Category: Game Recaps

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity capped an undefeated regular season (9-0-1 record) with a 4-3 victory over the Blair Blazers on Thursday evening. The Lightning set a junior varsity program record with their ninth win of the season and the 2023 – 2024 squad will also have the program’s best winning percentage when the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoff tournament concludes. The ten game points streak is another program record. The win over Blair on Thursday evening clinched the number two seed in the county playoff tournament, with only the tie against Churchill a few weeks back preventing the Lightning from winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season championship.

The game itself was a microcosm of the season. Defend well enough, block lots and lots of shots, muck it up all over the ice, kill penalties, rely on 9th grade netminder Shterenberg to make timely saves, score just enough to prevail, and then spend the final minutes of the game in scramble mode defending all over the ice. If this sounds like a redundant encapsulation of the season, it is. But, the ugly hockey, puck support, playing for their teammates, and simply just finding a way to get it done led to this historic regular season. Come the playoffs, things change, and they change quickly, just like the opening to the Blair game.

On the second shift of the contest Upper Montgomery would jump to a quick lead. After a reset in the neutral zone, Lightning forward Jason Woodman shot the puck across the ice from the right wing boards to the left wing boards. Lightning defender Cole Howerton collected the puck between the red line and his own defensive blue line. Using his speed, he skated down the left wing side of the ice and into the offensive zone. He came deep through the left faceoff circle before cutting toward the net. With the puck slightly behind him, Howerton fired a wrist shot far side past Blazers goalie Lily Ben David’s glove. It was Howerton’s fifth goal of the season and came just 1:12 into the contest.

With four minutes left in the first period, Blair would tie the game. The Upper Montgomery defense got caught up ice and it led to a Blair counter rush down the left side of the ice. The offside defender closed on Blair center Mason Boucher. Shterenberg made a save on Boucher’s shot with his right leg pad. Both Boucher and the Lightning defender went past the rebound. Unfortunately for Upper Montgomery, the trailing forwards were still too far away on the backcheck to swat the puck from harm. Blazers forward Chloe Ciabotti shoveled the puck past Shterenberg before any of the Lightning could recover.

A minute after Ciabotti’s goal, Blair would go to what would be the game’s only powerplay when Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for hooking. As the team has done all season long, the penalty kill thwarted the extra skater advantage. Both teams headed to intermission with the score tied at one. Blair fired twelve shots on goal while Upper Montgomery countered with seven.

The second period followed a similar pattern. The teams traded chances and both goalies kept the score even. Halfway through the second period, Sell charged up ice with the puck. He flipped the puck into the offensive zone down the left wing boards and followed in after his dump in. Blair’s defense got to the puck and attempted to clear their defensive zone to the far side. The clearing attempt hit Sell near the right goal post. The puck squirted to the front of the net where Ben David took things into her own hands. She attempted to fire the puck out of the zone herself. She did not get much on the clearing attempt and sent the puck directly up the slot to one of Upper Montgomery’s top offensive threats, TJ Gottesman. Gottesman had time to stop the puck and flick a wrist shot from the top of the circles into the wide open unguarded net.

Playing with the lead once again, Upper Montgomery seemed to relax a bit. Blair had several good scoring chances before Benjamin Giblin scored his second goal of the season on a wrap around play. Giblin collected the puck in the right corner. He trundled around the net from right to left. With the puck on his backhand he flung the puck toward the net from a bad angle. The puck went far side on Shterenberg and into the net to tie the score at two. Both teams were credited with ten shots on goal in the second period showing just how evenly the game had been through two periods of play.

Upper Montgomery began to play more aggressively in the third period and carried play. Early in the period Ben David made some nice saves with her leg pads to keep the score tied. Four minutes into the third period, the Lightning scored off yet another faceoff play. It is the sixth goal in recent games that has come directly off a faceoff win by senior co-captain Adam Levine. This time Levine shot the puck forward off the draw directly on net. The puck was in Ben David’s feet when Gottesman began poking and swatting at the puck. He connected and pushed the loose puck past Ben David into the net to give Upper Montgomery a 3-2 lead.

With two minutes and thirty seconds left in the game Gottesman would give the Lightning a little breathing room. Howerton advanced the puck up the right wing boards from his defensive zone. Gottesman coming over from the center of the ice took control of the puck skating into the offensive zone. When he reached the middle point of the right faceoff circle, he fired far side past Ben David’s blocker. With a two goal lead, all Upper Montgomery needed to do was play stellar defense, knock pucks clear of the defensive zone, dump pucks in deep behind the Blair net, and escape with their undefeated season. If it were only that simple.

Once Blair got the puck in deep into the Upper Montgomery zone, Ben David went to the bench for an extra skater. Blair controlled the shift with multiple shots fired toward Shterenberg. Many of the shots were blocked by Levine and fellow Lightning forward AJ Marks. A few shots went wide of the net and a couple of others rolled in on Shterenberg which he swatted into the corner. Eventually, Upper Montgomery cleared the zone and managed to get a face off at center ice. Back into the net went Ben David. The next shift was a carbon copy of the last shift. Ben David made it back to the bench, enter the extra skater. Plenty of Blair pressure and lots of Upper Montgomery scrambling around in the defensive zone. Eventually, Boucher emerged from the right corner boards with the puck. As he got to the right of Shterenberg, he made a nice cross crease pass to Blair’s leading scorer William Campbell. Campbell had the entire back side of the net wide open and fired the puck past a lunging Shterenberg. With fifty five seconds remaining in the third period, it was back to a one goal game.

Upper Montgomery played the final shift of the game much better. Levine won yet another faceoff at center ice allowing the Lightning to control the puck and get organized in the neutral zone. Although Upper Montgomery failed to get the puck in deep, the puck did get to the top of the circles in the Blair defensive zone. Fore checking pressure by the forwards prevented the Blazers from getting the puck into the Lightning defensive zone with possession. It took until there was only seventeen seconds remaining in the game before Ben David was able to get back to the bench for the extra skater. Blair did finally get the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone along the right wing boards. The puck made it just past the blue line, but Upper Montgomery muscled up and shoved the puck back to neutral ice. One final clear in by the Blazers was retrieved and immediately cleared back out to center ice by the Lightning defense finishing off an outstanding, undefeated regular season.

Next up for the Lightning junior varsity is a quarterfinal game in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. The team’s opponent will be determined early next week after all of the opening round games have concluded.

Game Notes:

• TJ Gottesman has scored in the last five games he has played in.
• It was TJ Gottesman’s second career hat-trick.
• Adam Levine ran his consecutive games points streak to seven straight games.
• TJ Gottesman and Josh Nadler both have three game winning goals.
• Ilan Shterenberg tied the junior varsity program record for wins in a season with his eighth victory.
• Ilan Shterenberg finished the regular season with an 8-0-1 record, a 1.67 goals against average, and a .931 save percentage.
• Shots on goal for the game were even with each team firing 28 shots on goal.
• Upper Montgomery returns to game action on Friday evening, January 12th for their start to the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoff tournament. Game time for the quarterfinal round is late night, a 10:00 pm start. The Lightning’s opponent will be determined after the opening round action concludes early in the upcoming week.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals
Second Star—Danilo Azcarate—Blair Defense
Third Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday’s season opener well prepared for how the Whitman Vikings were going to play the game. The Vikings defend very well and play a structured team game with their forwards coming back hard on the backcheck. To beat Whitman a team needs to play dump and chase hockey and muck it up along the boards. The games against Whitman rarely are visually pleasing with a significant amount of fighting for every inch all over the ice and then converting on scoring chances when they present. For two periods the Lightning and Vikings battled in a game of evenly matched squads. Then, a backbreaking goal scored with one second remaining in the second period completely turned the game. Losing composure and playing with a condensed lineup, the Lightning collapsed in the third period turning an even game into a foul looking lopsided 7-2 Whitman decision. The game was much closer than the final score would indicate.

The first period opened with both teams eager to show the other squad that they were serious contenders in the upper division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The opening shift saw big hits delivered on both sides. A minute into the contest Vikings forward Samuel Van Leeuwen was called for a two minute penalty for head contact and he was also given a ten minute misconduct for the foul. The penalty was a marginal call against Van Leeuwen, and maybe a signal to both teams to focus on playing hockey rather than running around throwing body checks. Whitman had no trouble on the penalty kill and prevented the Lightning from controlling play in the offensive zone even though Upper Montgomery had the extra skater on the ice.

With 3:30 left in the opening period, Whitman went on the powerplay after an elbowing penalty was assessed against Upper Montgomery forward Nathan Cassel. Although Whitman pressed play with the extra skater, Upper Montgomery was able to kill off the powerplay keeping the game scoreless. Thirty seconds after the powerplay ended, Whitman jumped out in front. Vikings defender Nicholas Huguely dumped the puck in deep behind the Lightning net. Whitman forward Andrew Fou outraced the Lightning defense to the puck. He centered out front to Vikings center Charles Ingis in the slot. Ingis wasting no time was ready to unleash a snap shot and he banged the puck past Upper Montgomery goalie Landon Bernard for the game’s opening tally. The first period ended with Whitman in front by one goal while shots on goal were relatively even, Upper Montgomery with seven and Whitman with six.

Three minutes into the second period, the Lightning would tie up the game. Upper Montgomery senior co-captain Hunter Cameron playing defense this season intercepted a bad Whitman clearing attempt. The puck had been sent up the center of the ice in the Whitman defensive zone. Cameron made a quick stick handle and ripped a wrist shot stick side past Vikings goaltender Ryan Graf for the unassisted goal. For Cameron it was a quick start to the 2023 – 2024 season after struggling offensively last year to find the back of the net. With the game tied at one, both teams dropped back and played strong defense. There were many dump ins to the offensive zone, pucks lobbed back out to center, rush attempts with shots taken from long range, blocked shots by each team’s defense, and harmless shots from the perimeter by the outside edges of the faceoff circles.

Then, with time running down in the second period, with just ten seconds remaining before the second period intermission, the entire complexion of the game instantly changed. Upper Montgomery cleared the defensive zone with six seconds left in the period. The puck was retrieved by Van Leeuwen in the neutral zone and carried into the offensive zone along the left wing boards. Van Leeuwen was ridden off the puck in the left corner where Vikings defender Mason Cohen slung the puck toward the net. Bernard made the save with the puck shooting into the air and into the slot area with time running out. The puck neared Whitman forward Benjamin Luo who smacked the puck out of mid air with his stick below shoulder height toward the net. The puck crossed the goal line just prior to the buzzer sounding to end the period. It was a jarring end to the period for the Lightning after the teams had played evenly through the first thirty minutes of game action.

With Upper Montgomery now trailing entering the third period, several of the team’s student athletes tried to do too much individually to help the team get back even. This was counterproductive and led to a loss of focus on the game plan resulting in a meltdown in the third period. First, two minutes into the third period, Cohen advanced the puck up the right wing boards in his defensive end. A poor decision by the Lightning defense to pinch at the offensive blue line led to a full ice breakaway for Ingis. He skated in on Bernard before lifting a wrist shot high over the netminder’s glove hand to extend the Whitman lead to 3-1. It was Ingis’ second goal of the game.

Whitman’s third goal started an onslaught. With 9:30 left in the game, a turnover just inside the Lightning defensive blue line led to a quick transition counter attack. Huguely poke checked and intercepted the puck. He quickly passed down low to an unguarded Luo who easily put the puck past Bernard for his second goal of the game. Twenty second later the score would balloon to 5-1 when Jacob Lerman let loose with a slap shot that went low past Bernard’s leg pads. Huguely picked up his third assist of the game on the play with Zack Krauss also assisting on the goal.

A few minutes later Lightning defender Owen Robbins was called for roughing. While shorthanded the Lightning would temporarily claw closer. At neutral ice, Cameron stole another errant Vikings pass exiting the Whitman defensive zone. He passed to the right wing to Cassel. Cassel skated into the offensive zone down the right hand side of the ice. He fed the front of the net where Cameron was charging down the slot and cutting in front of the net. Cameron buried the feed for the shorthanded goal, his second goal of the game.

Upper Montgomery could not take advantage of the momentum. Down three goals with 6:45 to play the Lightning were able to finish off the successful penalty kill. Then, back to back quick in succession Whitman goals with 4:30 left in the game ended the scoring. First, Fou passed from the left circle to the center point area of the blue line. Kraus received the pass and shot from long distance past several skater’s legs into the far side of the goal past Bernard’s leg pads. Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, Whitman advanced the puck to the right faceoff circle where Fou scored off of a feed from Kraus.

Upper Montgomery will need to quickly put the disappointment of this game in the rear view mirror. Up next is a critically important contest against the much improved DC Stars. Upper Montgomery will need a victory before a highly anticipated non-conference matchup against private school foe Good Counsel. Losing the season opener is not a severe blow as the Lightning learned last year when the team rebounded from a dreadful start to the season to come oh so close to qualifying for the state playoffs. The same is true this year. While the final score may have looked lopsided, the Lightning were certainly in the game and played Whitman even for two periods. A full three periods will be needed to fight past the DC Stars next week.

Game Notes:

• Whitman outshot the Lightning by a 31-16 margin.
• Cameron’s two goals equaled his total goals scored for the entire season last year.
• Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill shut down both Whitman powerplay opportunities with Cameron scoring while Upper Montgomery was shorthanded.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action next Friday, October 20th versus the DC Stars. Game time is 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Charles Ingis—Whitman Forward—2 Goals
Second Star—Benjamin Luo—Whitman Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Hunter Cameron—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Goals, Including Shorthanded Goal

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faced off on Thursday afternoon against the Churchill Bulldogs. Instead of facing the Bulldogs regular junior varsity squad, the Lightning played against three quarters of the Bulldogs varsity two team. All of the Churchill student athletes were eligible to compete at the junior varsity level, and many would say that the Churchill two varsity team is really a junior varsity team competing against varsity competition. Maybe it was the fear of facing off against one of the best junior varsity teams in the county in the Lightning. Maybe it was respect for Upper Montgomery and wanting to put forth a more challenging game, but the Lightning played a vastly different Churchill junior varsity team than the rest of the teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference had faced. AND, Upper Montgomery should have easily won the game. The Lightning played one of their most frustrating games of the season before settling for a 4-4 tie.

If nothing else, the game was entertaining with rushes up and down the ice. Unfortunately for the Lightning, that is not a style of play that is most effective for the team. Upper Montgomery needs to defend well, clog up the neutral zone and the defensive side of the ice, and make it hard for the opposition to score goals. The game against Churchill turned out to be just the opposite with free flow skating up and down the ice and too many offensive chances.

The first period was up and down the ice. Both teams had chances. Most of Upper Montgomery’s shots were directed right into the pads of Bulldog netminder Lucas Petrosyan who played a stand up style of goaltending. He was credited with twelve saves in the first period, with many of the Lightning shots simply hitting off of him rather than Petrosyan making good saves. At the other end of the ice, Lightning netminder Ilan Shterenberg made eight saves of his own. Each team had a powerplay opportunity in the scoreless period with Upper Montgomery failing to score when Ahmed Elkousy was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the 9:30 mark of the period. Churchill failed to score when Upper Montgomery forward AJ Marks was called for slashing with 2:30 remaining in the period. For the Lightning it was the team’s 21 straight successful penalty kill to begin the season.

It was during the second period when the fireworks began. Just one minute and eight seconds into the middle period the Bulldogs would jump in front. Churchill defender Samuel Lifsey cleared the puck in his defensive zone up the right wing boards. A missed pinch by the Lightning defense at the offensive blue line allowed Churchill center Joseph Ahn to head up ice unimpeded along the right wing boards. Elkousy joined the rush and made it a two on one chance with Lightning defender Jake Roth the only defender back. When Ahn reached the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Roth pressured and closed on him. Ahn was able to slide the puck past Roth to Elkousy charging down the slot with no other Lightning defender able to get back into the play. Elkousy deked and went to his forehand to tuck the puck around the right leg pad of Shterenberg for the breakaway goal.

On the next shift the Lightning would answer right back. Off of a faceoff to the left of Petrosyan, Adam Levine pushed the puck forward attempting a step through play. The Bulldog defense got to the puck first but under pressure from Levine, did not get enough on the clearing attempt to clear the zone. Lightning defender Patrick Sell kept the puck in at the right point. His long range shot was blocked with the puck deflecting down into the right corner right onto the stick of Lightning forward TJ Gottesman. Gottesman’s pass to the slot was behind Levine, with Levine able to touch drag the puck further into the low slot to Marks. Marks’ shot was low along the ice and Petrosyan made a stick save. The puck bounded up in the air behind the net where Gottesman captured the puck exiting the corner. Gottesman continued around the net from right to left and sent a pass into the slot that was collected by Marks. Marks’ second shot of the sequence was a backhand shot that was also stopped by Petrosyan’s stick, but not covered. Gottesman continuing around the net was right there at the left post to shovel the puck over Petrosyan’s right leg pad and into the net to even the score. For Gottesman it was his career high fifth goal of the season. For Levine, it was his team leading seventh assist of the season.

Six minutes later, the Bulldogs would jump back in front. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone, Upper Montgomery got the puck to center ice. Bulldog defender Michael Dong banked the puck off the right wing boards at his defensive zone blue line. The puck was collected by Ahn coming over the offensive blue line. Ahn fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. The harmless shot looked like it was going to be an easy save for Shterenberg, but the puck deflected off the stick of Lightning defender Avery Evans and quickly changed directions, fluttering higher and to the left of its original flight path. The puck settled over Sheterenberg’s blocker and into the top left corner of the net.

Three and a half minutes later, the score would be deadlocked at two. Churchill pressured in the Lightning defensive zone with Roth defending on the puck. The Bulldog forward attempted a pass toward the net from the left corner which clicked off Roth’s skate over to Marks deep along the red goal line extended. Marks flung a well timed clearing attempt / pass out of the defensive zone in the direction of Gottesman on the left wing. Gottesman raced after the puck crossing the offensive blue line just ahead of the Churchill defender trying to hustle back to slow him down. With no one between him and Petrosyan, from the mid-slot area, Gottesman fired low far side past Petroysan’s glove to again knot up the contest, this time at two. The pretty evenly played period ended with each team firing eight shots on goal and each team scoring twice.

The third period started exactly as the second period had, with an early Elkousy goal. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to the Bulldog defensive line. Churchill defender Adam Klewans banked the puck up the left wing boards to Elkousy in the neutral zone. Elkousy skated into the Lightning defensive zone and approached the top of the left faceoff circle. His snap shot ramped up off of Evans stick and launched higher than Shterenberg expected finding its way into the top corner of the net short side over Shterenberg’s catching glove. Upper Montgomery was now down one goal with 12:42 left to go in the game.

Two minutes later the score would be tied for the third time in the game. Levine won a neutral zone faceoff to the right wing boards for Gottesman. Gottesman lost control of the puck, but it was recovered by Roth and shot into the offensive zone. The Churchill defense arrived at the puck first and rimmed the puck around the boards to their right wing inside the defensive zone. The puck took a strange bounce off the boards and caromed into the area of the ice between the top of the left faceoff circle and the blue line. Levine was first to the puck, and he gathered possession of the puck. He stickhandled through and around three Bullddog defenders into the high slot where he fired a low wrist shot back across the direction he had just skated in from. His shot went along the ice past Petrosyan’s right skate and into the far side of the net.

With six and a half minutes left in the third period, the Lightning would take their only lead of the game. Churchill had possession of the puck in their defensive zone. The Bulldog defender shot the puck off the boards into the neutral zone where it was picked up by Marks. Marks skated down the right wing and from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle fired a wrist shot short side high past Petrosyan’s left shoulder for the unassisted goal.

All that remained was for the Lightning to play lock down defense over the remainder of the third period to walk away with their eighth straight victory to begin the season. It was not to be. On the very next shift Churchill would tie the score on a goal that Shterenberg felt he should have saved. Churchill defender Jacob Wiederhorn skated the puck out of his defensive zone into neutral ice. Along the right wing at the benches, Wiederhorn skated into Marks and the puck was left behind. Churchill forward Tye Glazer snagged the puck. Glazer continued the rush up ice and crossed over the offensive blue line before launching a long range slap shot on net. The puck hit a crouching Shterenberg low and continued over his stick and body into the air behind him before settling into the net to once again tie the game with just under six minutes remaining.

The action did not stop. Instead of each team playing solid defense to earn points for a tie, the game opened up with Upper Montgomery having half a dozen incredibly high quality chances to win the game. With just over four minutes left in regulation, Churchill forward Victor Levonenko was called for tripping. The Lightning had several grade A chances on the powerplay around the net with two Levine deflections hitting an unsuspecting Petrosyan and somehow staying out of the net. Just after Levonenko’s penalty expired and the Bulldogs returned to equal strength, Levine sprung Marks with a nifty pass. From the inside edge of the lower left faceoff circle, Marks’ hard wrist shot hit Petrosyan who did not move. The puck just rebounded off the netminder and into the slot.

Upper Montgomery caught another break when they ended regulation and began overtime on the powerplay after Ahn was called for interference with 22 seconds remaining in regulation time. Levine won the faceoff too strongly and the puck leaked out of the offensive zone concluding regulation play knotted at four apiece. Starting overtime with a four on three powerplay, there was lots of open ice. Upper Montgomery controlled play while on the powerplay with Levine having two more good looks at the doorstep. The first was a deflection in front that hit Petrosyan’s leg pads. The second was a shovel shot with Petrosyan trying to cover the puck that also would not go over the goal line. After the powerplay ended, each team had possessions with the puck to suddenly end the game. As time ticked out in overtime, the Lightning’s unbeaten streak remained intact, 7-0-1. The chance to win the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season junior varsity championship took a hit, but other more lofty goals remain.

Next up for the Lightning junior varsity is a game against the highly touted Oakdale Bears. The coaching staff intentionally scheduled this game to allow the junior varsity students to get a sense of what the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament will be like. The Lightning will be an underdog in the Oakdale game and will likely play without two key components, Shterenberg and junior defender Cole Howerton. With a first round bye secured for the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs, Upper Montgomery awaits the results of the opening round of action before their quarterfinal opponent will be determined. Expect that most teams who have varsity student athletes eligible for junior varsity action to drop those student down to participate in the junior varsity playoffs. This tactic is allowed if a student athlete has played in four of the seven junior varsity league games. To prepare for the more talented skaters that the team will face in the playoffs, Upper Montgomery intentionally scheduled the Bears as a means of preparation. The Frederick County junior varsity teams have different rules regarding who may play in junior varsity games. The Lightning expect the non-league contest will feature some very talented Bears upper level skaters.

Game Notes:

• Adam Levine scored a goal and added an assist for the second straight game. He now has points in five straight games.
• Adam Levine leads the team in assists with seven.
• AJ Marks set a career high in points in one game with three against the Bulldogs.
• TJ Gottesman took over the team lead in points with nine on six goals and three assists. His six goals are a career high.
• The four goals given up by the Lightning were the most allowed in a game this season. Prior to the Churchill game, the Lightning had given up only eight goals on the season in seven games, with only two of those goals allowed during the third period of games.
• Shots on goal for the game were basically even, Upper Montgomery with 34 and Churchill with 29.
• Upper Montgomery killed off their only shorthanded situation in the game and remain a perfect 21-21 on the season.
• Upper Montgomery failed on two key powerplay opportunities late in the game and during overtime.
• The Lightning need to win their final conference game of the season to secure a top two seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Tuesday evening, January 2nd for a non-conference game against top junior varsity program Oakdale. Game time is 8:35 pm at Skate Frederick.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—AJ Marks—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Second Star—Ahmed Elkousy—Churchill Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity had yet something more to prove on Wednesday evening. Although undefeated to start the season winning its first six games, the Lightning would be shorthanded against the DC Stars having to play without its top two scorers. Josh Nadler was serving his one game supplemental discipline for his fight in the Richard Montgomery game, and TJ Gottesman missed the game for undisclosed reasons. Between the two forwards, they had scored eleven of the 21 goals tallied by Upper Montgomery. Even though shorthanded, Upper Montgomery played ‘its’ style of hockey, and the complete team effort propelled the Lightning to a thrilling 3-0 shutout victory. With the win, the Lightning need to win one of their final two conference games to secure a first round bye in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. The victory also puts the team in sight of setting the Upper Montgomery junior varsity single season record for wins in a season.

From the outset it was clear that Upper Montgomery was going to lean on Shterenberg to shut down the Stars. The team focused on the defensive side of the game and rarely penetrated into the Stars offensive zone. The Lightning protected the high danger regions in front of Shterenberg. The team settled for clearing the puck out of the zone and making quick line changes to stay as fresh as possible. The DC Stars played their system well and kept up the pressure for the entire period. With three minutes to go in the frame, Lightning forward Jason Woodman was called for cross checking a DC Stars skater prone on the ice. It was not a good penalty to take as the play was not anywhere near the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. As the team has done all season long, the Lightning penalty kill snuffed out the late first period DC Stars powerplay. Although outshot badly in the first period, eight to one, the teams entered the first intermission scoreless.

The first twelve minutes of the second period were a repeat of the first period. The DC Stars controlled the tempo and pace of the game, and Upper Montgomery throttled the Stars in the defensive zone. Shterenberg was there to make timely saves when needed. He finished with seven in the period. The Stars had another crack at the powerplay when Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for tripping at the twelve minute mark of the second period. Again, the strong Lightning penalty kill prevailed and ran its season long kill streak to a perfect twenty for twenty on the season. With three minutes left in the second period Upper Montgomery had increased its shots on goal total to three. Upper Montgomery had begun to generate a few more chances, but Cole Howerton kept firing wrist shots wide of the net.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the period, Upper Montgomery’s patience and defensive tenacity paid dividends. Lightning defender Avery Evans held the neutral zone along the left wing boards. A DC Stars attempted dump into the Lightning zone ricocheted back toward the DC Stars defensive zone. Lightning forward, senior Sean Levine, coming off the bench on a line change found himself behind the Stars defense. He came in all alone on Stars netminder Liam Parkinson from the blue line in. He faked a shot, and then moved left to his backhand elevating the shot over Parkinson’s right leg pad. It was a sweet finish and the nicest junior varsity goal scored to that point of the season. It also gave the Lightning a lead in yet another tight defensive contest.

Sean Levine’s goal gave the Lightning a jolt of energy. On the very next shift Upper Montgomery would push the lead to two with an amazing highlight reel goal scored by Lightning center and senior co-captain Adam Levine, no relation. A failed Stars clearing attempt up the right wing boards was kept in at the point by Evans. She pushed the puck forward a few feet into open space. Levine tracked the puck from behind the goal, secured the puck, and then curled toward the net from high in the offensive zone. As he neared the top of the left faceoff circle, he faked as if he was going down the slot. He then curled the puck back to the outside of the circle and pushed the puck through the onrushing Stars defender. The juke completely faked out the Stars defender who twirled wildly past Levine. The moment Levine was clear of the defender, he snapped a shot from the bottom of the left circle far side high. The puck whizzed above Parkinson’s glove hand into the crux of the corner of the net. The Lightning bench erupted in hoots and hollers with the varsity student athletes in attendance also celebrating the goal.

With a two goal lead heading into the third period and with tired legs, the Lightning seemed to relax. It was a mistake as the DC Stars upped the pressure around Shterenberg. He made several strong saves to keep the Stars at bay. The first five minutes of the period looked like the Lightning were stuck in quicksand with the Stars getting to every loose puck and continuing to apply pressure. It was an effort for the Lightning just to get the puck to neutral ice and clamber to the bench for a line change.

With nine minutes remaining in the game, Stars forward Eli Schwartz was called for holding. Upper Montgomery had its first powerplay of the game. The penalty took some of the momentum away from the Stars as they focused on the penalty kill rather than continuing to attack offensively. It would eventually be their downfall. A faceoff play originating from just outside the Lightning defensive zone along the right wing boards put Upper Montgomery up three to nothing. Adam Levine, who once again killed it on faceoffs in the game (15-5), intentionally won the puck to the open wing to Aiden Zheng. Zheng received the puck and began racing up ice. As he hit the offensive blue line, he cut toward the slot inside the left defender. As he found space, he unloaded a wrist shot that went far side past Parkinson’s blocker. The Lightning powerplay goal took the steam out of the Stars. The Lightning just needed to hold on over the final eight minutes of the game to remain undefeated.

With the three goal lead Upper Montgomery just sat back and played defense. With seven minutes to go in the game, a checking from behind boarding penalty to Stars forward Adam Chilbert put Upper Montgomery back on the powerplay. With the three goal lead and an incredibly tired group of skaters, the Lightning played safe hockey. They focused on keeping the Stars from skating the puck into the defensive side of the ice. As time wound down, each defensive zone clear provided a chance to stream for the bench and a line change to get more rested skaters back onto the ice surface. Over the last two minutes of the game, the Lightning barely moved outside their defensive blue line clogging up the ice and limiting the Stars from entering the offensive zone. At last, the final buzzer sounded. The worn out Lightning skaters slowly moved around Shterenberg to offer congratulations while hunched over. It was an excellent team effort to gut out yet another win.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is a game against the Churchill Bulldogs. The game is one where Upper Montgomery will be favored, but will only win if the team plays hard, aggressive defensive hockey. A win will earn the team a first round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs and a top two seeding. Upper Montgomery will see the return of its top two scorers for the contest and if the squad is focused on the task at hand, the team should be able to pull through and earn another victory. As he has been all season long, Shterenberg is the difference maker that the team will lean on once again. A win will keep the Lightning in striking distance of winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season title which would be a first in program history.

Game Notes:

• The victory over the Stats was the junior varsity’s seventh consecutive victory to start the season.
• Ilan Shterenberg set a program record with his third shutout of the season. Shterenberg’s personal statistics are a 7-0 record, a 1.16 goals against average, and a .950 save percentage.
• The Lightning have given up only eight goals on the season in seven games, with only two goals allowed in the third period of games.
• Shots on goal for the game were lopsided in favor of the DC Stars, 25-10. Upper Montgomery had only three shots on goal with three minutes remaining in the second period.
• Upper Montgomery’s top two leading scorers, Josh Nadler and TJ Gottesman both missed the game.
• Upper Montgomery again went 2-2 on the penalty kill and remains a perfect 20-20 on the season.
• Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay and increased is powerplay success rate to 25.0%.
• The Lightning need to win one of their final two conference games to secure an opening round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Thursday afternoon, December 21st against the Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is 4:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Center—Highlight Reel Goal, 1 Assist, 15-5 on Faceoffs
Second Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—25 Save Shutout Victory
Third Star—Sean Levine—Richard Montgomery Forward—Game Winning Goal

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity had something to prove on Friday evening. Although undefeated to start the season winning its first five games, the Lightning had not played an arduous schedule. That changed on Friday night facing the top ranked Richard Montgomery Rockets. Upper Montgomery played its style of hockey, and the complete team effort propelled the Lightning to a thrilling 3-2 victory. With the win, the Lightning need to win two of their final three games to secure a first round bye in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. The victory also guarantees that the Lightning will finish the season with a winning record.

From the outset it was clear that the Rockets possessed the more talented individual skaters. Richard Montomery rushed the puck up ice and Upper Montgomery was forced to defend. This type of game is familiar for the Lightning junior varsity as they have come to rely on the strong goaltending of 9th grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg to backstop the team. Upper Montgomery’s defensive system of keeping play to the outside, chipping pucks out of the defensive zone, icing the puck to slow down play, and getting the puck to the center red line and dumping it into the zone has nullified the play of the opposition’s top skaters. Timely goal scoring has not hurt either.

With just over six minutes remaining in the first period, the Rockets would jump out in front. Richard Montgomery senior defender Jack Evans took control of the puck in neutral ice along the Lightning blue line. He entered the offensive zone on the left wing. When he reached the left faceoff circle, he fired a pass across the crease to a streaking Connor Myers who had slipped inside of the Lightning defense. Myers was ahead of the Upper Montgomery defense, and he tapped the puck in from the back post past Shterenberg who had to make sure that Evans did not unleash a shot on net.

A minute later the Lightning were forced to kill a roughing penalty to forward Jason Woodman. As they have all season long, the Upper Montgomery penalty killers did an outstanding job and prevented the Rockets from extending their lead. Sheterenberg was strong on the penalty kill making three saves while Richard Montgomery had the extra skater. The opening period concluded with Richard Montgomery outshooting the Lightning by a thirteen to five margin with Upper Montgomery never really testing Rockets goaltender Gregory Saffell.

The second period started similar to the first. Richard Montgomery controlling pace of play and Upper Montgomery defending and executing on the defensive side of the puck. Just over halfway through the period, Upper Montgomery broke through and tied up the game. Lightning junior co-captain Josh Nadler dumped the puck from neutral ice down into the left wing corner. The puck was played by Saffell behind his net. Lightning forward Aiden Zheng crashed in hard on the forecheck. Zheng swung his stick and smacked at the puck making contact. The puck ramped up the stick of the Richard Montgomery defender and popped into the air. The flight of the puck tumbled up over the back side of the cage, hit the netting on top of the goal, and caromed forward. The puck banked off Saffell’s back and landed across the goal line. It was a fortuitous flight path the puck took to settle into the back of the net. In Upper Montgomery’s case, it was par for the course as the ugly, gritty goal was right up its alley and fitting for its style of play. The second period ended tied with the Rockets firing eleven shots at Shterenberg and Upper Montgomery being credited with four shots on Saffell. The two period shots on goal total was 24-9 in favor of the Rockets and was a true indication of how the game was playing out.

The third period became fifteen minutes to determine the top of the conference standings. With the score tied at one, Upper Montgomery was in a very familiar position. A low scoring tight game in the third period. In five of the six games this season, the Lightning junior varsity have either been tied or in one goal games. The flow of the first half of the third period was similar to the opening two frames. Then, Upper Montgomery’s only rush sequence of the game broke the tie. At his own blue line, Lightning forward TJ Gottesman stopped the defensive zone exit pass. He knocked the puck over a few feet to Cole Howerton. Howerton exited the zone and then skated diagonally across the ice to the right wing boards entering the offensive zone. He carried the puck wide and skated around the Rockets defender. From the bottom of the right circle he sent a pass into the slot for Nadler. Nadler wasted no time sweeping a wrist shot from the low slot five hole on Saffell. The Lightning had battled all evening on the defensive side of the puck and now had the lead with eight minutes remaining in the game.

With just over five minutes left in the game, a key insurance goal would prove critical for Upper Montgomery. Off of a missed pass which caused a Richard Montgomery icing, the faceoff came back into the Rockets defensive zone. Adam Levine, who crushed Urbana in the faceoff dot leading to three Upper Montgomery goals last game, was at it again. He won the faceoff back behind him, but not deep enough for either Lightning defender to reach the puck. He fought off a Rockets defender and pushed the puck back to Behr Schickler at the right point. With the puck on its way to the point, Levine pivoted and headed toward the high slot area. Schickler’s slapshot was deflected by Levine out front at the inside edge of the right faceoff circle. The puck changed directions hitting into Gottesman’s skate and ricocheting past Saffell’s right leg pad. For Gottesman, it was what has become a regular refrain, being in the right spot at the right time to collect points. It was also Upper Montgomery’s fourth goal off of a faceoff play over the past two games.

The Lightning had five minutes to continue to stifle Richard Montgomery to walk out with the victory. It took only thirty seconds for the game to once again become a nailbiter. A failed clear by the Lightning defense was kept in at the right point by Evans. He skated down into the right corner stepping around the Upper Montgomery defender. His pass out front to the slot was blocked but bounced directly back to him. His second pass evaded the Lightning skaters and settled into the slot where high scoring forward Aaron Hwang shot from in front while being checked. The puck beat Shterenberg to close the score to 3-2 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

Far from out of the woods, Upper Montgomery had to sweat through a difficult close to the game. First, Nadler and Rockets forward Edward Bernard got into a skirmish along the end boards behind the Lightning goal. The referees determined that both skaters engaged in a fight which disqualified each skater from the remainder of the game and automatically comes with a three game suspension under USA Hockey’s supplemental discipline system. After the game, league officials subsequently determined that the skirmish was not a fight, and the student athletes will only miss one additional game not three.

In addition to the fight, the referees called a fictitious cross checking penalty on Nadler. The Lightning were forced to kill a Rockets powerplay with 3:30 remaining in the game. Kudos to Levine, Zheng, Howerton, and defenders Miles Wendland, Jake Roth, Patrick Sell, and Avery Evans for clearing pucks, blocking shots, getting in shooting lanes which forced shots wide of the net, and getting the puck out of the zone. But, the job was still far from done. With 1:23 remaining in the game and an offensive zone faceoff, Richard Mongomery pulled Saffell their goalie creating a six on five skater advantage. The final minute of action was a scramble of action as Richard Montgomery controlled the puck in the Lightning defensive end sending shot attempt after shot attempt at Shterenberg to try and tie the score. Upper Montgomery did a terrific job not giving the Rockets any high danger chances and survived until a defensive zone clear with five seconds remaining sealed the victory for Upper Montgomery.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is going to be a tough game against an improved DC Stars squad. The Stars have a 3-2 record this season. The Stars play a low scoring grind it out type of game, a style similar to the Lightning’s. Upper Montgomery will be playing without its top goal scorer in Nadler and will need all of the student athletes to step up and contribute. It will likely be a low scoring affair, a game that Upper Montgomery needs to continue their undefeated season. As always, Shterenberg will need to make some huge saves, and the Lightning will have to commit to stopping the Stars with all five skaters playing with incredible effort and hockey IQ in order to defeat a well coached opponent. A win will keep the Lightning in striking distance of winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season title.

Game Notes:

• The victory over the Rockets was the junior varsity’s sixth consecutive victory to start the season.
• Shots on goal for the game were lopsided in favor of Richard Montgomery, 37-13.
• Josh Nadler scored for the sixth consecutive game. He has scored in each game this season and leads the Lightning junior varsity with seven goals.
• Upper Montgomery went 2-2 on the penalty kill and remains a perfect 18-18 on the season.
• Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay opportunity in the game.
• Nadler will be suspended for the Lightning’s next junior varsity game as he will serve a one game suspension as supplemental discipline for his fight at the end of the game.
• The Lightning need to win two of their final three conference games to secure an opening round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Wednesday night, December 13th against the DC Stars. Game time is 8:00 pm at Wheaton Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 2 GAA, 35 Saves, .941 Save %
Second Star—Jack Evans—Richard Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Brody Evans—Richard Montgomery Defense

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity ran its record to an undefeated 5-0 on the season with a 4-2 non-conference victory over the Urbana Hawks Monday afternoon at Skate Frederick. Both Upper Montgomery and Urbana played with short benches due to injuries and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. But, Upper Montgomery used excellent goaltending from Ilan Shterenberg, dominance in the faceoff circle led by Adam Levine, and complementary team play to defeat an Urbana squad that had some talented skaters, but did not play as a team. The Lightning responded to their poor effort against Rockville in their last game and played with much more effort and determination against Urbana. Upper Montgomery now has five junior varsity victories this season, one more than the team’s total of four victories all of last season.

The start of the game was choppy with lots of whistles and stoppages of play. There was an extended delay as the referees handed out ten misconduct penalties to the Hawks Dimitri Kolmakov and Nico Brown for failure to wear mouthguards. The Lightning’s own Shterenberg was also caught without a mouthguard towards the end of the first period forcing Aiden Zheng to serve ten minutes in the penalty box and miss game action as a result. With only eight skaters, losing Kolmakov and Brown significantly impacted the Hawks not only in the first period but as the game wore on as most of their skaters were gassed having to play almost the entire first period.

Upper Montgomery would open the scoring on a nice shot by Cole Howerton. Howerton, typically a defender, played the first half of the game at forward. Lightning defender Avery Evans broke up an oncoming Urbana rush just inside the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. She passed the puck up ice into space. Howerton rushed up to the puck collecting it at the offensive blue line near the left wing boards. He skated into the offensive zone to the top of the left faceoff circle before letting loose with a sizzling wrist shot that went far side high above the glove hand of Hawks goaltender Chloe Hanson. For Evans, the assist was her first career high school point. For Howerton, it was his fourth goal in five games this season.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, they held the lead for only nine seconds. After a tie up at center ice off the faceoff, Urbana defender Nathan Gu found the loose puck in several skaters’ feet. He skated up ice along the right wing. As he entered the Lightning defensive zone, Gu cut diagonally through the top of the right faceoff circle into the slot. His speed allowed him to beat the Upper Montgomery defense to create a high danger shot. His wrist shot went five hole, between Shterenberg’s legs to even the score at one.

On the first shift of the second period, the Hawks would briefly take the lead. After a routine save by Shterenberg, a scramble ensued in the slot. The puck was pushed into the right corner by the Lightning defense. Kolmakov got to the puck first. He sent a quick backhand pass back towards the top of the inside of the right faceoff circle. The pass went straight to Hawks forward and leading scorer Patrick Terrebonne. Terrebonne’s shot through a screen went low stick side past Shterenberg to put Urbana up two to one.

Similar to the first period, on the next shift Upper Montgomery would immediately answer. After an Urbana icing, the faceoff came back into the Hawks defensive zone. The draw was in the right faceoff circle. Levine won the draw cleanly and directly left to Upper Montgomery’s leading scorer Josh Nadler positioned in the slot. In one motion, Nadler slapped the oncoming puck far side past Hanson’s right leg pad to even the score at two.

Halfway through the second period the Lightning got themselves into trouble with penalties. First, TJ Gottesman was called for roughing. While shorthanded, the Lightning controlled the puck aided by faceoff win after faceoff win by Levine. Urbana did not control the puck in the defensive zone as the Lightning were able to ice the puck after each faceoff win and prevent zone entries thereafter. While killing off Gottesman’s penalty, Nadler was also called for roughing. His penalty put the Lightning down two skaters for 38 seconds. Levine continued to win each faceoff aided by Jake Roth’s and Howerton’s sure handed clears icing the puck deep into the Hawks zone. Showing his displeasure with the penalty called against him, Nadler was given a ten minute misconduct penalty. The Lightning’s leading scorer would be off the ice for twelve minutes in a tied game where the Lightning only had five forwards available.

With eight seconds left in the second period, the Hawks Nico Brown was called for a questionable slashing penalty. Upper Montgomery would begin the third period on the powerplay with a chance to re-take the lead. Although Urbana outshot the Lightning by a wide fifteen to five margin in the second period, after Terrebonne’s goal Upper Montgomery did a good job controlling the majority of the period and limiting the Hawks shots to non-threatening chances from distance.

Starting the third period on the powerplay, Upper Montgomery would quickly capitalize. Levine again won a faceoff in the right faceoff circle. He went 20 and 4 on faceoffs for the game. The clean faceoff win went to Howerton at the right point. Howerton’s shot was blocked in the slot and fell directly to Gottesman. Gottesman shot wide near side with the puck caroming around all the way to Evans at the left point. Evans’ sweeping shot was also blocked in front. The puck landed next to Levine who quickly fired from the bottom of the left circle. Hanson made an excellent pad save on the shot but could not control the rebound. The puck shot straight into the slot to Gottesman who easily swept the puck into the wide open portion of the net past Hanson’s left leg pad. The Lightning now had the lead three to two.

With nine minutes remaining in the game Upper Montgomery’s fourth goal provided some breathing room. Levine won the draw in the defensive zone. Aiden Zheng skated the puck down the ice into the offensive zone and into the right faceoff circle where he pulled up and fired a wrist shot wide of the net short side. The puck was controlled by the Hawks defense behind the net when Upper Montgomery forward Sean Levine crashed in on the forecheck. Levine stole the puck and circled the puck around the boards to Lightning defender Miles Wendland at the left point. Wendland’s wrist shot from just at the blue line of the left point went past Adam Levine in the slot screening Hanson and changed directions. Hanson never saw the puck as she did not move until the puck skittered past her far side beneath her glove. For Wendland, it was his first career high school goal.

Over the next five minutes of action Upper Montgomery defended and chipped pucks out of the zone, knocked pucks away from the Hawks, packed a defensive shell around Shterenberg, and when they could, exited the zone to the red line and dumped the puck in deep into the Urbana zone. This strategy forced the Hawks to expend a lot of energy to go the length of the ice while they were tired to generate offensive chances. It looked like Urbana was in slow motion skating up ice.

The game plan changed when another horrible officiating call put the Lightning on the penalty kill with 3:22 left in the game. Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for high sticking when he pushed over a Hawks forward. His stick never was raised above his waist. Urbana pulled Hanson to add an additional skater making the powerplay a six on four skater advantage. The Upper Montgomery coaching staff kept Levine and Nadler on the ice for the entire penalty kill and until the next whistle. It was a two minute and twenty second shift in which Levine won all three defensive zone faceoffs and the Lightning kept the Hawks to the perimeter, blocked shots, forced shots wide of the net, and were able to clear the defensive zone to center ice on three separate occasions. It never felt as if Urbana was on the verge of cutting into the deficit. Another minute of action where Upper Montgomery defended and Shtereberg made a few saves allowing the Lightning to hold on for victory number five.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is a show me game against the top junior varsity team in the Motgomery Hockey Conference, the Richard Montgomery Rockets. It will be a battle of two undefeated teams. The Rockets are 4-0 on the season and have given up only four goals while scoring an eye popping 25 goals. Upper Montgomery will need to play superior team defense just to hang around and make it a close game to remain undefeated. Richard Montgomery will be the best team the Lightning junior varsity will play during the regular season. Many of the Rockets junior varsity student athletes receive regular playing time on Richard Montgomery’s varsity team. Shterenberg will need to make some huge saves, and the Lightning will have to commit to stopping the Rockets with all five skaters playing incredible team defense in order to win and vault to the top of the conference standings.

Game Notes:

• The victory over the Hawks was the junior varsity’s fifth consecutive victory to start the season.
• Shots on goal for the game were lopsided in favor of Urbana, 32-18.
• Josh Nadler scored for the fifth consecutive game. He has scored in each game this season and leads the Lightning junior varsity with six goals.
• Upper Montgomery went 3-3 on the penalty kill and remains a perfect 16-16 on the season.
• Upper Montgomery scored a powerplay goal for the third consecutive game (on their only opportunity) and is now 3-14 on the season, 21.4%.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Friday night, December 1st against the top junior varsity program in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Game time is late night, a 10:00 pm start against the Richard Montgomery Rockets at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 2 GAA, 30 Saves, .938 Save %
Second Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Assists, 4 Blocked Shots, 20-4 on Faceoffs
Third Star—Nathan Gu—Urbana Defense—1 Goal

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity ran its record to an undefeated 4-0 on the season with a 4-2 non-conference victory over the Rockville Rams Wednesday afternoon at Cabin John Ice Rink. While pleased with the victory, the junior varsity played down to the level of the Rams. The game against the winless Rams wound up being more evenly matched than anticipated before Upper Montgomery’s superior talent eventually delivered the victory. It is a theme that has developed early in the season, against the better competition the Lightning have responded and have competed hard and played well. Against lesser competition, the team has lacked the intensity necessary to control the games and win easily. The four victories equal the team’s total wins from the entirety of last season.

The game got off to an inauspicious start. Less than a minute into the game the Rams jumped to an early lead. Rams center Rowen Pierson collected the puck in his defensive zone. He raced up ice and went wide where he was shut off by the Lightning defense. Pierson was forced to carry the puck behind the net where he passed the puck in front to Ryan Hurley. Hurley got twisted up and fell down, but was able to poke the puck over to Rams defender Adam Salomon. Salomon batted a shot high stick side over a partially screened and unsuspecting Lightning netminder Ilan Shterenberg.

On the next shift, an innocent hockey play resulted in an injury to Upper Montgomery 9th grade forward Jackson Schickler. Rams forward Charles Sickel and Schickler bumped into each other a second after the puck went past. Schickler fell awkwardly and remained down on the ice. He will likely be out long-term with a lower body injury. The referees deemed the contact late and issued an interference penalty to Sickel. Upper Montgomery failed to score on the first half of the powerplay opportunity which was then cut short when Lightning forward Jason Woodman was called for tripping, negating the last minute of the Upper Montgomery skater advantage.

While killing Woodman’s penalty, Lightning center Josh Nadler was called for roughing giving the Rams an extended 5-3 advantage for over a minute and a half. Just after Nadler exited the penalty box, he took another penalty, this time for tripping. Again, the Lightning had to kill a penalty. Great penalty killing by Adam Levine, Aiden Zheng, Jake Roth, Miles Wendland, Cole Howerton, Avery Evans, and Patrick Sell kept the Rams off the board and without a shot on goal during the extended penalty killing time.

The successful penalty kills seemed to energize the Lightning. On the next shift of five on five play, Upper Montgomery would tie the game. The Rams cleared their defensive zone and sent the puck into neutral ice. The puck was corralled by Lightning defender Cole Howerton at the Upper Montgomery blue line. Howerton skated up the center of the ice into the Rams defensive zone. When he reached the high slot, he unleashed a wrist shot that went high past the glove of Rams goalie Alexander Crotzer-Scartascini tying the score at one.

Less than a minute later Upper Montgomery would jump in front for the first time in the game. Levine dumped the puck in from center ice to begin an extended shift in the Rams defensive zone. Nadler raced in and reached the puck first. Nalder passed to Lightning forward TJ Gottesman at the top of the left circle. Gottesman sent the puck to the left point to Wendland. Without a clear shooting lane, Wendland sent the puck low and back into the left corner where the puck was retrieved by Levine. Levine passed the puck over to Nadler. Nadler curled out of the corner and shot wide from a bad angle. The puck went off the boards in the right corner and around to the right point where Sell kept the puck in at the blue line. Sell sent the puck back down the boards and around the net where Levine controlled the puck once again. Drawing the defense, Levine passed the puck over into the left corner for Nadler. Nadler returned the puck to Levine who had moved a few strides to the left of the net behind the goal line. After Nadler dished the puck, he cut to the left faceoff circle where Levine executed a sweet give and go pass. From the lower portion of the circle Nadler wasted no time and riffled a wrist shot five hole on Crotzer-Scartascini. It was as impressive an offensive shift as the junior varsity has had all season.

Now up 2-1 with five minutes remaining in the first period, Upper Montgomery stopped pressing and reverted back to how it started the game. The intensity seemed to leave the Lightning’s play once Upper Montgomery had taken the lead. It also let Rockville tie the score. Off of a poor turnover just inside the Rams defensive blue line, Rockville counter attacked. With Levine and Nadler already in the offensive zone anticipating a pass and the Lightning defense moving up ice, the puck was turned over on a selfish individual play. Calder Wilcox stole the puck and sent it up ice to Hurley steaking through the neutral zone behind the Upper Montgomery defense. Skating hard, the Lightning defense caught up to Hurley. With all skaters focusing on Hurley and an expected shot on goal, instead Hurley circled around the net. His feed out front found an unguarded Pierson cutting down the slot. Pierson’s slap shot went high glove side past Shterenberg re-tying the game, this time at two.

The first period concluded with Rockville excited to be tied and Upper Montgomery feeling lucky to be tied, having had to kill three Rams powerplays and playing poorly in front of Shterenberg. For Shterenberg it was his worst performance of the season making only one save in the period. Shaking off the poor period, Shterenberg settled down and stonewalled the Rams over the final two periods of play. The second period saw the Rams fire ten shots at Shterenberg and continue to play competitively despite their 0-5 record.

Halfway through the second period Wilcox was called for interference, a penalty that would allow Upper Montgomery to take the lead for good. Nadler collected the puck along the side boards on the left wing. He pushed the play up ice entering the offensive zone. Nadler passed the puck down the wing to Zheng in the left wing circle before charging down the slot toward the net. Zheng sent a shot / return pass to the front of the net where Nadler deflected the puck from just outside the crease in between Crotzer-Scartascini’s leg pads.

At the very end of the second period, Nadler was back in the penalty box, once again having been called for roughing. In taking his third penalty of the game, Nadler was benched by the coaching staff, not because of the penalties, or his play, but because receiving a fourth penalty in a game results in an automatic one game suspension. To prevent that possibility, the Upper Montgomery program has a policy of sitting student athletes after three penalties received in a given game. With AJ Marks unavailable to play, and with Schickler’s injury early in the game, and now with Nadler out for the remainder of the game, it fell on a shortened bench of Lightning skaters and Shterenberg to play rock solid defense to secure the victory.

It started with the fourth successful Upper Montgomery penalty kill. Then, the Lightning went to four defensive skaters with Roth and Sell playing together as one pairing and Wendland and Evans playing together as the other pairing. Howerton was moved up to play forward. Levine went from playing wing to centering Zheng and Gottesman. Sean Levine centered Howerton and Woodman. The coaching changes and the focus on defensive limited the Rams to only four shots on goal in the third period. A period where they were trying to claw back and tie the game.

Howerton would provide some breathing room with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. After a Rams clear to neutral ice, Woodman tussled with a Rams skater along the left wing boards. Neither skater touched the puck, but the commotion allowed Howerton to grab the puck and re-enter the offensive zone down the left wing. From the left faceoff circle he fired near side, seven hole past Crotzer-Scartascini’s body to provide a small bit of breathing room for the Lightning.

The final minutes of the game saw the Lightning continuously clear the defensive zone, take short shifts to keep up their energy, and focus entirely on shutting off all Rockville offensive thrusts. It was a style similar to the third period of the season opening victory over Whitman. The Lightning’s effort intensified and kept the Rams at bay until the very closing seconds where Sheterenberg made a fine save on Pierson from in close eliminating any final upset gasp by Rockville.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is a non-conference matchup against the Urbana Hawks just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. Upper Montgomery will need to bring a much better effort in order to be victorious over Urbana. Upper Montgomery will be shorthanded for the matchup as the team is dealing with a couple of injuries and a few other medical situations.

Game Notes:

• The victory over the Rams was the junior varsity’s fourth consecutive victory to start the season.
• Shots on goal for the game were even, Upper Montgomery with 18 and Rockville with 17.
• Josh Nadler scored for the fourth consecutive game. He has scored in each game this season.
• Upper Montgomery went 4-4 on the penalty kill and is now a perfect 13-13 on the season.
• Upper Montgomery scored a powerplay goal for the second consecutive game and is now 2-13 on the season, 15.4%.
• Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Monday afternoon, November 20th in a non-conference matchup against Urbana. Game time is 4:00 pm at Skate Frederick.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Josh Nadler—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals
Second Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Goals
Third Star—Rowen Pierson—Rockville Center—1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity received a complete team effort and held off the BCC Barons 3-2 on Monday afternoon at Rockville Ice Arena. With the victory, the Lightning improved their record to a perfect 4-0 on the season. The four victories equal the team’s total wins from the entirety of last season. The game was evenly matched with both goaltenders playing well to keep the score low. Additionally, both programs used some roster management as both BCC and Upper Montgomery have several student athletes that participate in both junior varsity and varsity game action. With the maximum number of total games played limitation, several of both teams’ more seasoned skaters sat this game out.

Ilan Shterenberg earned his third consecutive victory to begin his high school career. He was tested more thoroughly against the Barons but stood strong. Shterenberg made a sprawling glove save with four minutes remaining in a back and forth first period to keep the game scoreless. The teams skated up and down the ice, but did not generate an overabundance of chances. BCC fired only five shots at Shterenberg while Upper Montgomery peppered Barons netminder Tycho Narrod-Malcolm with seven pedestrian shots. Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for interference with just under two minutes to play in the first period, but Upper Montgomery neutralized the BCC powerplay. A scoreless first period felt like the appropriate outcome as each team had their moments in an evenly played stanza.

The Lightning opened the second period on the powerplay after a holding penalty called against BCC forward Francesco Guinard. As with the BCC powerplay at the end of the first period, Upper Montgomery did not generate much offense with the extra skater. Three and a half minutes into the second period, Upper Montgomery would jump in front on a nice play. From the slot area after a scramble in the defensive zone, Lightning center Sean Levine intercepted a BCC pass originating from behind Shterenberg’s net and sent an indirect outlet pass out of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The puck caromed off the left wing boards perfectly to Upper Montgomery forward TJ Gottesman. The pass sent Gottesman in on a clear breakaway from center ice. As Gottesman broke in alone, Lightning forward Aiden Zheng wisely followed up the play. Gottesman’s shot from in close was stopped by Narrod-Malcolm, but Zheng was there to backhand the puck up over Narrod-Malcom’s stick and blocker to score his first career high school goal.

The action continued to pick up in the second period. The number of shots on goal, eleven for BCC and ten for Upper Montgomery illustrated the change in pace and tempo. BCC’s second powerplay of the game coming halfway through the period with Lightning co-captain Josh Nadler in the penalty box for cross checking was more threatening. Shterenberg made the necessary saves to keep the Lightning in front. The Upper Montgomery defense played well at times and when there were difficulties, Shterenberg and the goal posts were there to save the Lightning when BCC did threaten. Lightning defenders who played well included Cole Howerton, Jake Roth, and Avery Evans, making her first appearance for Upper Montgomery. Playing as a collective unit, on multiple occasions, the Lightning were able to thwart the Barons’ offensive thrusts and skate the puck free of their defensive zone down the ice to relieve pressure.

The third period was a very well played period. Upper Montgomery was connected and spent a majority of the beginning of the period in the offensive zone. Several prime scoring opportunities were shot wide or were blocked in front by the Barons’ defense led by Benjamin Lyons and Jeronimo Castano Tellez. When Lyons was called for roughing with ten minutes remaining in the game, his penalty seemed to spark both teams.

Upper Montgomery started the powerplay with puck possession and BCC pressured hard around the perimeter. The defensive pressure kept Upper Montgomery passing around the outside of the offensive zone. Finally, BCC forward David High was able to gain control of a loose puck. He picked the puck up off the right wing boards in the defensive zone and skated diagonally across the ice through the neutral zone entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone now on the left wing. High cut to the net and his shot was saved by Shterenberg. High collected the rebound and skated around the net from left to right. He circled the net and flung a pass up the middle of the slot. Castano Tellez shot in stride past several Lightning skaters and past a screened Shterenberg low to the stick side. It was the first goal given up by Shterenberg in over 126 minutes of game action to begin his high school career.

Rather than sulk after giving up the game tying shorthanded goal, Upper Montgomery struck right back while still on the powerplay. Upper Montgomery forward AJ Marks dumped the puck in deep into the BCC defensive zone where fellow Lightning forward Jason Woodman pressured the puck behind the net. Woodman forced a rushed pass up the side boards. Nadler hustled into the offensive zone and won possession of the puck from the BCC right winger along the left wing boards. He was adjacent with the top of the left faceoff circle. Nadler curled around the top of the circle and then turned down the slot. His wrist shot seemed to fool Narrod-Malcolm who let in a soft goal five hole.

With a 2-1 lead and eight minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery began making smart decisions with the puck. Forwards hit the red line and dumped the puck in deep. Forwards hustled back on defense to support the defenders. Defenders did a nice job winning puck races and quickly clearing the defensive zone. The Lightning’s forechecking led to an insurance goal with three and a half minutes left in the game.

After a shift with extensive pressure in the BCC defensive zone, a tired Barons defender dumped the puck out of the zone. The Barons then went for a line change. The puck was turned over at the Upper Montgomery defensive zone blue line to AJ Marks. Marks skated up the left wing side of the ice. He entered the offensive zone going wide and fired a centering pass to Levine. Levine’s quick snap shot was saved by Narrod-Malcolm’s right leg pad. The rebound shot toward the left faceoff circle directly to Marks who was attacking the net on an angle. Marks easily slung a wrist shot into the wide side of the net past Narrod-Malcom’s stick and blocker for the 3-1 lead.

Now with a two goal lead, Upper Montgomery focused entirely on defending and did a nice job until an individual rush by Lyons cut the lead back to one. From a faceoff outside the Barons defensive zone, Upper Montgomery cleared the puck in deep and set up to play defense. Lyons took control of the puck deep in his defensive zone. He skated around his own net and directly up the center of the ice. At the red line he cut left and barreled down the left wing side. He skated abound the Lightning defender and cut in alone on Shterenberg who was back too deep in his net. Lyons elevated his wrist shot from in close far side high past Shterenberg’s shoulder and catching glove. Upper Montgomery led 3-2 with exactly one minute left in the game.

The final minute of game action was a scramble in the Lightning defensive zone. The puck was continually kept in at the points by Lyons and Castano Tellez. With Narrod-Malcolm pulled for the extra skater, BCC easily outraced Upper Montgomery to every loose puck. Many shots were blocked in front of Shterenberg and others went just wide. In the end, none of the shots got past Shterenberg keeping the Lightning undefeated and thrilled with their most impressive victory of the season.

Game Notes:

• It was the junior varsity’s fourth consecutive victory to start the season.
• Upper Montgomery outshot BCC 26-21 for the game.
• Josh Nadler scored for the third consecutive game.
• Aiden Zheng scored his first career high school goal to open the scoring.
• Shterenberg’s junior varsity record for minutes played while not allowing a goal was 126 minutes and 23 seconds.
• TJ Gottesman had an assist to record points in his third consecutive game.
• Upper Montgomery is now 9-9 on the penalty kill for the season.
• Upper Montgomery scored its first powerplay goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie midway through the third period.
• Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Wednesday afternoon, November 1st in a non-conference matchup against Rockville. Game time is 4:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Benjamin Lyons—BCC Defense—1 Goal
Second Star—Aiden Zheng—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal
Third Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, .905 Save Percentage, 19 Saves

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity earned a second consecutive shutout victory on Sunday evening. The team easily dispatched an overmatched Northwest/Quince Orchard squad by a score of 5-0 albeit with an underwhelming performance that left no one in the program pleased with the way the team performed. As good as the season opening performance was this past Friday evening, in Sunday’s game the Lightning played down to the level of their opponents. Throughout the rest of the season the junior varsity will be challenged to bring their ‘A’ game to every competition. Facing a lesser quality opponent with several of their better skaters not in attendance, Upper Montgomery did not play with much intensity.

Ilan Shterenberg earned his second consecutive shutout, but he was not tested at all during the game making only nine saves. Even with their subpar effort, the Lightning controlled play throughout the entire game. Northwest/Quince Orchard never really threatened offensively even while on their three powerplay opportunities.

Early in the game with a chance to take control Upper Montgomery was clearly off. Passes did not connect, energy was lacking, and the overall tempo of the game had the feel of a scrimmage. When Jaguars forward James Shupe was called for elbowing three minutes into the contest, Upper Montgomery’s powerplay was disorganized and fizzled. It took over seven and a half minutes of game action before Upper Montgomery generated a good scoring chance.

With a faceoff in their own defensive zone, Lightning junior co-captain Josh Nadler won the draw into the right corner. TJ Gottesman cycled back to retrieve the puck and skated around the net. His outlet pass sprung Nadler down the right wing. Nadler sped into the offensive zone and went wide, deep into the corner where he was met by the Jaguars defense. He curled up and battled in the corner for possession of the puck. Upper Montgomery’s other co-captain, senior Adam Levine, joined in for support. As the skaters battled for the puck behind the net, Levine outmuscled Jaguars defender Matt Mills. He sent the puck to open ice in the left faceoff circle where Nadler raced in and pounced on the puck. Nadler skated two strides into the middle of the slot where he fired a wrist shot past Northwest/Quince Orchard goalie Joseph Dean glove side to put the Lightning up by one.

Rather than use the initial goal as motivation to pour it on the Jaguars, Upper Montgomery seemed satisfied to be playing with a one goal lead. An impressive individual play provided the Lightning with some breathing room. After a dump into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, Shterenberg left the net to play the puck over to Lightning defender Cole Howerton. Howerton skated the puck end to end weaving across the ice from left to right through the neutral zone and deep into the offensive zone. He feathered a nice cross ice pass to Gottesman who fired wide left of the net from the slot. Not giving up on the play, Gottesman raced behind the net and collected the puck as he rounded the cage. He beat Dean to the far side. As he crossed back over the goal line he shoveled a high backhand shot near side past a scrambling Dean.

Upper Montgomery now had a 2-0 lead. On the very next shift the Lightning went back on the powerplay after Northwest/Quince Orchard forward Josh Podsiadlik was called for interference. With an opportunity blow the game wide open, the Lightning spent most of the advantage trying to make individual plays and continuously turned the puck over. The lackluster first period ended with Upper Montgomery up by two goals and outshooting Northwest/Quince Orchard eleven to one.

Early in the second period Upper Montgomery went on the penalty kill as forward Jason Woodman was called for slashing on the backcheck through the neutral zone. The Lightning controlled the penalty kill after the opening faceoff loss and a quick save by Shterenberg. From that point until the teams were back skating with even personnel, Upper Montgomery took the play to the Jaguars. At the ten minute mark Levine was crushed by Podsiadlik well after the puck had been moved. Podsiadlik was called for roughing for the late bodycheck, but Lightning 9th grade forward Jackson Schickler retaliated with a crosscheck to nullify the pending powerplay chance. To make matters worse, Schickler crosschecked the wrong skater hitting Mills instead.

Midway through the second period Nadler was called for interference in the neutral zone while trying to slow down an attacking Jaguars forward. Once again, the Lightning dominated the penalty kill with Levine and 9th grade forward Aiden Zheng leading the way. That penalty kill seemed to give the team a bit of a lift. On the ensuing shift, Upper Montgomery senior defender Sean Levine made a nice individual play. He jumped in from the neutral zone to keep the puck in the offensive zone after a horrible clearing attempt by Northwest/Quince Orchard. Levine played the puck from skate to stick, made one stickhandle, and ripped a wrist shot high short side from the right faceoff circle. The puck whizzed by the catching glove of Dean high into the net for an unassisted goal. Upper Montgomery led 3-0 with five and a half minutes remaining in the second period. Toward the end of the second period Podsiadlik took his third penalty of the game, another roughing penalty. Once again, Upper Montgomery could not take advantage with the extra skater.

The start of the third period was a different story. Within three minutes, the game was no longer in doubt. On the first shift of the period, Howerton took control of the puck at the red line along the right wing boards. He skated left across the ice all the way to the left wing boards entering the offensive zone. He cut to the low slot and uncorked a wrist shot over Dean’s glove hand. It was the second straight unassisted goal for the Lightning. Just a minute and a half later another bad pass in the Jaguars defensive zone was intercepted by Gottesman at the top of the left circle. He gathered in the puck, took a stride toward the net and beat Dean with a wrist shot high stick side. From that point until the final whistle, Upper Montgomery possessed the puck for long stretches. All Northwest/Quince Orchard could do was continually ice the puck to relieve the pressure and catch their breath.

Game Notes:

• It was the second consecutive shutout for Ilan Shterenberg to begin his high school career.
• Upper Montgomery outshot Northwest 29-9 for the game, including 11-1 in the first period.
• Josh Nadler scored for the second consecutive game.
• TJ Gottesman had his second career two goal game.
• Both teams went 0-3 on the powerplay. Neither team generated much in terms of offensive chances with the extra skater. Upper Montgomery is now 7-7 on the penalty kill for the season but 0-7 on the powerplay.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action Friday afternoon, October 13th versus Blair. Game time is 4:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Joseph Dean—Northwest/Quince Orchard Goalie—24 Saves
Second Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist
Third Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity earned a well deserved and hard working 2-0 shutout victory over the Whitman Vikings Friday night at Cabin John Ice Rink. The game was a rematch of last season’s quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. Unlike last season when the Lightning were playing without two key student athletes, center Josh Nadler and defender Sean Levine, both of whom were serving supplemental disciplinary suspensions, this year’s experienced Upper Montgomery squad rebounded from a slow start to the game and controlled long stretch of the second and third periods to secure the season opening victory. The Lightning’s tenacious effort and Ilan Shterenberg’s strong goaltending led the way.

Whitman controlled play for much of the opening minutes of the game. Shterenberg, making his first career high school start, tracked the puck well and made some nice positional saves to keep the Vikings scoreless. Just two minutes into the game, on his first high school shift, Lightning 9th grade forward, Jackson Schickler took a tripping penalty. The Lightning penalty kill did a nice job and limited the Whitman powerplay attack, not giving up any high quality scoring chances.

Midway through the opening period Upper Montgomery would take the lead on a nice individual effort by junior co-captain Josh Nadler. Whitman broke out of their defensive zone and headed up ice. Nadler backchecked hard and stole the puck away at his own blue line. He pivoted and curled up ice along the right wing. Reaching the Vikings defensive blue line, he jump cut toward the inside and split the two defenders while temporarily losing control of the puck. His speed allowed him to reach the puck first. Now in the high slot, he made a deke to his forehand, then over to his backhand. He lifted the puck over the outstretched right leg pad of Whitman 9th grade netminder Alex Minkoff to give the Lightning an early 1-0 lead.

In the last minute of the first period, Lightning defender Cole Howerton was called for slashing. A strong effort by Lightning senior co-captain Adam Levine stifled the Vikings who failed to exit their defensive zone multiple times. Frustration mounted leading to a slashing penalty being called on Whitman defender Mark Buckley just before the period ended. Whitman outshot Upper Montgomery eleven to three in the first period.

Both teams failed to capitalize on the four on four play to start the second period. However, Upper Montgomery seemed to come out stronger to begin the period. The feel of the game began to move in the Lightning’s direction as the ice began to tilt where Upper Montgomery created more scoring opportunities. A golden opportunity presented when Upper Montgomery went to their first full powerplay opportunity when Whitman defender Cameron McNeil was called for holding the stick after he ripped the stick from Lightning forward TJ Gottesman’s grasp. The ensuring powerplay was short lived when less than a minute later, Nadler was called for boarding when he threw a check along the right wing boards. The penalty was a double whammy for Upper Montgomery as they would be without their number one center for the next twelve minutes of game action as boarding penalties automatically come with a ten minute misconduct.

The Lightning did a nice job of once again killing off the Whitman powerplay while continuing to take the play to the Vikings. A cross checking penalty to McNeil put Upper Montgomery on the powerplay once again. As with Upper Montgomery’s first two shortened powerplay chances, once again this powerplay opportunity was cut short when Lightning senior Sean Levine took an unnecessary boarding penalty behind the Whitman goal. Once again, Upper Montgomery would be without an experienced member of the squad with Sean Levine missing the next twelve minutes of game action.

With Whitman on the powerplay to end the period, Upper Montgomery’s defense stood strong and prevented every high quality opportunity. Several Whitman shots from the point were blocked in the slot and cleared out of harm’s way. The second period ended with the score still Upper Montgomery one and Whitman zero. Shots on goal in the second period were Whitman with eight and Upper Montgomery with seven.

Starting the third period with both Nadler and Sean Levine in the penalty box, Upper Montgomery needed to play smart and safe defensive hockey to hold off Whitman until their misconduct penalties expired. This style of play seemed to suit the Lightning as their energy and effort on the defensive end created turnovers that led to scoring chances in the offensive zone that came in bunches. Adam Levine had several opportunities that went just wide. Aiden Zheng used his speed and hustle to win pucks and keep Whitman hemmed in their defensive zone. This effort led to yet another powerplay opportunity as the Lightning earned a hooking penalty to Whitman forward James Stahl for burying Levine in the corner just after Nadler’s misconduct penalty expired. This Upper Montgomery powerplay looked much better as the Lightning used their defenders to orchestrate the offensive. The point defenders peppered Minkoff with several high quality shots. Unfortunately, Minkoff was up to the task keeping Whitman trailing by just one goal.

With five and a half minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery would tack on an insurance goal. Off of a faceoff in the left circle in the offensive zone the puck was won back into the corner by Whitman. Gottesman applied pressure and sent the puck back up the left wing boards to Lightning forward AJ Marks at the half wall. Marks took two strides off the side wall into the top of the left faceoff circle. He ripped a wrist shot that went far side past Minkoff’s glove hand. The puck clanged off the inside of the right post and settled just outside the goal line. With one Whitman defender covering Gottesman behind the net, a Whitman forward and the other Vikings defender both closed out on Marks trying to prevent his shot attempt. Lightning forward Jason Woodman was left all alone in front of the net. Woodman backhanded the puck over the goal line into the empty net to increase Upper Montgomery’s lead to two to zero.

Over the last five minutes of the game Upper Montgomery did a very good job of neutralizing the Whitman attack. Pucks were easily cleared over the defensive blue line into center ice. The forwards then did an excellent job of clogging up the neutral zone to prevent clean zone entries with puck possession. Whitman would dump the puck in deep, and Upper Montgomery would race to the puck and immediately clear the defensive zone. When Whitman was able to direct the puck toward the net, the shots were either blocked in front or sent well wide of the net. When Shterenberg froze the puck with a minute left in the game, Whitman pulled Minkoff in favor of an extra skater. It didn’t help. From the defensive zone faceoff until the end of the game, Upper Montgomery’s experience dominated as Adam Levine, Nadler, and Zheng were tough on the forecheck and prevented Whitman from getting back into the offensive zone. The effort preserved Shterenberg’s first career high school victory and the season opening shutout.

Game Notes:

• It was the second consecutive year that Upper Montgomery opened the season with a shutout victory. Both games had identical 2-0 scores.
• Upper Montgomery outshot Whitman 24-20 for the game, and 14-1 in the third period.
• Both teams were 0-4 on the powerplay. Neither team generated much in terms of offensive chances with the extra skater.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action Sunday evening, October 8th versus Northwest/Quince Orchard. Game time is 7:05 pm at Skate Frederick

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—20 Saves, Shutout Victory
Second Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Forward
Third Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense