The Upper Montgomery Lightning showed extreme class in Sunday’s victory over winless and completely overmatched Churchill. In a game that was beneficial for neither program, Upper Montgomery handily defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 12-2. In reality, Upper Montgomery could have easily scored in excess of 20 goals. Many of the experienced Lightning student athletes were told not to shoot after the first couple of minutes of the second period and the coaching staff did a nice job of utilizing the entire bench throughout the game. Defenders were switched to playing forward and forwards were switched to playing defense. The Lightning also started backup goaltender Chris Hassett in net.
Going into the contest the coaching staff was expecting the game against Churchill to be non-competitive. Churchill is by far the weakest junior varsity program in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. As anticipated, the outcome was decided just about four minutes into the game. Upper Montgomery’s opening goal was scored by Stephen Shkeda. In the offensive zone, Lucas Eyman battled along the boards to win the puck. The puck squirted over to TJ Gottesman at the top of the right circle. Gottesman’s wrist shot went wide of the net on the short side. The puck rebounded off of the back end boards to the left of net. Shkeda was standing just off the left post outside of the crease area. He banged home the puck before Churchill netminder Lucas Petrosyan could get across the net into position to make a save.
Uncharacteristically, Upper Montgomery seemed to relax after the initially tally. On the very next shift, Churchill would momentarily tie the game. Joshua Gerstein knocked the puck from the Churchill defensive zone into the neutral zone where it was collected by Victor Levonenko. Levonenko skated the puck up ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He shot low along the ice from in between the top of the circles. The puck avoided Hassett’s glove hand low along the ice to tie the game at one.
Just ten seconds later the floodgates would open. Off the ensuing faceoff at center ice, Henry Honakci went forward to win the faceoff and skated into the offensive zone. He shot the puck from the high shot and Petrosyan made a pad save. Adam Levine was cutting to the net and jumped through both Bulldog defenders to reach the rebound in the lower portion of the left circle. Levine spun and shot the puck in the same motion. The puck went five hole on Petrosyan to open the floodgates and the rout was on.
Eight seconds after Levine’s goal, Jason Woodman would strike to make it 3-1. This time Lightning center Josh Nadler collected the puck off of the center ice faceoff. Nadler skated into the offensive zone and shot very similar to Honakci’s shot moments earlier. Petrosyan again made the pad save on the initial attempt. The rebound bounced to the right circle where Woodman was crashing the net. Woodman outraced a Churchill defender and shoveled the puck high into the top portion of the open net.
On the next shift, AJ Marks would score to push the game out of reach at 4-1. Marks goal would cap off a sequence where Upper Montgomery scored three goals in 31 seconds, and four goals in 1 minute and 5 seconds sandwiched around the Churchill tally. Gottesman battled along the side wall and caused an errant pass by Churchill. The puck was stolen by Marks in the neutral zone. Marks skated into the offensive zone and fired a chip shot high blocker side past Petrosyan.
After stretching the lead to 4-1, Upper Montgomery began to take their foot off the gas. The next five minutes of the game settled into what felt like a pickup hockey game. Then, off of a sharp angle shot, Hassett paddled the puck into the left wing corner. Cole Howerton collected the puck and cleared the puck up the boards to Gottesman just inside the Lightning defensive blue line. Gottesman collected the puck and skated up ice weaving his way through several Bulldog defenders. Once in alone on a breakaway, Gottesman elevated the shot off the ice and above Petrosyan.
A minute and a half later, Gottesman would strike again. Patrick Sell collected the puck inside his defensive blue line and skated toward the left wing boards eventually all the way into the offensive zone. He shot the puck toward Petrosyan who made a pad save. As was the case throughout the entire period, Petrosyan did not control the rebound which shot into the crease. Gottesman won the race for the puck and backhanded it past Petrosyan’s skates.
Thirty seconds later the Lightning would tally their seventh and final goal of the first period. Sean Levine collected the puck along the left wing boards. Like Sell moments earlier, he skated from the defensive zone into the offensive zone. Upon entering the offensive zone, Levine nudged the puck forward to Nadler. Nadler skated laterally across the ice from left to right all the way to the side of the net. With Adam Levine setting a screen in front of the goal, Nadler shot high above Petrosyan’s glove hand.
Nine seconds into the second period Upper Montgomery would extend their lead. Off the opening faceoff, Honacki again went forward with the puck. He stickhandled free and skated forward to the top of the right circle. Honacki then fired a wrist shot low past Petrosyan’s pads for a shorthanded goal with Sean Levine in the penalty box for roughing. After Levine’s penalty expired, Sell was called for tripping. On the ensuing powerplay, Upper Montgomery would again score shorthanded to extend the lead to 9-1. Howerton stood up the Churchill attack at the Lightning defensive blue line. He stripped the puck loose and skated down the right wing boards into the offensive zone. Howerton cut to the top of the slot and ripped a wrist shot high glove side to the top right corner of the net.
Two minutes later, Gottesman would score again for his hat-trick goal, the first ever hat-trick in Lightning junior varsity program history. It would also be his fifth point of the game, another Lightning junior varsity record. Behr Schicker passed the puck up ice to Adam Levine in the neutral zone. Levine skated into the offensive zone and executed a drop pass for Gottesman. Gottesman, not expecting the pass, fumbled the puck. Eyman was trailing the play and picked up the puck. Eyman’s backhand shot went on net. Petrosyan made the save with the puck squirting past the goal into the left wing corner. Levine collected the puck and skated around the net left to right. He backhanded the puck in the direction in which he had skated tying up two Bulldog defenders in the process who had converged on him. Eyman received the puck in the left corner and shot towards the slot after coming back over the goal line toward the left circle. Gottesman deflected the shot along the ice between Petrosyan’s right skate and the near post.
With the position shuffling in full force, the coaching staff was attempting to have members of the team who are not normally in a position to score, to light the lamp. With four minutes left in the second period, Sean Levine would tally his first career high school goal. Levonenko’s shot was blocked by Schickler. The puck shot out into the neutral zone where Honacki was first to the puck. He skated up the right wing boards into the offensive zone. Stopping, he intentionally looked for Levine in the high slot. Levine’s wrist shot low along the ice beat new Bulldog netminder Cameron Shure just inside the left post blocker side.
With 34 seconds remaining in the second period, the Lightning would score their twelfth and final goal of the game. Howerton again stood up in the defensive zone and pokechecked the puck free. He skated up the left wing boards this time. Similar to his first goal of the game, he broke wide around the Churchill defender and cut to the middle of the ice. In on net he fired a shot, short side just inside the left post past Shure’s blocker for an unassisted goal.
The third period was played with full running clock and Upper Montgomery doing everything possible to keep the clocking running. The period was spent with the Lightning trying to force feed Jake Roth for his first ever goal in organized hockey. Upper Montgomery took two penalties late in the third period with Levonenko scoring a meaningless goal with just over a minute left with the Bulldogs on the powerplay.
Now, it will be up to Upper Montgomery to flush this non-competitive game. The team needs to move on and get ready for their final two regular season conference games which will determine playoff seeding.
Game Notes:
- TJ Gottesman set a program record for goals in a junior varsity game with three and points in a junior varsity game with five.
- The Lightning outshot Churchill by a 22-8 margin. Several of the Lightning student athletes were told NOT to shoot the puck after the conclusion of the first period.
- Upper Montgomery scored on seven of its twelve shots on goal in the first period.
- TJ Gottesman extended his personal career high points streak to all six games he has played in this season (6GP, 4G, 8A). His twelve points on the season leads the Lightning junior varsity.
- Chris Hassett notched his first career victory in net in the win, stopping six of eight shots.
- The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to game action in a pivotal matchup on Saturday against Northwest/Quince Orchard. Game time is 11:30 am at Laurel Ice Gardens.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense–2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Henry Honakci—Upper Montgomery Center–1 Goal, 2 Assists