Category: Game Recaps

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity stormed through the Blair Blazers on Friday evening winning in convincing fashion after a slow start to the game. Like a building storm, the Lightning grew in strength as the game wore on unleashing a torrent of goals in the second and third periods to coast to a 9-0 victory over the winless Blazers. With a varsity game later on in the evening, the Upper Montgomery coaches were able to sit certain students for the entire third period to help rest the students who would be playing two games in the same night.

Upper Montgomery looked lackluster to begin the game. Maybe the students were concerned with expending too much energy with another game to come. Maybe the students thought that they could just show up and beat Blair because of their 0-5-1 record entering the game. Whatever the case, the opening fifteen minutes of play were certainly not up to Upper Montgomery’s standards. Six minutes into the game, Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Max Israfilbek was whistled for an interference penalty. Upper Montgomery easily killed the two minute minor penalty without allowing Blair to set up in the offensive zone with puck possession.

At the five and a half minute mark, Blair defender Nicholas Legault was assessed an interference minor giving the Lightning their first power play of the evening. Lightning ninth grade defender Matt Rivera took the puck around the back of the Upper Montgomery net in the defensive zone from left to right. He traveled up the left wing boards to neutral ice. The puck was then dumped into the Blair defensive zone. A poor Blair clearing attempt off the right wing boards was intercepted by Israfilbek who threw the puck into open space in the left wing corner. Lightning senior center AJ Marks was first to the puck. He centered the puck toward the slot area. The puck clipped off a Blair defender’s stick to Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Aiden Zheng camped out in the low slot. Zheng fired a backhander towards the net that found its way through Blazers goalie Ethan Hedberg’s five hole. It was Zheng’s third goal of the season and the Lightning’s second powerplay goal of the year. The goal put Upper Montgomery in front finishing off a languid first period that ended with each team firing seven shots on goal.

Upper Montgomery’s struggles continued at the beginning of the second period. Although displaying more intensity and urgency, the efforts did not immediately translate into increasing the Lightning’s one goal lead. Two minutes into the period Israfilbek was back in the penalty box, this time for hooking. While shorthanded, Upper Montgomery had the better of the offensive chances, but kept shooting the puck wide of the net which yielded no results. Two minutes after the teams returned to even strength, Upper Montgomery began asserting its dominance.

Blair carried the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. A shot from the right faceoff circle was blocked by Lightning sophomore defender Miles Wendland. The puck was then fired around the Upper Montgomery net from right to left. Zheng stole the puck at the right point and took off up ice on a breakaway. Coming down the left wing side of the ice Zheng cut toward the net. He faked to his backhand and slid the puck past Hedberg’s right leg pad for the unassisted goal.

Seventeen seconds later, Upper Montgomery had broken the game open. The Blair defense cleared the defensive zone to center ice. The puck was picked up by Upper Montgomery senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton carried the puck into the Blair defensive zone into the right corner. He curled up and sent a centering pass to sophomore forward Jake Hudson in the high slot. Hudson immediately fired a wrist shot that beat Hedberg five hole. For Hudson, it was his team leading fifth goal of the season.

Upper Montgomery was now in front 3-0 and had firm control of the game. With three minutes remaining in the second period, the lead became 4-0 when Lightning sophomore varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg scored his second goal of the season. At times, Shterenberg skates out and plays forward in junior varsity games. The puck was picked up in the neutral zone by Marks. He entered the offensive zone in the middle of the ice. His hard wrist shot from distance was saved by Hedberg who made a really nice save with an extended right leg pad. The puck caromed to Shtereberg who shot while falling down. The Blair defense stopped Shterenberg’s shot and cleared the puck to the left point where it was kept in the offensive zone by Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans. Evans sent a spinning pass over to the right wing boards to Marks. Marks stickhandled the puck and fired a wrist shot on net that hit Hedberg in the chest protector. The rebound shot out to the left side of the goal where it was captured by Shterenberg at the left side boards. He passed to Howerton in the mid slot along the left side of the ice and cut to the net. Using his backhand, Howerton found Shterenberg with a return give and go pass. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle, Shterenberg roofed a backhand shot high far side above Hedberg’s glove hand.

Fifteen seconds later the Lightning scored again to increase the lead to five. Off the neutral zone faceoff, Blair shot the puck to the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. Evans collected the puck along the left wing boards at her defensive blue line. She sent an indirect pass off the boards to neutral ice for Zheng. Zheng skated into the puck with speed and entered the Blair offensive zone. Because of his speed, he skated wide past the Blair defender and cut to the front of the net. He easily wrapped a forehand shot around Hedberg’s left leg pad to effectively end the competitive portion of the game. It was a hat-trick for Zheng and tied him with Hudson for the team lead in goals with five.

With eight seconds left in the middle period, Howerton would complete the five goal explosion. Marks had the puck behind the Upper Montgomery goal. He fired an outlet pass to Zheng along the right wing boards. Zheng skated the puck out of the defensive zone up the middle of the ice. Nearing the Blair defensive zone he angled to the left side of the ice. Zheng pulled up at the left faceoff circle and fired at the net. His wrist shot went wide high to the short side. Howerton came down from the right point to gather the puck. He fired on net from the bottom right edge of the right faceoff circle. His bad angle shot hit the inside of Hedberg’s right leg pad and shot through the goalie’s five hole. Shots on goal in the second period were slanted toward Upper Montgomery with twelve to only five for Blair.

With Upper Montgomery holding a six goal lead entering the third period, the game was concluded with running clock. Upper Montgomery’s coaching staff pulled several student athletes to provide an even longer period of rest. Several other students were shifted from offense to defense to limit the potential of Upper Montgomery being accused of running up the score.

Two minutes into the period, Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins, playing forward, was called for a hooking penalty. Upper Montgomery easily killed off Blair’s powerplay without letting up a shot on goal. After Robbins exited the penalty box she helped set up Upper Montgomery’s seventh goal. The Lightning cleared the puck down ice. Hedberg pushed the puck to the left of the net behind the goal. The Blair defense came back and overskated the puck. Robbins pushed the puck to Shterenberg in the right corner. Shterenberg fired a cross ice pass back to Evans at the left point. Evans fired a left handed wrist shot that traveled through traffic at the net. The puck went past Hedberg’s arm and body seven hole to the glove side as the goalie reacted very late to the shot.

As the clocked clicked under two minutes remaining Marks scored to go along with his three assists on the night. From a defensive zone faceoff to the right of Upper Montgomery ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons, Marks won the faceoff to Hudson in the right defensive corner. Hudson banked the puck up the right wing boards where it was kept in at the point by the Blair defense. Robbins poked the puck past the defense into the neutral zone. Marks was waiting for the puck behind the Blair defense. He went in alone on a breakaway from the red line in. He made a quick forehand backhand move putting his shoulders into the deke. The move completely faked out Hedberg and Marks had no difficult sliding the puck into the empty net.

With fifteen seconds remaining in the game, Marks finished off the scoring with his fourth goal of the season. A Blazers forward dashed to the front of the Upper Montgomery net with the puck. Stutsrim-Lyons poke checked the puck free into the slot area. Lightning ninth grade defender Matt Rivera slung the puck out of the high danger area to the left wing boards. Marks picked up the puck while fending off a Blair defender. Marks skated the puck up ice into the neutral zone and then into the Blair defensive zone. He cut to the middle of the high slot and fired a wrist shot against the grain low past Hedberg’s right leg pad to complete the scoring.

The Lightning junior varsity now enters a short period without upcoming games on a high note with the shutout victory and advancing their record to 3-1-2 on the season. With a few remaining games in the regular season the team is primed to compete against all teams in the county. The Lightning are very much looking forward to winning their first junior varsity playoff game in three seasons when the playoffs kick off in mid-January. A few weeks of practice for the Lightning to get ready for some non-conference action and then the final regular season conference game against high powered Whitman.

Game Notes:

• The Lightning badly outshot the Blazers 27 to 14 for the game after each team fired seven shots on goal in the opening period of play.
• Lightning ninth grader netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons stopped fourteen shots on goal for his second career shutout. Stutsrim-Lyons lowed his goals against average to 1.64 and raised his save percentage to .939.
• Upper Montgomery’s varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, skated out and scored his second career high school goal. He also added an assist.
• Upper Montgomery senior forward AJ Marks had a career high five point game with two goals and three assists.
• Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng had his first career junior varsity hat-trick to go along with a hat-trick he produced last season in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament quarterfinals versus Northwest / Quince Orchard.
• Lightning defender Avery Evans scored her first goal of the season and added an assist.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team is scheduled to return to action on Friday, November 15th against the Oakdale Bears in a non-conference game. However, with the ice situation at Skate Frederick the game may need to be postponed and/or moved to a different ice rink. Game time is currently set for 8:55 pm at Skate Frederick.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Aiden Zheng—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense—1Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—AJ Marks—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 3 Assists

The Upper Montgomery Lightning and the Rockville / Magruder Rams are so evenly matched that the teams have played into overtime in their last two meetings. The game prior to the two overtime tilts was decided by a last minute goal. Friday night’s matchup between the two programs was high on drama and was very entertaining to watch. Both coaching staff were not happy with some of the sloppy play and turnovers committed by their team which directly led to goals scored by the opposition. Both coaching staffs were not pleased with the subpar officiating in the game. In the end, Cameron Gifford scored with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and the Rams salvaged a 5-5 tie with Upper Montgomery. Gifford’s goal came with Rockville / Magruder skating with an extra attacker after having pulled their goalie. The teams then played a scoreless five minute overtime period.

Scoring within the first two minutes of the game, the Rams got off to a fast start. Five, yes five, failed defensive zone clears by the Lightning lead to Gifford’s first goal of the evening. The last of the defensive zone failed clears along the left wing boards was kept in the zone at the right point. Upper Montgomery regained possession of the puck in the right faceoff circle. Gifford stripped the puck away from the Lightning and he fired a wrist shot from the low slot that beat Upper Montgomery goalie Ilan Shterenberg five hole for the unassisted goal.

Later in his shift, Gifford took a hooking penalty on the backcheck to put Upper Montgomery on the powerplay. While on the five on four skater advantage, Rockville / Magruder’s second best defender, 18U AA Aiden Ward was called for a boarding minor and also given the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty that comes with a boarding penalty. One might have thought that Upper Montgomery would be headed to a five on three powerplay for forty five seconds. But, no. Upper Montgomery junior center Owen Robbins, the skater who was boarded, was somehow called for a holding minor penalty while being boarded to even out the call and leave Upper Montgomery with only one extra skater on the ice. A mystery penalty on Robbins to say the least.

Upper Montgomery failed to score on powerplay opportunity number one. Then, on his next shift, Gifford was once again called for a two minute minor penalty, his second hooking penalty in three minutes. With two seconds left on the powerplay, the Lightning evened the score at one. The scoring sequence began with a faceoff in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the right of Shterenberg. Upper Montgomery controlled the draw with sophomore forward Aiden Zheng skating the puck up ice through the neutral zone and into the Rockville / Magruder defensive zone. He battled for possession of the puck along the left wing boards in the offensive zone. With good pressure, Zheng forced the Rams defender to quickly throw the puck up the boards to the left point where the puck was kept in the offensive zone by sophomore defender Miles Wendland. Zheng swooped in and collected the loose puck. He skated around the ice to the right side and fired on net from near the right wing boards. Rams goalie Sean Connelly made the save with his goalie pads. The puck rebounded out to the far side and directly to Lightning senior center Henry Honacki who was streaking to the net on the left side of the crease. Honacki had an easy tap in goal low along the ice past Connelly before he could react and come over to the far side of the net.

Then, it became Upper Montgomery’s turnstile to the penalty box. Robbins took as seat once again, this time for an interference minor. Upper Montgomery withstood Rockville / Magruder’s intense pressure with Shterenberg making several good saves to preserve the tie. With top end offensive talent on the ice, the Rams spent most of the two minute extra skater advantage in the Lightning’s defensive zone. After Upper Montgomery’s successful penalty kill, the teams skated five on five for only about a minute before Honacki was whistled for a hooking minor penalty. Upper Montgomery was a little better killing off this Rams powerplay until Gifford scored just after Honacki stepped out of the penalty box. Technically, not a powerplay goal, but before Honakci had any chance to enter the defense zone and re-engage in the game action.

Upper Montgomery failed to clear the defensive zone with clear possession of the puck. The Upper Montgomery forward fanned on the clearing attempt with the puck sliding over to the left wing boards. Gifford was first on the puck and he sent a pass back to Rams defender Lincoln Herrick at the left point. Herrick returned the puck down the boards to Gifford at the side wall. Gifford again passed back to Herrick at the left point. Herrick’s long range wrist shot from the left point was easily blockered aside by Shterenberg to the left corner. Gifford retrieved the puck and shielded the puck from the Upper Montgomery penalty killers. He skated in space to the top of the offensive zone near the blue line where he sent a backhand pass to the right point to 18U AAA defender Drew Pfeufer. Pfeufer sent a pass down low in the slot to Rams forward Toyin Okunseinde looking for a tip in at the top of the crease. Shterenberg made another fine save on the deflection. The puck came out into the slot where Okunseinde regained control momentarily before Rockville / Magruder senior forward Brendyn Iliff stretched out and sent a backhand pass to Gifford along the left side of the crease area. Gifford was able to extend the puck past Shterenberg’s right leg pad and send it into the net giving the Rams a 2-1 lead. The goal came with twenty seconds left in the opening period. Shots on goal in the first fifteen minutes of action were fourteen for Rockville / Magruder and nine for the Lightning.

Upper Montgomery began to adjust to the pace of play in the middle period. Even through the Rams outshot Upper Montgomery twelve to five in the second period, Upper Montgomery was able to make plays and it did not feel as if Upper Montgomery was back on their heels as much. A minute into the period, the game was again tied. From behind the goal line to the left of his own net, Honacki sent an outlet pass up the left boards to Lightning sophomore forward Jake Hudson. Hudson reached out and tipped the puck past Rockville / Magruder’s onrushing defender who was attempting to keep the puck in the offensive zone at the point. Upper Montgomery’s leading scorer from last season, senior forward Nathan Cassel read the play. He timed his move perfectly and darted between the two Rams defenders. Hudson’s poke of the puck found Cassel in stride streaking down the ice on a clear breakaway from the red line in. Cassel headed down the right side of the ice, neared Connelly in the net, faked to his forehand getting Connelly to commit to his left, and deftly slid the puck with his backhand around the goalie’s right leg to the opposite side of the net. Connelly was easily faked out by Cassel’s stickhandling move.

Three minutes later, Robbins was tackled by the side of the net by Rams defender Max Yuen. For getting tackled Robbins was assessed a matching minor penalty for holding. It was a abysmal call by the referees and nullified what should have been a clear powerplay opportunity for the Lightning and a great chance to jump back into the lead. The loud protestation from the Upper Montgomery coaching staff seemed to have an impact on the officials as they largely put away their whistles after the matching coincidental minors were handed out.

With four minutes remaining in the second period, Upper Montgomery depth forward TJ Gottesman punched a Rams defender in the head. Gottesman drew a minor penalty for head contact and an automatic ten minute misconduct penalty on the play. Twenty seconds into the Rams powerplay, Cassel struck again to give Upper Montgomery the lead. Cassel was inside his defensive blue line high in the zone. He stepped in between a cross ice pass from Rockville / Magruder’s right point defender. As the puck was on its way to the left side of the ice, Cassel gloved the puck out of mid-air and he was off to the races on another breakaway opportunity. Using almost a carbon copy move to his first breakaway goal, although Cassel did not cleanly control the puck on the transition from forehand to backhand this chance, he once again slid the puck past Connelly’s right leg pad for the shorthanded unassisted goal giving Upper Montgomery their first lead of the night at 3-2.

Inside of one minute remaining in the second period, Pfeufer really made his presence felt. He took possession of the puck in the Rockville / Magruder defensive zone. He skated all the way down ice into the left corner of the offensive zone. In the left corner, he spun around to get separation from the Upper Montgomery defense. Pfeufer then intentionally sent a backhand shot off Shterenberg to the right side of the net. Rockville / Magruder ninth grade forward Alexander Johnston was wide open at the back right post where he easily deposited the rebound into the open net to tie the game at three. It was goals in consecutive games for Johnston to begin his high school hockey career. It was also the second consecutive period that Rockville / Magruder scored in the final minute. The game was quickly turning into a back and forth classic.

The third period turned into a tale of two halves. Two minutes into the final period of regulation, Zheng again gave Upper Montgomery the lead at 4-3. Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin had the puck on the right wing boards in his defensive zone. He found Zheng coming up the middle of the defensive zone. Zheng took control of the puck and sprinted up ice through the neutral zone and down the left side of the ice. From the top of the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, he fired a wrist shot to the far side of the net that handcuffed Connelly who could not control the puck which beat him under his glove hand.

With nine and a half minutes left in regulation, Cassel completed his hat-trick putting Upper Montgomery ahead 5-3. Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer collected the puck along the left wing boards in his defensive zone. He skated toward his own goal, turned, and settled down play. He then sent the puck up the left wing boards to Hudson near the blue line. Hudson won a puck battle with the Rams defender and pushed the puck over the blue line to center ice. As the puck was approaching the Upper Montgomery offensive zone, Robbins raced forward with possession of the puck and came in on a fast developing two on one rush with Cassel. Robbins’ shot short side was saved by Connelly with the puck bouncing behind the goal. Robbins collected the puck on the right side of the net with little defensive pressure. He slid a backhand pass across the crease to Cassel which the skilled forward immediately slammed home past Connelly who was out of position too heavily focused on Robbins.

With six minutes left in the third period, Pfeufer made the game very interesting, scoring to close the margin to 5-4 in favor of the Lightning. A missed Upper Montgomery shot sprung Rockville / Magruder up ice. From the left side of the ice in the neutral zone, Herrick shot the puck into the Lightning defensive zone from just prior to the Lightning defensive blue line. The puck wound all the way around the Upper Montgomery net to the right wing boards where Pfeufer was waiting. Pfeufer skated in a semi-circle around the top of the offensive zone from the right wing boards to the left faceoff circle. Coming downhill with momentum, Pfeufer fired a low wrist shot short side on Shterenberg past the young goalie’s stick and blocker.

Superior Upper Montgomery defense over the next five and a half minutes stifled the Rams. There were tremendous efforts to clear the defensive zone with Upper Montgomery stacking the blue line and making it hard on Rockville / Magruder to penetrate into the offensive zone and generate good scoring chances. Upper Montgomery iced the puck with 42 seconds left and again with 35 seconds remaining. The last faceoff was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the left of Sheterenberg. There was a puck battle along the left wing boards with Robbins stuffing the puck along the left wing boards. He was pushed over and fell near the puck keeping the Rams from grabbing possession. All the while the clock ticked under ten seconds. With five seconds remaining in the game, Berkhammer had the puck in the left corner. His clearing attempt to seal the victory was intercepted by Iliff at the blue line. With three seconds remaining Iliff skated in towards the goal where he lost possession of the puck when he encountered traffic. Cassel and Gifford were standing close by. The loose puck was at Gifford’s feet. He sent a wrist shot towards the net with four bodies standing between him and Shterenberg. The puck found its way through each of the four skaters without hitting any of them. It flew low past a completely screened Shterenberg’s right side, past his leg pad with 1.3 seconds remaining in the third period. The goal set off a wild celebration on the Rams bench and salvaged the game for Rockville / Magruder.

Overtime was all about puck possession. For minutes at a time Rockville / Magruder possessed the puck with Pfeufer, Iliff, and Okunseinde out on the ice together. Although holding on to the puck, that trio did not create superior offensive chances with all of the open ice. Upper Montgomery used Berkhammer, Cassel, and Robbins to counter the Rams and Cassel had the two best chances of the overtime period. Both of his clean looks ramped up high and had Connelly ducking as the puck twice sailed over the crossbar high with a lot of empty net available. At the buzzer sounded to end the game each team seamed content with the outcome of the game. Upper Montgomery was pleased to have tied a team higher in the country rankings although feeling as if they should have won the game. Rockville / Magruder was thrilled to have scored so late to salvage the tie and come away from the game with standings points.

Game Notes:

• Rockville / Magruder outshot Upper Montgomery 36-22 for the game, including twelve to five in the second period.
• Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel scored a hat-trick.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki and sophomore forward Aiden Zheng each scored a goal and dished out an assist for two point games. For Zheng it was his second consecutive two point game.
• Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Jake Hudson had two assists in his first career high school varsity game.
• Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin contributed an assist for his first career high school varsity point.
• Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay for the second consecutive game. It has been 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 returns to action on Thursday, Halloween evening to face off against Northwest / Quince Orchard. Game time is 7:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Lightning then play the following evening against the high powered Wootton Patriots. Game time on Friday is late night, a 10:00 pm start.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Cameron Gifford—Rockville / Magruder Forward—3 Goals
Second Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals
Third Star—Drew Pfeufer—Rockville / Magruder Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity entered Friday evening’s game against the DC Stars knowing that several of the student athletes would also be playing later that night in the varsity game. It was going to be a balance of effort and energy expenditure versus holding back and conserving that energy for later that night. The Lightning used a strong defensive effort to smother the DC Stars with Upper Montgomery controlling play for long stretches of action leading to a 4-1 victory and improving the junior varsity’s record to 2-1-2 on the season.

A quick start for the Lightning allowed the team to settle in and activate the defense first approach. Just over a minute into the game, Lightning senior defender and alternate captain Patrick Sell scored his first goal of the season. The strike came after a poor clear by the Stars defense. Upper Montgomery had rushed up ice pushing offensively. A missed pass left the puck deep in the right corner of the Stars defensive zone. The attempted defensive zone clear was a weak one and Sell stepped in from his right point position. He cut off the puck just beyond the tops of the faceoff circles, five feet inside the blue line. Sell changed his body position so he could fire off a long range wrist shot. Sell’s rising shot traveled through traffic and beat DC Stars netminder Liam Parkinson high over his glove hand to the right side of the net.

The early 1-0 deficit seemed to rattle the Stars. The Stars pushed forward offensively falling into the defensive shell established by the Lightning who were comfortable simply chipping the puck out of their defensive end of the ice. When the forwards reached center ice, the puck was dumped in and the Stars were forced to turn and chase after the puck. The Upper Montgomery coaches kept the shift times short trying to keep the skaters as fresh as possible. There was not very much action in the first period which suited the Lightning just fine as they were in the lead. Shots on goal for the first period were low, the DC Stars fired seven non-threatening shots at Upper Montgomery ninth grade goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons and the Lightning put only five pucks on Parkinson.

The second period also saw a quick Lightning goal which extended the lead. Stars forward Callum Cochran was called for roughing thirteen seconds into the period sending Upper Montgomery to the powerplay. The Lightning’s first powerplay unit struggled to gain possession of the puck in the offensive zone. After a DC Stars full length of the ice clear, Upper Montgomery finally entered the offensive zone with puck possession. Eventually, the puck was in the left corner where sophomore forward Jake Hudson had control of the puck. An aggressive move by the Stars defense knocked the puck loose up the left wing boards towards the left point. Lightning ninth grade defender Matt Rivera moved in and kept the puck in the zone. He fired a snap shot from the outside edge at the top of the left faceoff circle. Lightning senior forward AJ Marks deflected the shot from just in front of Parkinson who was still able to make a stick save on the play. The rebound eluded Parkinson’s control and went to the right side of the goal where Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender/forward Luke Hudson was standing all alone. Hudson slammed home the rebound for the powerplay marker and his first career high school goal.

Up 2-0, Upper Montgomery continued to hang back and protect the lead. The DC Stars pushed harder looking to get back in the game. Every time the Stars had a good opportunity, Stutsrim-Lyons was there to shut the door. With under three minutes left in the second period Upper Montgomery would extend the lead. From a faceoff outside the DC Stars blue line along the left wing side of the ice, Lightning ninth grade center Decklin Hughes won the faceoff left to Jake Hudson along the left wing boards. Hudson cut toward the middle of the ice and entered the offensive zone. He crossed to the right side of the ice clearing the Stars defender in the right faceoff circle. His wrist shot went wide of the goal short side. The puck circled around to the left point where it was kept in the zone at the left point by Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans. Evans shoveled the puck forward with her backhand. The puck clanked off a skate and caromed into the slot where it was picked up by Hudson. Hudson took two strides and fired a wrist shot that went seven hole on Parkinson below his glove and into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

On the next shift after Hudson’s goal, Lightning senior defender and team captain Cole Howerton was assessed a checking from behind penalty. The two minute minor automatically comes with a ten minute misconduct penalty. Utilizing only four defenders to start the game, the Lightning coaches got creative on the back line with both Luke and Jake Hudson coming back to take shifts on defense to help the team out. The DC Stars failed to convert on the powerplay which expired just as the period was ending. Shots on goal in the second period were twelve for the DC Stars giving them nineteen through two periods of play and Upper Montgomery countering with five for a two period total of ten, three of which got past Parkinson.

Thirty seconds into the final period, the Lightning were back on the penalty kill when Rivera was called for a phantom high sticking minor penalty. As with the Stars earlier powerplay opportunity, this one went awry as well as the Stars missed the net on several quality scoring chances. Upper Montgomery was awarded a powerplay soon after Rivera’s penalty ended when the Stars were called for too many skaters on the ice. Upper Montgomery used good judgement while on the powerplay with one defender back in the neutral zone at all times to prevent the Stars from a shorthanded opportunity and any chance to get back into the game.

Five minutes into the final period, Lightning varsity netminder Ilan Shterenberg, skating out in the junior varsity game, scored his first career high school goal. The Stars cleared the puck the length of the ice to relieve pressure. Rivera was first back and he corralled the puck picking it up inside his defensive zone. He curled around the net from left to right and headed back up ice with a head of steam. Rivera skated the puck out of the defensive zone down the right wing through neutral ice. Entering the offensive zone he skated wide around the Stars defender and then cut to the net. As he entered the crease area he fired a shot that was stopped by Parkinson’s blocker. The puck fell to the ice where Shterenberg was standing by the left side of the net. Shterenberg chipped the puck into the air and over Parkinson who was coming over to the far post.

Halfway through the third period the Stars got on the board. An Upper Montgomery defensive clear up the left wing boards was intercepted by DC Stars forward Eli Schwartz. Schwartz fired on goal from the boards at a bad angle. Stutsrim-Lyons made the save and directed the rebound out to the wide side of the offensive zone. Unfortunately, the puck went directly to Cochran who had the entire net to shoot at. From the inside edge of the left circle he fired past Stutsrim-Lyons’ stick and into the net.

On the very next shift, Stutsrim-Lyons made a sprawling save with his right arm on a fantastic look by the Stars keeping the game at 4-1. Likely showing frustration at how the game had gone, Cochran took a roughing penalty behind the Lightning net. With the lead and the extra skater, Upper Montgomery used that two minutes to continue to eat clock and prevent the Stars from generating offensive chances. One more good pad save by the Lightning’s goalie late in the game kept the three goal bulge. It became just a matter of time until the Lightning skaters could rejoice around their goalie after getting back into the win column after a three game stretch of a loss and two ties.

Game Notes:

• The DC Stars outshot the Lightning 26 to 18 for the game, but many of their shots were from distance that just rolled in on Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.
• The Lightning finally scored a powerplay goal ending a four game skid to open the season.
• Upper Montgomery’s varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, skated out and scored his first career high school goal.
• Ninth grade defender Luke Hudson scored his first career high school goal on the powerplay.
• With his 25 save effort, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons increased his save percentage to .933. If his pace holds throughout the rest of the season, it would be a new Upper Montgomery junior varsity program record.
• In only giving up one goal to the Stars, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons lowed his goals against average to 1.96.
• Jake Hudson scored his team leading fourth goal of the season.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team returns to action next Friday against the worst team in the league. The Blair Blazers are having tough time of it this season. 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—Patrick Sell—Upper Montgomery Defense—Goal
Second Star—Matt Rivera—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Decklin Hughes—Upper Montgomery Center—Assist

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

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity smashed the Richard Montgomery Rockets Friday evening easing to an 8-0 win. The victory was the third consecutive season that the Lightning junior varsity opened the season with a shutout victory. The team also extended the junior varsity program record regular season undefeated streak to fifteen consecutive games (12-0-3). It was a wonderful way to begin the 2024 – 2025 season as the schedule is expected to get much tougher immediately on Wednesday evening when Upper Montgomery takes on top junior varsity foe Wootton.

The game with the Rockets opened with each team a little tentative feeling out the other. Both squads had early powerplay chances that fizzled. Upper Montgomery went on the powerplay one minute into the contest when Rockets defender Ryan Jones was called for a tripping penalty. The Rockets killed off the Lightning’s powerplay and then earned a powerplay of their own. Four and a half minutes into the contest Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin was called for a hooking minor penalty. The Lightning penalty killers controlled the Rockets who had a hard time entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone.

After its successful penalty kill, the Lightning began to assert more control of the pace of play. It took a few more minutes but Upper Montgomery stuck first on sophomore Jake Hudson’s first career high school goal. Hudson won the faceoff from the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone. It was a clean win that went to his brother, ninth grade defender Luke Hudson at the right point. Luke Hudson swung the puck over his left to his defensive partner sophomore Miles Wendland. From the top of the left faceoff circle Wendland fired at Richard Montgomery goalie Thomas Richardson (making his first ever appearance in a high school game). Wendland’s shot was blocked in front by the Rockets defense with the puck squirting to the left wing boards near the goal line. Wendland raced in reaching the puck first, and he flung the puck toward the slot. His pass was right on the money as he found Jake Hudson at the back right post with inside position on the Richard Montgomery defense. Hudson deftly smacked the puck as it was on the move through the crease past Richardson’s legs.

With forty five seconds remaining in the first period, Hudson would tally his second goal of the evening. Lightning ninth grade defender Matthew Rivera had the puck in his own defensive zone. His defensive zone outlet pass found Hudson at center ice. Hudson entered the Rockets defensive zone and shot from well beyond the top of the right faceoff circle. His long range shot eluded Richardson’s right toe to extend the Lightning’s lead to 2-0. Shots on goal in the first period favored the Rockets, with Upper Montgomery ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons making saves on all nine shots on goal he faced. Upper Montgomery only fired six shots at Richardson.

Upper Montgomery began to overwhelm the Rockets during the second period. Bhasin was called for his second minor penalty of the game when he was called for a tripping penalty at center ice. Upper Montgomery again easily killed off the penalty. Ten seconds after he returned to the ice, Bhasin scored his first career high school goal to put Upper Montgomery up by three. Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins had the puck behind her own net. She rimmed the puck around the boards on the right wing to Upper Montgomery junior forward Jason Woodman. Woodman controlled the puck and exited the defensive zone with a nice pass to fellow forward ninth grader Max Israfilbek in the neutral zone. Israfilbek skated into the Rockets defensive zone to the right faceoff circle. From the faceoff dot he whipped a wrist shot high on Richardson. Richardson made a chest save and the puck dropped to his feet. Bhasin jammed in the rebound from just outside the goal line and around Richardson’s feet before the goalie could react.

Halfway through the period, Wendland was whistled for a cross checking penalty. As with the earlier middle period Lightning penalty kill, just after the penalty time expired, the Lightning cashed in with a goal. Robbins took possession of the puck on the right wing along her defensive blue line. She sent a bank pass off the boards up to Lightning newcomer, sophomore forward Mason Jagoz. Jagoz took two strides into the Rockets defensive zone and poked the puck over to Lightning ninth grade forward Decklin Hughes. Hughes positioned his body so that when the puck approached, he was able to rocket a slap shot from ten feet in front of the net past Richardson going low along the ice into the open side of the net. It continued a theme of Lightning student athletes scoring their first career high school goals.

Two minutes later the game was essentially over when Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Aiden Zheng increased the Lightning’s lead to 5-0. A puck battle in the right corner of the Lightning’s defensive zone was won by Zheng. He sprang up ice and fired down the opposite left side of the ice. When he reached the top of the left faceoff circle, he jump stopped allowing the trailing Richard Montgomery defenders to continue past him. Zheng then fired a low shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that went along the ice and through Richardson’s five hole.

A minute and a half later, Lightning senior forward AJ Marks extended the lead to 6-0. Rivera took control of the puck along his defensive blue line on the left side of the ice. He skated diagonally up ice to the right wing. At center ice he passed the puck up to Marks further ahead on the right wing. Marks entered the offensive zone on the right wing pushing the puck into the right corner. A shoulder check shed the Rockets defender and Marks stepped toward the net with the puck. From just in front he fired a quick shot past Richardson’s feet and into the net. The second period ended with Upper Montgomery on top 6-0 although shots on goal were fifteen to fourteen in favor of Richard Montgomery. The six goal bulge meant that the upcoming third period was played with running time.

A minute into the third period, Robbins would score the first goal of her high school career. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Lightning’s defensive zone, Jake Hudson playing back on defense sent the puck around the boards and down the ice along the right wing. The Richard Montgomery defender won the puck battle under pressure from Jagoz. However, Jagoz was able to get his stick on the clearing attempt slowing the puck enough as it traveled up the boards. Robbins was able to swoop in and send the puck toward the net from above the right faceoff circle. Robbins’ shot from the boards found its way past Richardson near side along the ice.

With ten minutes left in the game, Richard Montgomery forward Bennett Parisi was called for a roughing penalty. The Lightning pulled back and used their full compliment of skaters with the extra skater advantage and the large lead and still almost put in another goal. After the Rockets successful penalty kill all that remained was the final score with the outcome clearly in hand. The Lightning added one more goal with four minutes left when Zheng scored his second goal of the game. A Richard Montgomery misplay entering the Lightning’s defensive zone began the scoring sequence. After the puck was fumbled, the Rockets shot it behind the Upper Montgomery net. The puck traveled around to the right wing boards in the defensive zone where it was picked up by Bhasin. Bhasin shoved a pass a few feet toward the middle of the ice where it was picked up by Zheng at the center of the defensive blue line. Zheng outskated the Rockets defense down the ice. He pulled up at the left faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot past the right side of Richardson’s body to conclude the scoring.

With the game not in doubt, the Lightning spent the last four minutes of play protecting Stutsrim-Lyons and working to secure a shutout for the ninth grade goalie. It was a nice way to start the season. The schedule will get stiffer from here on out starting with one of the county’s top junior varsity teams in Wootton. The teams collide on Wednesday evening in what may turn into a preview of a Mid-January junior varsity playoff matchup.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were even with Richard Montgomery firing 22 shots at Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons and Upper Montgomery countering with 21 shots on Richard Montgomery goalie Thomas Richardson.
• Upper Montgomery had four students score their first career high school goals; Jake Hudson, Siddy Bhasin, Decklin Hughes, and Lillian Robbins.
• Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons had a shutout in his first career high school game.
• Each Lightning skater who participated in Friday’s game registered at least one point.
• It was the third straight season that the Lightning junior varsity started the season with a shutout victory.
• Upper Montgomery killed off all four Richard Montgomery powerplay opportunities running the programs’ streak to 31 straight penalty kills.
• Over the past three regular seasons, Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity program has runs its unbeaten streak to fifteen games, 12-0-3.
• Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to action this Wednesday against the Wootton Patriots. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Jake Hudson—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals
Second Star—Aiden Zheng—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Porter Stutsrim-Lyons—Upper Montgomery Goalie—22 Save Shutout Victory

The Upper Montgomery Lightning crushed Wootton 9-1 on Thursday afternoon to win the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Championship.  All of the teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference that failed to advance to the Maryland high school hockey state playoffs all compete in the Varsity Tournament Championship. Winning the trophy is a highly prestigious achievement, and is the most coveted accomplishment to date in Upper Montgomery program history.   

With the victory the Lightning finished the 2023 – 2024 season ranked fifth in the conference (the top team which missed out on advancing to the state playoffs) and as the thirteenth ranked public high school team in the state.  Although sixteen teams make the Maryland state high school hockey playoff tournament, there is a limit on the number of teams from each county. Montgomery County receives four bids.  Unfortunately, the squad fell one game short of qualifying for the state playoffs for the second consecutive season. 

Against their arch nemesis, the Lightning wasted no time asserting control of the game. Three minutes into the first period Upper Montgomery opened the scoring. Breaking up a Wootton rush up ice, Lightning senior forward Brandon Bernard while backchecking swept the puck up ice in his defensive zone. A bad Wootton pass led to a turnover at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line where Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer took possession of the puck. Berkhammer sent a breakout pass to Lightning senior co-captain Hunter Cameron curling through the neutral zone. Cameron continued down the right wing into the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. He then unleashed a laser beam of a shot that went far side high over Wootton ninth grade goalie Kevin Yu’s right shoulder and blocker and into the top left corner of the net.

Three and a half minutes later Upper Montgomery would extend the lead to 2-0 and effectively take control of the game. Lightning ninth grade defender Miles Wendland misplayed the puck in his defensive zone but he was able to recover and pass the puck up ice to senior center and co-captain Chris Hassett in the neutral zone. Hassett received the pass and instantly sent a backhand tap pass wide to Bernard. The pass eluded Bernard, however, he was able to grab the puck along the right wing boards. Bernard skated down the right wing into the Upper Montgomery offensive zone where he cut to the high slot. From the mid slot area, Bernard sent a wrist shot along the ice five hole and through Yu’s legs into the net. Upper Montgomery continued to dominate the offensive chances and puck possession for the remainder of the period with Yu forced to make many strong saves. The Lightning wound up outshooting the Patriots twelve to five in the opening period.

The second period was another dominant period for the Lightning. Upper Montgomery outshot Wootton fourteen to six. A key to Upper Montgomery’s game plan was to chase the Patriots most talented skater, defender Sam Hosier, all over the ice and not allow him to single handedly control play. Four and a half minutes into the period, Hassett would score his team leading 25th goal of the season. Hassett won a faceoff from the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone with the puck sliding back to Wendland. Wendland uncorked a long range shot on goal that was saved and frozen by Yu. Hassett again won the faceoff back to Wendland. This time, Wendland’s shot was stopped by the Wootton defense on the way to the net. Lightning forward Josh Nadler found the loose puck and he cut into the slot. Nadler’s wrist shot was also blocked by the Wootton defense. The puck landed near Lightning forward Henry Honacki. Honacki sent a spinning backhand pass to Hassett near the left goal post. Hassett moved the puck to his forehand and swept the puck around Yu’s left leg pad into the empty side of the net.

Five minutes later Upper Montgomery’s third overall points leader and second leading goal scorer Philip Shkeda got in on the scoring action. In the offensive zone, Lightning defender Andrew Botti’s shot from the left faceoff circle was wide of the goal. The puck was retrieved by Shkeda in the right corner. Shkeda skated behind the net where he left the puck for Berkhammer on the left side boards. Berkhammer had come way down the boards from his left point position. Berkhammer reached in and chipped the puck to the middle of the ice where it was grabbed by Bernard. Bernard swung around the net from left to right where he threw the puck across the goal mouth to Shkeda. Shkeda banged home the pass at the left post wedging the puck past Yu’s right leg pad for his thirteenth goal of the season.

Up now by four goals, Upper Montgomery was able to turn it up and play fast and loose. The Lightning were in total control of the championship game and kept up the pressure. It was an effort for Wootton just to obtain possession of the puck, and when Hosier was not on the ice the game turned into a shooting contest at Yu.

Forty five seconds after Shkeda’s goal, Upper Montgomery senior Bradley Cupples delivered his third goal of the season. Berkhammer sent an outlet pass from behind his own net to Cupples along the right wing boards. Near the blue line, Cupples swung the puck cross ice to Zheng. Zheng carried the puck out of the Lightning defensive zone to neutral ice and then down into the Patriots defensive zone. At the right faceoff circle Zheng left a drop pass to Cameron. Cameron dumped the puck down the boards and around the Wootton net. Zheng hustled to the puck beating the Wootton defense. He then reversed direction and skated back out to the right goal post. Zheng pass went into the skates of the Wootton defense in the slot. Cameron kicked the puck loose to his stick. In the scramble, the puck eventually found its way to Cupples standing at the left post for an easy tap in goal.

Down 5-0 entering the third period, Wootton’s frustrations began to show. Wootton defender Cole Weber was called for a roughing penalty a minute into the period. It was surprisingly the first and only penalty of the game between the two budding rivals. Although Upper Montgomery failed to score on the powerplay, the Lightning continued with momentum and scored five minutes into the third period to extend the lead to 6-0 and bring the game to running clock.

After a long extended shift in the Wootton defensive zone, Honacki deposited his seventh goal of the season. Shkeda had possession of the puck along the right wing boards. He sent the puck back to Botti at the right point. Botti’s wrist shot was deflected by Hassett out front and Yu made a fine save on the redirection. Honacki was in the right place at the right time and knocked the rebound under Yu’s arm. With ten minutes left in the game, the Lightning faithful began to celebrate the impending championship.

With eight minutes remaining, Hassett scored his final goal of his historic Lightning career. Hassett had possession of the puck behind his own net. He shot the puck to the right wing boards and stepped around a Wootton forward collecting his self pass. Hassett skated down the right wing with speed. At the offensive blue line he cut toward the middle of the ice and then quickly shifted back to the right side. From below the right faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot far side over Yu’s leg pad and under his blocker for the highlight worthy unassisted goal. It was Hassett’s 26th goal of the season and the 62nd goal of his hall of fame career.

With six minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery suffered its only blip of the game. Hosier stole the puck in the neutral zone and cut down the left flank into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His bad angle shot was saved by Lightning goalie Landon Bernard, with the puck deflecting behind the net. Hosier was first to the puck and continued skating around the net from left to right. His wrap around shot beat Bernard before he could come over across the net to stop the stuff attempt.

Within a minute and a half after Wootton’s lone goal of the game, Brandon Bernard extended the Lightning lead to 8-1. Wootton’s defender at the left point in the offensive zone bobbled the puck. He then attempted to shoot toward the Lightning net, but his shot was blocked by Bernard sending Bernard off on a two on one rush with Shkeda. Bernard skated down the right wing all the way to the right faceoff circle in the Wootton defensive zone. His wrist shot from the faceoff dot went low short side past Yu’s glove for his tenth goal of the season. It was another unassisted goal as the Lightning’s experienced skaters were now having fun pouring on the offense.

As the clocked ticked toward zero and with the Lightning spectators cheering with appreciation for a well earned championship victory, Upper Montgomery would put one more home. Icing on the cake. With the puck in the Wootton defensive zone, Bernard sent a pass from the right wing boards to Botti at the right point. Botti’s dipping slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle went under Yu’s glove.

In the Montgomery Hockey Conference tournament championship game, the team was led by leading scorer senior center Chris Hassett who tallied two goals while adding three assists. Brandon Bernard finished his high school career with a big game netting two goals and two assists. Senior Hunter Cameron and juniors Andrew Botti and Henry Honacki each added a goal and an assist. Sophomore defender Brady Berkhammer dished out two assists. Senior forward Bradley Cupples and sophomore forward Philip Shkeda each scored in the drubbing of Wootton as well. Senior netminder Landon Bernard finished out his career with the convincing victory allowing only one goal and making fifteen saves.

After the conclusion of the obligatory handshake line, the Upper Montgomery varsity team celebrated on the ice with team pictures, and individual student pictures with the championship trophy. While the Lightning did not reach the state playoffs this year, the team did finish with a championship and the most successful season in program history. The team’s seniors concluded their high school careers with a victory in their final game.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery vastly outshot Wootton during the game, 39 to 16 with at least a seven shot margin in all three periods of play.
• Upper Montgomery has now beaten former perennial powerhouse Wootton three straight times (8-2 and 4-2 in both games last season, and then destroying the Patriots 9-1 this afternoon).
• Lightning seniors; Sean Levine (JV playoffs), Olivia Robbins, Adam Levine, Bradley Cupples, Brandon Bernard, Hunter Cameron, and Chris Hassett all scored goals in the last game they played for the Upper Montgomery program.
• Career Stats for the 2023 – 2024 Lightning senior class:
  • Defender Jake Roth–Varsity–(5GP, 1A)–Junior Varsity–(21GP, 5A).
  • Defender Sean Levine–Varsity–(4GP)—Junior Varsity–(22GP, 5G, 7A).
  • Goalie Landon Bernard–Varsity–(43GP, 16W, 22L, 3T, 2 Shutouts, .855 Save Percentage, 4.07 Goals Against Average)–Junior Varsity (30GP, 12W, 14L, 5T, 1 Shutout, .876 Save Percentage, 3.21 Goals Against Average.
  • Bradley Cupples–Varsity–(57GP, 13G, 30A)–Junior Varsity–(17GP, 7G, 8A).
  • Adam Levine–Varsity–(22GP, 4G, 5A)–Junior Varsity–(42GP, 8G, 15A).
  • Brandon Bernard–Varsity–(59GP, 23G, 17A)–Junior Varsity–(20GP, 9G, 12A).
  • Olivia Robbins–Varsity–(45GP, 13G, 18A).
  • Hunter Cameron–Varsity–(59GP, 20G, 24A)–Junior Varsity–(6GP, 1G, 4A).
  • Chris Hassett–Varsity–(59GP, 62G, 64A)–Junior Varsity–(1GP, 2G)—Junior Varsity Goalie–(6GP, 3W, .810 Save Percentage, 3.91 Goals Against Average).

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 3 Assists
Third Star—Kevin Yu—Wootton Goalie—30 Saves

The Upper Montgomery Lightning atoned for an ugly Halloween performance by stifling the Sherwood Warriors 5-1 to advance to the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Championship game. The semifinal matchup turned into a story of which team could overcome the absence of their key contributors. Sherwood features a dynamic duo offensive threat in center Noi Jonasson and the Warriors’ leading scorer, senior forward Grayson Winckler. When both are present, the Warriors are a very dangerous team. In Wednesday’s semifinal matchup Jonasson missed the game due to a conflict with his external AAA travel team.

Upper Montgomery shed no tears as the Lightning were missing many core student athletes themselves. Junior AAA center Ryan Jacobson missed the game injured. Junior AA forward, and the team’s second leading scorer, Nathan Cassel missed the game injured. Depth forward, senior Adam Levine missed the game injured. Senior AAA forward Olivia Robbins missed the game with an external travel team conflict. Sophomore AA defender Owen Robbins missed the game with an external travel team conflict. Five regulars were out of the Lightning lineup for the semifinal matchup.

With so much talent out of their lineup, the Lightning game plan centered around swarming Winckler and forcing the rest of the Warriors lineup to win the game. Upper Montgomery’s revamped first line of senior co-captain and leading scorer Chris Hassett playing between regular winger Philip Shkeda and senior Brandon Bernard were the most dangerous trio on the ice. The line propelled the Lightning to victory with Hassett scoring four goals set up primarily by Bernard and Shkeda. The Lightning’s second and third lines did an excellent job of playing defensive hockey. Upper Montgomery senior goalie, Landon Bernard played a solid game stopping 26 of 27 shots on goal to secure the win.

Upper Montgomery jumped out to an early 1-0 lead three minutes into the game. Off of a faceoff from the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Lightning senior co-captain Hunter Cameron won the draw back to ninth grade defender Miles Wendland at the left point. Wendland’s wrist shot was deflected by junior forward Henry Honacki who had slipped behind the Sherwood defense. Honacki’s deflection beat Warriors goalie Samuel Hutt near side along the ice past his goalie stick.

Two and a half minutes after the Lightning jumped in front, Hassett was called for a hooking penalty. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers led by junior defender Andrew Botti and sophomore defender Brady Berkhammer helped keep the Warriors at bay. Just more than halfway through the powerplay, Sherwood was penalized for too many skaters on the ice after a poor line change. The miscue ended the Warriors powerplay early, and after a short period of four on four play Upper Montgomery then went on its first powerplay of the game. Similar to the Warriors earlier powerplay, the Lightning also failed to capitalize with the extra skater.

With three and a half minutes remaining in the first period, Upper Montgomery would open up a 2-0 lead. This time, the faceoff was in the right faceoff circle in the Lightning’s offensive zone in front of Hutt. Upper Montgomery had possession of the puck inside the offensive zone for 45 seconds working the puck around. Botti held the puck at the left point where he sent the puck down the boards and around net to Shkeda. Shkeda reversed direction back behind the net and sent the puck to Brandon Bernard in the left faceoff circle. With his stick tied up, Bernard kicked the puck over to Hassett who was near the left goal post. Hassett went back behind the net from left to right where he attempted to send a cross ice pass. Hassett’s pass was blocked by the Sherwood defense with the puck bounding back behind the net once again. Bernard retrieved the puck and curled up to the right faceoff circle where he fed Hassett now stationed in front of the net. Hassett faked to his backhand and then moved the puck over to his forehand before he put a well placed shot to the wide side of the net along the ice and past Hutt’s glove hand.

The first period ended with Upper Montgomery ahead 2-0 while outshooting the Warriors fourteen to eight. It was a period controlled by the Lightning with Sherwood trying everything possible to free up Winckler to allow him to spark the Warriors offensively. In the team’s regular season game, Winckler had a hat-trick and added three assists in the Warriors 9-7 win.

The second period played out like a replica of the first period. An early Upper Montgomery goal made the score 3-0, then Upper Montgomery and Sherwood took penalties, then a second Lightning scoring strike, and Upper Montgomery outshooting Sherwood by a healthy margin. On the first shift of the period, Hassett scored his second goal of the game to put Upper Montgomery up 3-0. The goal definitely took some of the pressure off the Lightning who continued play with a solid lead. In the right corner of his defensive zone, Hassett intercepted a pass on the back check. He sent the puck up the right wing boards to Bernard. Bernard lost control of the puck but was once again able to kick the puck forward to Hassett in the neutral zone. Hassett continued up the right wing side of the ice where he jumped past the Sherwood left defender to the inside. Clear of the defender he sent a pass over to Shkeda. Shkeda unleashed a wrist shot toward the goal where Hutt made a glove hand save with the puck caroming to the left wing boards. Berkhammer kept the play alive near his right point position, coming down into the offensive zone to possess the puck. Berkhammer’s flip shot from the boards was stopped on its way to the net by Hassett. Hassett then uncorked a snap shot that went short side past Hutt’s left arm and glove into the net.

Less than a minute and a half later, Upper Montgomery junior defender Cole Howerton was called for a tripping penalty when he rode a Warriors forward wide. The Sherwood skater lost an edge and fell. There was no penalty deserved yet the Lightning were once again shorthanded. Upper Montgomery killed off the Sherwood powerplay with ease. At the nine minute mark of the second period Sherwood forward Charles Sickel was given a ten minute misconduct penalty for his comments toward the officials after he thought he was fouled and no penalty was called.

That sequence also started Upper Montgomery’s offensive play culminating with the Lightning’s fourth goal of the evening. A Sherwood turnover at neutral ice was caused by a poke check from Shekda. Bernard carried the puck into the offensive zone entering over the blue line in the middle of the ice. Bernard returned a pass to Shkeda down the left side. Shkeda fired on net from a bad angle and Hutt made an easy save. However, rebound control was an issue and the puck went to Hassett. With no angle to shoot, Hassett curled back up ice into the left faceoff circle. From the inside edge of the left faceoff circle Hassett fired a wrist shot short side, mid goal height, that went past Hutt’s blocker for his hat-trick marker.

At four to nothing, Upper Montgomery played to keep the clock moving and to play excellent team defense. Whenever the puck went near Winckler, two Upper Montgomery skaters jumped in his way. The Lightning’s defensive strategy forced Winckler to give up possession of the puck. Or, if Winckler pressed play, the aggressive Upper Montgomery defense created turnovers which Upper Montgomery cleared down ice. The Warriors were then forced to go the entire length of the ice through the Lightning’s defensive posture to generate offensive looks. Upper Montgomery’s strategy worked very well with the second period ending with the Lightning ahead 4-0, and outshooting Sherwood fourteen to six in the middle period.

With desperation mounting and only fifteen minutes remaining in their season, Sherwood came out with renewed effort in the third period. That effort, coupled with Upper Montgomery’s focus on the defensive side of the ice, helped Sherwood outshoot Upper Montgomery twelve to ten in the final period. Lightning goalie Landon Bernard was far busier in the third period than he had been over the first thirty minutes of action making several solid saves to keep Upper Montgomery well in front.

Just over a minute into the third period, Sherwood would finally get on the scoreboard. In front of his own net, Sherwood defender Noah Temenak chipped the puck with his backhand over to Winckler. Winckler skated the entire length of the ice down the right wing, from his defensive zone into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His shot from the right faceoff circle was blocked by Botti who was in excellent defensive position. Unfortunately, the puck bounced immediately to Sherwood forward Cameron Colandro. Colandro was prepared for the puck’s change of direction and instantly in shooting motion where he fired the puck past Bernard’s left leg and glove.

Sherwood had a bit of momentum that was immediately blunted by the Lightning’s top line. Forty seconds into the next shift, with the puck along the side boards in the Sherwood defensive zone, Bernard worked the puck loose to Shkeda in the right faceoff circle. Shkeda’s wrist shot was saved by Hutt, but Hassett was there to knock home the rebound. With their four goal lead restored, the Lightning resumed strong defensive play.

With ten minutes remaining in the game, Honacki was called for a high sticking penalty. The Upper Montgomery penalty kill was up to the challenge once again and kept Sherwood from scoring. Then, as the clock ticked towards four minutes left, it was Howerton back to the penalty box for his own high sticking penalty. A minute into the fourth Sherwood powerplay of the night, Botti was assessed another high sticking penalty putting the Lightning down two skaters. Upper Montgomery throttled the Warriors attempts and Bernard was there to make timely saves. As first Howerton’s penalty expired, and then Botti’s penalty ended, it became clear that the final minute of regulation would play out with both teams realizing that the outcome had been decided.

Upper Montgomery will play for the most important championship in program history tomorrow when the Lightning face the Wootton Patriots in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament Championship game. It will be a matchup of the top two teams not invited to the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs. After not beating Wootton for the first fourteen years of the Upper Montgomery program’s existence, Upper Montgomery swept Wootton last year winning 8-2 and then 4-2 in the rematch. Tomorrow, the Lightning hope to make it three straight wins over the Patriots culminating in the traditional stake around the rink with the championship trophy held high.

Game Notes:

• Lightning senior co-captain and leading scorer Chris Hassett scored four goals versus the Warriors one game after scoring a career high five goals versus Northwest / Quince Orchard.
• Upper Montgomery forward Brandon Bernard contributed three assists in the game.
• Upper Montgomery forward Philip Shkeda also contributed three assists in the game.
• Upper Montgomery outshot Sherwood 38 to 27 for the game.
• Upper Montgomery finishes the season tomorrow against arch rival Wootton in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament Championship game. Puck drop is 4:20 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—4 Goals
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 26 Saves, .963 Save Percentage
Third Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Assists