The Upper Montgomery Lightning won its first ever junior varsity playoff game late Friday night with a come from behind 2-1 shootout victory over the Northwest Jaguars at Cabin John Ice Rink. With the win, Upper Montgomery advances to the junior varsity semi-final round hosting Rockville/Blair on Wednesday evening at 6:40 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens.
In a gritty and tightly contested game, Upper Montgomery defended all over the ice and limited the Jaguars to just nine shots on goal through regulation and overtime. The Lightning defended well on Jaguars leading scorer Brady Graham holding him to a single assist. Graham had entered the game scoring 11 goals in six junior varsity games and his 11 goals led the Montgomery Hockey Conference by a wide margin.
With less than five minutes to go in the game, Upper Montgomery scored a powerplay goal draw even at 1-1. Josh Nadler collected a shot by George Benedick that was wide of the net and scored on a wrap around attempt that banked in off the skate of Jaguars’ goalie Joseph Dean with traffic out in front.
After a wild, but scoreless five minute overtime period played three on three, Upper Montgomery excelled in the shootout. Joshua Miller, Bradley Cupples, Josh Nadler, and Brandon Bernard all scored for the Lightning. Landon Bernard was huge in net stopping the breakaway attempts of Graham and Benjamin Linteris to secure the victory.
The remaining teams alive in the junior varsity playoffs are:
Whitman (5) versus Richard Montgomery (1)
Rockville/Blair (3) versus Upper Montgomery (2)