened the puck from a Churchill defender. Nelson stepped out and smacked the puck to the right wing boards with his goalie stick. Zheng raced over to the boards and took possession of the puck with eleven seconds remaining in the period. He fired on net from long range and from a bad angle. Nelson cuffed the puck down with his glove but did not make a clean save. Marks, standing at the left post, had an excellent chance but he fired wide into the meshing of the net just outside the left goal post. Churchill’s defense got to the puck and shot it up the ice. The puck traveled less then two feet before connecting with a backchecking forward’s skates. The puck changed directions and quickly slid though Nelson’s five hole to tie the game with 3.4 seconds remaining in the period. It was Upper Montgomery’s eleventh shot of the period compared with ten fired on net by the Bulldogs.

Inexplicably, Upper Montgomery’s seven skaters had played thirty minutes of hockey even with Churchill. Surely the Bulldogs depth would become a factor in the third period as Churchill looked to take advantage of the supremely tired Lightning. However, Churchill kept the Lightning invested in the game with poor choices. Two minutes into the final frame of regulation, Churchill defender Cyrus Sawyer was assessed a holding minor penalty for grabbing onto Shterenberg. Upper Montgomery again had a few nice scoring chances but could not put one past Nelson. Then, halfway through the period, Elhallou was called for a hit from behind body check way away from the play. The referees missed the call as Elhallou’s hit was not from behind. The result of the bad officiating decision was that Churchill’s most talented student athlete was forced to watch the remainder of the game from the penalty box. First, as his two minute minor penalty put Upper Montgomery back on the powerplay for the fourth occasion in the game and then with the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty that is assessed for checks from behind.

Upper Montgomery misfired on its second powerplay of the third period. With the referees holding their arms in the air, Nelson charged over to the Churchill bench area. As play continued, Zheng hit the right goal post with a shot from the offensive blue line and no goalie near the net. The Churchill coaching staff believed that a delayed penalty was going to be called on Upper Montgomery. Instead, the penalty was being called for Churchill having too many skaters on the ice. Churchill had narrowly dodged disaster striking with Zheng’s shot landing a few inches wide of Upper Montgomery taking a late lead.

Once again Upper Montgomery’s powerplay faltered. The two minutes of play where Upper Montgomery had the extra skater allowed time to come off the clock. Churchill was forced to defend on the defensive side of the ice rather than pushing forward in an attempt to take the lead. The final three and a half minutes of the game were played with Upper Montgomery doing everything in their power to get the puck out of the zone and get to overtime and scratch a point out of the game. The buzzer to end regulation brought with it an exhale of relief for the exhausted Lightning skaters. They had left everything on the ice in the third period pushing to try and win the game. Upper Montgomery outshot Churchill ten to nine in the third period where Churchill could reasonably have been expected to dominate play.

It was an awesome performance just to get to overtime. Now, more skating for the shorthanded Lightning. With three on three overtime, there was much more open ice. Upper Montgomery won control of the opening faceoff of overtime and eventually had a promising rush up the ice that was thwarted as Howerton reached only as far as the slot area. Churchill marched back down to the Lightning defensive zone and Upper Montgomery was able to ice the puck to slow the overtime period down. With running clock, over a minute of overtime had already elapsed when the faceoff draw occurred to the right of Stutsrim-Lyons. Off the draw, the puck shot across the ice directly to the left wing boards. The Lightning’s Rivera reached out and poked the puck forward towards the blue line while being pressured by Churchill forward Atahun Saydam. Sims kept the puck in at the left point and skated forward two strides. His long range shot his Saydam’s legs and dropped right back onto his stick. Sims skated through the left faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot at the net from the bottom of the left faceoff circle. His rising shot far side was placed perfectly over Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand into the apex of the goal sending the Bulldogs over the bench celebrating their overtime victory.

It was hard to know which team had achieved more at the conclusion of the game. Upper Montgomery’s performance of guts and determination was far more impressive in earning a tie against a full Churchill roster. Churchill may have come away with the victory on this night, but Upper Montgomery gained the knowledge of how to play to overcome the odds which will help the team throughout the rest of the season. The Lightning junior varsity has a bye next week before they return to action against bottom dweller Blair. The Lightning may play the contest with student athletes who may not play significant minutes on varsity this season as Upper Montgomery has back to back junior varsity and varsity games that evening. Either way, look for Upper Montgomery to finish the month of October with a 2-1-2 record and right in the thick of the conference standings fighting for playoff positioning and a first round playoff bye.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal were fairly even for the game with Upper Montgomery firing 28 at Churchill goalie Nicholas Nelson and Churchill putting 25 on Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.
• The Lightning were 0-5 on the powerplay and have yet to score a powerplay goal in four games this season.
• Upper Montgomery’s varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, skated out and played forward for the junior varsity.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team returns to action in two weeks on Friday, October 25th when the team takes on the DC Stars. Anticipate that the Lightning will rest certain student athletes in preparation for the varsity game later that same evening. Game time is at 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Nicholas Nelson—Churchill Goalie—Overtime Win, 27 Saves, .964 Save Percentage
Second Star—Oskar Sims—Churchill Forward—Game Winning Overtime Goal, Assist
Third Star—Elias Elhallou—Churchill Center—Goal

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity had gone almost two full regular seasons without a loss prior to Friday night’s contest versus BCC. For a long time it appeared as if the long undefeated streak of sixteen games (12-0-4) would remain intact. Several late costly miscues doomed the Lightning as they fell to the Barons by a score of 4-3 at Cabin John Ice Rink. The loss brings Upper Montgomery’s record on the season to 1-1-1, squarely in the middle of the conference standings.

The first period was chaotic with a lack of positionally sound hockey being played by both teams. Scramble hockey and puck chasing would be apt descriptions of the style of play. As both teams utilized many younger ninth graders and sophomores in their lineup it was understandable especially in an early season matchup with all programs not having had many practices or games yet. But, it did make for some disjointed hockey. Both goalies, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons for the Lightning and fellow ninth grade netminder Blake Schoenebeck for the Barons played well making timely saves when counted upon.

BCC was awarded the first powerplay of the game when Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Max Israfilbek was called for a roughing minor mid way through the opening period. BCC maintained pressure in the Lightning offensive zone pinning the Lightning penalty killers and forcing turnovers that were kept in the offensive zone. It was not until thirty seconds remained in the powerplay that Upper Montgomery was able to ice the puck to relieve the pressure. While the Lightning were shorthanded, Stutsrim-Lyons made two nice positionally sound saves to thwart the Barons.

With three and a half minutes remaining in the first period, Upper Montgomery jumped out in front. Two poor BCC defensive zone clears were kept in the offensive end by Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans. The second one leading directly to Upper Montgomery’s opening goal. The first bad clear was kept in at the left point by Evans. Her wrist shot through traffic was saved by Schoenebeck’s goalie stick. The puck bounced to the right side of the net where Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin shot from a bad angle. Schoenebeck made a save with his chest with the puck winding up behind the BCC net. Bhasin took the puck around the net from right to left. His pass to the slot was deflected by the Barons defense over to the left corner. Under pressure from Bhasin, the BCC defender was not able to get enough behind the attempted defensive clear. Evans kept the puck in at the left point once again. Her second wrist shot was deflected by Bhasin into the slot where the puck hit a BCC defender’s skate and came right back to him. From six feet in front of the net with Schoenebeck on the move to follow the puck headed to the right side of the ice, Bhasin had all kinds of open net near side to easily deposit the puck. Shots on goal in the opening period were BCC with ten and Upper Montgomery with nine.

Upper Montgomery again played hard during the second period. The game began to have the feel of last year’s undefeated Lightning performances. Defensive clears coupled with timely scoring. The Lightning were once again shorthanded when junior forward Jason Woodman was called for a checking from behind penalty. In addition to the minor penalty, Woodman was assessed the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty that comes with a check from behind. Upper Montgomery faired much better on the second BCC powerplay keeping the Barons’ offensive chances from the outside and clearing the defensive zone on several occasions.

Two minutes after BCC’s second powerplay ended, the Barons were right back on the extra skater advantage. This time, Lightning defender and senior captain Cole Howerton was called for cross checking when he stood up an attacking Barons forward entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The officials believed that Howerton had raised his arms to deliver a hit toward the onrushing BCC skater. It was an iffy or borderline penalty call and the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was not fond of the minor penalty determination. No damage was done as Upper Montgomery extended their season plus penalty killing streak to 36 consecutive opponents powerplays.

As the clocked ticked down to a minute and a half remaining in the second period, BCC converted on a three on two rush up ice to even the score at one. BCC forward Julia Reitz led the rush up the center of the ice. As she entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone she sent a pass to the right wing to fellow forward Samuel Lane. From the top of the right faceoff circle, Lane fired a cross ice pass to the back left goal post. The pass was right on the money for Ramin Jacobs and he extended his stick to deflect a backhand tap up and over the extended right leg pad of Stutsrim-Lyons from inside the goal crease circle.

As the second period wound down, Upper Montgomery was presented with their only powerplay opportunity of the game. Jacobs was called for a two minute minor penalty for interference with one minute remaining in the period. Upper Montgomery failed to convert leaving the score tied at one at the conclusion of the second period, a frame in which the Lightning were outshot nine to three and BCC had the territorial advantage due to the consecutive middle of the period powerplays.

The third period is one that the Lightning would like to play all over again. Upper Montgomery failed to convert on the back half of the carryover powerplay opportunity. Then, Lightning senior defender Patrick Sell took a tripping penalty after getting his stick caught underneath a BCC forward’s skates. Seven seconds later the Barons were in the lead and Upper Montgomery’s long penalty killing streak was finished. Off of the faceoff in the left faceoff circle fronting Stutsrim-Lyons, BCC center Ryan Duffy won the draw cleanly back to the left point to defender David High. With Upper Montgomery’s AJ Marks backing down into a tight box to protect the goal, High skated in several steps to the top of the left faceoff circle where he fired a rising wrist shot near side. Inadvertently, Marks had perfectly screened Stutsrim-Lyons and High’s shot went over his right shoulder. Stutsrim-Lyons never moved and never saw the shot.

BCC’s lead lasted ninety seconds before the Lightning had tied the game back up at two. Lightning ninth grade defender Luke Hudson skating toward his own goal sent the puck around the net from right to left to his defensive partner sophomore Miles Wendland. Wendland dug the puck out from the boards and sent a backhand pitch continuing the puck up the right wing boards to Bhasin just inside his defensive blue line. Bhasin turned and sent a zone breakout pass to Lightning sophomore forward Jake Hudson coming up the center of the ice. Hudson skated down the left wing and pulled up a few feet after entering the offensive zone. He let loose with a long range wrist shot that went along the ice and got past Schoenebeck’s left leg pad just inside the far right goal post. Hudson’s goal tied him with Bhasin for the team lead with three.

For the next three and a half minutes the teams traded offensive chances, the most back and forth the game had been up until that point in time. A Lightning outlet pass found junior forward Jason Woodman skating down the center of the ice toward the offensive zone. Two BCC defenders applied pressure as Woodman headed up the ice. As the puck traveled down the ice ahead of the skaters, Schoenebeck came out to play the puck away from Woodman. Woodman did his best to avoid Schoenebeck but did brush into him on the way past. BCC forward Nicholas Mencher took exception to the contact on his goalie and cross checked Woodman in the back while he was prone on the ice. Completely out of character, Woodman rolled over and kicked out his skate toward Mencher making contact with his midsection.

Woodman was assessed a five minute major penalty for kicking and a game misconduct. Adding the two penalties in addition to the two penalties Woodman took at the beginning of the second period Woodman was assessed a second game misconduct for accumulating four penalties in a game. With USA Hockey’s emphasis on skate safety and now requiring all student athletes playing in youth leagues to mandate the wearing of neck guards as a safety measure, it is anticipated that Woodman will receive a multiple game supplemental disciplinary suspension from the Montgomery Hockey Conference.

After Mencher’s two minute minor penalty expired, the Barons were on to their fifth powerplay of the evening. A major penalty allows a team to score as many goals with the extra skater as they can and if the team with the major powerplay does score, they remain on the powerplay. The penalized skater is not permitted to return to the ice until the full five minutes of the penalty have expired. Upper Montgomery did a fine job killing off the first two minutes of the remainder of the powerplay. Then, for the second consecutive shorthanded situation, the Lightning gave up a powerplay goal.

Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the Lightning won the draw. Upper Montgomery’s clearing icing attempt up the center of the ice hit Duffy in the stomach. The puck bounded to the right wing boards where it was kept in the zone by Julia Reitz. She played the puck up the boards to Duffy on the right wing. Duffy sent the puck down low to Lane in the right corner. Lane began skating as if he was going behind the net. As he entered the goalie quadrangle behind the goal line he sent a pass out into the slot area. From within ten feet of the goal, Jacobs got off a sneaky low shot along the ice into a narrow gap between Stutsrim-Lyons’s left toe and the right goal post. The powerplay marker put BCC in front 3-2 with just less than four minutes remaining in regulation.

A minute later a crazy bounce led to BCC building a two goal cushion. The puck was shot wide of the Barons net caroming over to the left wing boards. BCC used the force of the shot to begin the defensive zone breakout up the left wing boards. Jacob Reitz passed the puck forward to Jacobs heading out of the defensive zone. Jacobs took the puck down the left wing into the offensive zone. His initial shot from the left faceoff circle was saved by Stutsrim-Lyons. The puck deflected off the Lightning goalie’s leg pads behind the net. Jacobs got to the puck first and from a 45 degree angle shot the puck into the slot from behind the goal line. The puck ricocheted off Sell’s body into the net, hockey’s version of a soccer own goal.

Trying to press forward to narrow the gap, Upper Montgomery began taking chances pressing forward. With 37 seconds remaining in the game, Stutsrim-Lyons was pulled for an additional skater, a last gasp effort by the Lightning. The move worked out very well. Wendland sent the puck around the net from the left to the right to Howerton. Howerton sent a breakout pass up the middle of the ice to Marks exiting the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. When he reached the center red line, Marks dumped the puck into the right corner of the Barons defensive zone. Bhasin reached the puck first and skated around the boards to the left corner. He sent a pass up the boards to Howerton who pinched down from the left point. Howerton dropped a backhand return pass to Bhasin along the left wing. Bhasin sent the puck into the slot where it was missed by both Marks and Jake Hudson. As the puck slid through the slot it ended up back on Howerton’s stick. From the middle of the slot he fired a wrist shot past Schoenebeck’s blocker to the left side of the net. With 26 seconds remaining, Upper Montgomery had closed the gap to 4-3. Unfortunately for the Lightning, they would not again have puck possession in the offensive zone and the program’s long sixteen game undefeated streak was no more.

Upper Montgomery will look to rebound next week against the Churchill Bulldogs. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning respond to their first regular season loss in nearly two years. The game against the Bulldogs will be difficult for Upper Montgomery as the lower levels of travel hockey have out-of-town tournaments next weekend and student athlete availability may be an issue. The Lightning may play the contest with a short bench.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal were fairly even for the game with BCC having 27 and Upper Montgomery registering 21.
• Siddy Bhasin scored for the third game in a row to begin his high school hockey career.
• Upper Montgomery killed off the first three BCC powerplays before the program’s record setting penalty killing streak was pierced. BCC scored powerplay goals on its final two powerplays to end the Lightning’s streak at 36 consecutive shorthanded situations having been neutralized.
• The Lightning’s long undefeated streak stretching over the past three regular seasons ended. Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity program had been 12-0-4 in its prior sixteen games.
• Lightning junior forward Jason Woodman faces an upcoming multiple game suspension for his game misconduct penalty in the third period against the Barons.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team returns to action next Friday night when the Lightning face the Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is once again a late start, 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ramin Jacobs—BCC Forward—3 Goals
Second Star—Siddy Bhasin—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—Porter Stutsrim-Lyons—Upper Montgomery Goalie—23 Saves

The Upper Montgomery Lightning and the Wootton Patriots engaged in a barnburner of a hockey game on Wednesday evening at Cabin John Ice Rink. The two talented squads left everything they had on the ice as both teams played with short benches with each team missing several key student athletes. Upper Montgomery ninth grade goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons stole the show making a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves. Stutsrim-Lyons’ play, along with the Lightning’s defensive effort and shot blocking took top ranked Wootton to overtime before the Patriots eventually prevailed 3-2. The game is recorded as a tie for Upper Montgomery, and an overtime victory for Wootton, last season’s top regular season junior varsity team.

The game resembled Upper Montgomery’s style of play from last year, when the Lightning went undefeated during the regular season finishing with a 9-0-1 record. The Lightning jumped out to an early lead and then spent most of the game selling out on the defensive side of the ice doing their best to clog up the middle of the ice and block shots. When the Wootton shots did make it through Stutsrim-Lyons was there to make the save. He gave up very few rebounds and was quick to smother the puck when it was loose around his feet.

From the outset of the game it was clear that Wootton was the faster and more skilled team. After each Upper Montgomery clear of the defensive zone, the Patriots regrouped at center ice and attempted to quickly cycle back in offensively. The Patriots played with pace. However, having to consistently go through three, four, and five Upper Montgomery skaters resulted in the puck getting batted away, the play getting broken up, and Wootton committing turnovers that were once again cleared back out over the Lightning defensive blue line to center ice.

Five and a half minutes into the game the Lightning would strike first. Sophomore forward Jake Hudson took control of a loose puck in his defensive zone behind the net. He skated up the right wing side of the ice. His outlet pass to the left wing found Lightning forward Mason Jagoz. Jagoz swung wide and entered the Wootton defensive zone where he dumped the puck deep into the left corner. As Jagoz followed the puck behind the net a puck battled ensued with the Patriots defense. Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin came away from the scrum with the puck at the near goal post. He traveled around the net where he sent the puck back across the crease. Hudson was tied up by the Wootton defense and the puck slid through the crease to Jagoz at the back post. Wootton sophomore goalie Kevin Yu made a goalie stick paddle save on Jagoz’s shot with the puck deposited behind the Wootton net. Hudson reached the loose puck first along the back wall and he skated around the net where he passed the puck to Bhasin in the low slot. Bhasin faked a shot with a defender in front of him and slid the puck to his left to Jagoz standing all alone wide open four feet in front of the goal. With Yu overplaying Bhasin to shoot from in close, Jagoz has plenty of time and net to shoot at. He calmly deposited his first goal as a member of the Lightning program.

Two minutes later the Upper Montgomery lead would grow to 2-0. Wootton dumped the puck into the Upper Montgomery zone and headed off for a line change. Lightning sophomore defender Miles Wendland retrieved the puck and passed the puck up to Hudson along the right wing in the defensive zone. Hudson carried the puck out past the defensive blue line and through neutral ice down into the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. His attempted dump in ricocheted off the Wootton defender to the right corner. Hudson rushed over to the puck and passed the puck into the high slot. Bhasin entered the offensive zone coming up ice from just having jumped over the boards during a line change. Bhasin snagged the pass and skated to the left edge of the right faceoff circle. His wrist shot went short side low just over Yu’s left leg pad. The puck found its way in close to Yu’s body seven hole beneath his glove hand having crept through and into the net for Bhasin’s second goal of the season.

Even though they had been outplayed and outshot by a wide margin, Upper Montgomery had taken advantage of their two primary scoring chances to build a lead. With three and a half minutes remaining in the first period a scramble in front of the Upper Montgomery net resulted in Wootton being awarded a penalty shot when Lightning senior defender Patrick Sell was deemed to have closed his hand on the puck in the crease area. It was the proper officiating call and gave smooth skating Wootton sophomore forward Nathan Geeng a one on one opportunity to skate in alone against Stutsrim-Lyons. Geeng came down the left side of the ice. From the mid slot between the circles he fired a snap shot far side under Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand. The Lightning netminder played the penalty shot well, but the shot from directly in front from that close and that hard got Wootton on the scoreboard. The Patriots outshot the Lightning seventeen to five during the opening period of play.

The second period was filled with Wootton pressure and offensive attacks, Stutsrim-Lyons big saves, and Upper Montgomery valiantly trying every which way to get in front of the Wootton shot attempts. Three and a half minutes into the period, Sell was called for his second penalty of the game, this time for hooking. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers assisted by Stutsrim-Lyons making some huge saves kept the puck out of the net. With six and a half minutes remaining in the period, Upper Montgomery junior forward Jason Woodman was called for an interference minor penalty. This time, the Lightning penalty killers were more organized and were able to clear the defensive zone on multiple occasions. Both successful penalty kills ran the program’s consecutive successful penalty kill streak to 33 straight shorthanded chances dating back to the end of the 2022 – 2023 season. Although again badly outshot twelve to six, and 29 to 11 for the game through two periods of play, the Lightning took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

The first nine and a half minutes of the third period was a mirror image of the second period. Wootton was on the attack. Upper Montgomery competed as hard as they possibly could defensively to keep the puck out of the net. When defensive breakdowns occurred, Stutsrim-Lyons was there to save the day including on a Wootton breakaway chance by sophomore forward Brendan Lau with eight minutes left in regulation. Upper Montgomery had one quality scoring opportunity in the third period. Off of a faceoff win by Hudson in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Sell’s long range wrist shot from the point went past a screened Yu. Unfortunately for the Lightning, the puck clanked off the near side right goal post tumbling into the right corner out of harms way.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, Wootton would score the equalizer. A failed Upper Montgomery clearing attempt along the boards provided the impetus that the Patriots needed. The failed clear from the right wing boards in the Lightning defensive zone kept the Upper Montgomery skaters pinned on the ice for an extended shift. At the left point the puck was kept in by Wootton ninth grade defender Nathan Tian. Tian skated to the top of the slot where his shot was blocked by Wendland. Geeng collected the puck in the right corner where he passed it back into the slot to sophomore forward Jayden Ahn. Ahn’s shot was blocked by Lightning senior forward AJ Marks. The puck bounced forward a few feet where Lau was stationed unguarded. Lau was able to get enough on his shot to sneak the puck past Stutsrim-Lyons and over the goal line to tie the game at two.

Regulation ended tied ensuring that both teams would earn a least one point on the evening. It was well deserved for both teams who each had played a whale of a game although with differing styles. Wootton had outshot Upper Montgomery 42-15 in regulation after pumping thirteen shots on Stutsrim-Lyons in the third period while the Lightning only sent four shots on Yu. Three on three play in overtime was going to be a challenge for the tired Lightning skaters. With Wootton’s highly skilled and smooth skating forwards having a sizeable amount of additional open ice to work with, it seemed as if every shift in overtime was played with Upper Montgomery just willing time on the scoreboard to continue ticking. Overtime in high school hockey is played three skaters on three skaters with running clock.

With 45 seconds left in the game, the Lightning’s bubble burst. With a faceoff draw outside of the Wootton defensive zone, Geeng won the puck back to Tian. Tian returned the puck to Geeng in the neutral zone along the right wing. Somehow, Wootton was already in on a two on one rush against Wendland defending. Geeng passed the puck to his left to Ahn. Wendland played the incoming rush in excellent fashion forcing Ahn wide and making him circle the net. With no shot of his own, Ahn looked to pass to Geeng standing in front. The Upper Montgomery forward responsible for covering Geeng went past the net into the corner for some reason, leaving Wendland as the only defender involved in the play. Stutsrim-Lyons made the initial save on Geeng from in close, he then made a rebound save on Geeng, and another save on a shot by Ahn from in close. Finally, Ahn was able to pull the puck back a foot or so and he then lifted the puck into the top portion of the net high short side to send the Patriots off celebrating the victory on their side of the ice.

Upper Montgomery’s young student athletes got a taste of upper level high school hockey during the game against Wootton. The Lightning played hard even if there were some fundamentally shaky moments throughout the game. The team will need to bring the same level of compete once again on Friday night against BCC and frankly into all remaining games on the schedule. The game against Wootton also showed that the Lightning may be a bit ahead of schedule having performed so well against that quality of opponent without four key contributors.

Game Notes:

• Wootton vastly outshot Upper Montgomery 50-15 for the game, and eight to zero in overtime.
• Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons made a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves.
• Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Mason Jagoz scored his first goal with the Lightning program. He scored one goal last season while playing high school hockey in Frederick County.
• Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay in the game.
• Upper Montgomery killed off both Wootton powerplay opportunities running the program’s penalty kill streak to 33 straight shorthanded situations.
• Jake Hudson assisted on both Upper Montgomery goals.
• Siddy Bhasin has scored in his first two high school hockey games.
• Over the past three regular seasons, Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity program has runs its unbeaten streak to sixteen games, 12-0-4.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team has a quick turnaround when it returns to action this Friday night against the BCC Barons. Game time is a late start, 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Porter Stutsrim-Lyons—Upper Montgomery Goalie—47 Saves, .940 Save Percentage, Tie
Second Star—Jayden Ahn—Wootton Forward—Game Winning Goal, Assist
Third Star—Nathan Geeng—Wootton Forward—Penalty Shot Goal, 2 Assists