In what was his signature game at the junior varsity level, Upper Montgomery junior goaltender Landon Bernard stole the show Wednesday afternoon. His goaltending performance in the Lightning’s game against top ranked Walter Johnson was superb. Bernard stopped 37 of 39 shots on goal including five breakaway chances in Upper Montgomery’s 3-1 loss to the Wildcats. Both Wildcats goals were scored on two additional late third period breakaway chances. The final score was not representative of how the game played out as Upper Montgomery was winning with less than six minutes remaining in the game.
Going into the contest the coaching staff was expecting the game against Walter Johnson to be challenging. The Wildcats had only given up three goals in their four previous games. Upper Montgomery responded by playing better and tougher than they had in several games and that effort is what kept the team in the game in the opening period. Outshot 9-1 in the frame and having to kill off two Wildcats powerplay chances limited the team’s ability to get into the flow of the game. Still, finishing off the first period tied gave the Lightning confidence that they could compete against Walter Johnson.
Upper Montgomery jumped to the lead very early in the second period. Wildcats forward Sam Mayster was called for hooking 19 seconds into the period. The Lightning would capitalize immediately only ten seconds later while on the ensuing powerplay. Steven Shkeda won the faceoff directly behind him in the right faceoff circle. TJ Gottesman nudged the puck back a few feet to the right point. Behr Schickler was able to collect the puck at his defensive position along the blueline. He took one stride to the center of the ice and fired a wrist shot toward the net. The shot deflected off of a Wildcat defender and then Wildcats goalie Joseph Villatoro’s goalie stick. The puck ricocheted up in the air and into the far side of the net. For 9th grade defender Schickler, it was his first career high school goal and put Upper Montgomery in front 1-0.
From there it was the Landon Bernard show. The ice was tilted, and Walter Johnson dominated the rest of the period. Among his 17 saves in the second period, Bernard stopped three Wildcat breakaway chances and he made several additional acrobatic saves. Meanwhile, after Schickler’s goal, Upper Montgomery managed just two shots on goal over the remainder of the period. This included spending time on a short lived 5-3 powerplay opportunity that was wiped out by a tripping penalty called against Lightning defender Cole Howerton.
The Lightning had a powerplay early in the third period as well when Gianluca Megna was called for roughing. Upper Montgomery could not capitalize. As Megna’s penalty was expiring, Shkeda was called for roughing on a good hard back check that should not have been ruled a penalty. The Lightning and Bernard held strong and limited the Wildcats to puck possession around the perimeter and long range shots from the points.
Halfway through the third period Walter Johnson would finally break through against Bernard. Walter Johnson defender Patrick Murphy blocked a Lightning shot attempt deep in the crease area in front of Villatoro. Unassisted, Murphy skated the puck up ice on the right wing. He skated past the Lightning defense and curved in alone on Bernard. A lefty shot, Murphy flicked a wrist shot far post above Bernard’s leg pad and past his blocker to tie up the game.
With 3:07 left in regulation, Wildcats defender Jaden Luskin was called for interference as he tussled with Lightning forward Jason Woodman. The late powerplay was an opportunity for the Lightning regain momentum. Possibly, if they could put a late goal past Villatoro, maybe come away with the upset win.
A weak Wildcat clearing attempt went toward the left point where Howerton had a bead on the puck. As he skated in, he attempted to one time the puck toward the net. In one of those hockey plays, the puck slid under his stick and out into the neutral zone. With Howerton’s momentum heading into the offensive zone, Wildcat forward Megna was heading out of the zone in the same direction as the puck. Megna collected the puck and raced up ice by himself. Lightning defender Jake Roth skated hard up the ice and he tried to impede Megna from getting off a clean shot on Bernard. With Roth bothering him, Megna was still able to get off a backhanded shot that somehow got between Bernard’s glove side and his body. The puck barely tricked over the goal line before Bernard could turn and keep the puck out of the net. The shorthanded goal put the Wildcats in front with 2:09 left in the game.
The late shorthanded goal was demoralizing, but the Lightning kept up the pressure for the second half of the powerplay and continuing with Bernard pulled for the extra attacker. With timing running down, Wildcat defender Lucas Chang was able to gain possession of the puck deep in the Wildcat defensive zone and bang the puck up the right wing boards. Megna won a puck battle at the defensive blue line. He skated up over the red line before shooting from next to the boards into the empty net to seal the Wildcats’ hard fought victory.
The effort from the Lightning junior varsity student athletes was non-stop throughout the entire game. Although more talented, Walter Johnson barely escaped with the victory thanks to Bernard’s performance. The last three games, all against the top teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, should prepare Upper Montgomery for the remainder of the schedule which begins this upcoming Sunday versus bottom dweller Churchill. The Lightning will need to avoid complacency and playing down to Churchill’s level. The team needs to bring it right from the start of the game and not let up to rack up the two standings points.
Game Notes:
- The Lightning were badly outshot by the Wildcats by a wide 40-8 margin.
- Behr Schickler scored his first career high school goal, a powerplay goal early in the second period.
- TJ Gottesman extended his personal career high points streak to all five games he has played in this season (5GP, 1G, 6A). His seven points on the season leads the Lightning junior varsity.
- Upper Montgomery killed off all five Wildcat powerplays and has now successfully killed off ten straight opponents’ powerplay opportunities.
- The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to action on Sunday afternoon against lowly Churchill. Game time is 1:30 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—37 Saves, 2 GA, .949 Save Percentage
Second Star—Gianluca Megna—Walter Johnson Forward–2 Goals including SH GWG
Third Star—Lucas Chang—Walter Johnson Defense–1 Assist