One week after its dominating performance in easily handling the Northwest Jaguars, the Upper Montgomery Lightning learned a lesson that will hopefully benefit the team over the course of the rest of the season. Against fourth ranked Whitman, the Lightning lacked the intensity necessary to compete with one of the top teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. A lackluster first two periods were too much for the team to overcome, even with a dominant third period effort. Upper Montgomery was left searching for answers in a game the team thought would be a jump start to the rest of the season. It’s possible that the poor performance against Whitman will be a teaching lesson that could have a positive impact on the team moving forward, in that to be successful against quality opponents, a full game effort is needed 100% of the time.
Three minutes into the game, Bradley Cupples was called for tripping. The Lightning penalty kill faltered as it has for much of the young season. The Vikings would score, and Upper Montgomery seemed to be chasing the game the rest of the contest. In his defensive zone, Vikings defender Walter Ingis passed the puck to Teddy Hauptman at the defensive blue line. Hauptman skated through neutral ice and down into the left wing corner of the Lightning defensive zone. He passed the puck back to Andrew Fou along the left wing boards. Fou cut to the top of the circle, and from the mid slot fired a wrist shot past Upper Montgomery goalie Landon Bernard high blocker side.
Five minutes later Fou would score again making the score 2-0. Fou backchecked hard and won the puck at his own defensive blue line. He passed the puck back and over to Ingis in the defensive zone before he curled up ice along the left wing boards. Ingis passed to Fou heading up ice with speed. Fou collected the pass in stride and rocketed past the Lightning defense which was slow to react. Fou’s rising wrist shot from the bottom of the left wing circle went past Bernard stick side and into the top corner of the net.
As the clock approached the expiration of the first period, Upper Montgomery would literally hit a buzzer beater. With fifteen seconds remaining in the period and a faceoff in the Lightning defensive zone it looked like Upper Montgomery would reach the first intermission down 2-0. Whitman won the draw cleanly between the two defenders at the point all the way down into the Vikings defensive zone. Ryan Jacobson used his speed to race down ice on the forecheck causing a turnover. The puck went directly to Lightning captain George Benedick. From a bad angle in the lower right circle, Benedick fired high, short side past Vikings goalie Ryan Graf’s glove, just before the buzzer sounded to end the period. The shots on goal in the first period did not convey just how much Whitman outplayed the Lightning. Shots on goal were Whitman with seven and Upper Montgomery with four.
One minute into the second period the Lightning went on their first powerplay of the game when Samuel Van Leeuwen was called for interference. Looking to build on the momentum after Benedick’s goal, Upper Montgomery possessed the puck in the offensive zone but was unable to get many good looks or shots on Graf. Then, with eight minutes left in the period, Whitman would score a backbreaking and crazy goal from behind the net from the right corner. It was the soccer equivalent of an own goal. Vikings forward Charles Ingis collected a loose puck in the corner. His attempted centering pass into the slot was blocked by Lightning defender Owen Robbins. The puck caromed off Robbins, hit the near post, popped up, then hit Bernard, and somehow landed in the net for a deflating goal and a 3-1 Whitman lead.
Thereafter, Lightning forward Nathan Cassel was called for slashing. Whitman used a minute and thirty seconds to cash in for its second powerplay goal in as many chances. Fou entered the zone and curled up at the right point. He left the puck for Walter Ingis who skated to the top of the right circle. Bernard made a leg pad save on Ingis’ shot. The long rebound bounded to the left circle where the puck was collected by Fou. Fou passed the puck through the goal mouth looking for Van Leeuwen who had snuck behind the Lightning defense. With inside position, Van Leeuwen whacked the puck between the far post and Bernard into the empty net. At the end of the second period with the game teetering out of reach, the Lightning were able kill off an interference penalty to Benedick. The successful penalty kill provided some momentum and kept the game within reach at 4-1.
Just before the period ended, Vikings defender Rowan Miller was called for cross checking. That penalty began a parade to the penalty box over the next couple of minutes. While on the powerplay to start the third period, Jacobson was called for roughing, negating the Lightning powerplay. However, thirty seconds later, Walter Ingis was called for cross checking putting the Lightning back to a 4-3 powerplay advantage. Off the offensive zone faceoff, Lightning center Chris Hassett controlled the puck along the left boards. He sent a pass to the left point to Lightning defender Andrew Botti. Botti turned and fed along the blue line to Robbins at the right point. Robbins shot with Hassett setting a screen in front. The puck rebounded off Graf’s pads to Cassel in the bottom left circle. Cassel’s wrist shot went low along the ice just inside the left post and Graf’s right toe to bring Upper Montgomery back into the contest at 4-2.
With momentum building, Upper Montgomery began pressing to further close the Whitman lead. With eleven minutes left in the game, Upper Montgomery got a little too overaggressive and the Vikings upped the lead to 5-2. Vikings forward Jacob Lerman collected the puck behind his own net and fed Charles Ingis on the right wing boards in the defensive zone. Ingis skated through the Lightning defenders who reached to poke check and swung sticks at Ingis rather than play the body. Ingis split the Lightning defense at the offensive blue line and went in on a breakaway down the slot alone against Bernard. Ingis shot high glove side for his second goal of the game and for all intents and purposes icing the game.
To their credit, Upper Montgomery kept up the pressure. Walter Ingis was called for a minor boarding penalty along with the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty just after his brother’s goal. While Upper Montgomery failed to score, not having the Vikings top defender, Walter Ingis, available for the remainder of the game gave the Lightning some opportunities. However, even with the added pressure being applied by the Lightning, Graf held firm. As the game wound down, there was a bit of a skirmish with just under three minutes remaining. Miller and Lightning forward Hunter Cameron were called for coincidental roughing minors. With the extra ice and the goalie pulled, Upper Montgomery would pull closer with 1:36 left in the game.
Upper Montgomery took possession of the puck off of a faceoff win in the Whitman defensive zone. The puck went to Botti at the right point. His shot was deflected and wound up behind the net. It was retrieved by Benedick aggressively pursuing the puck with time winding down. Benedick passed to Cassel at the right boards. Cassel’s shot toward the goal was deflected on net and the save was made by Graf. The rebound trickled to the left side of the net where Brandon Bernard shot quicky high and into the open side of the net before Graf could slide over to make the next save.
Upper Montgomery kept the goalie pulled and had several good scoring chances over the final minute and a half with Graf making a standout save on Jacobson. The Lightning fired fifteen shots on goal over the third period as they finally played with urgency. Upper Montgomery had only eleven total shots on goal over the first two periods combined. Displeased with how they played, Upper Montgomery may be able to use the poor performance as a springboard for the rest of the season, starting with next week’s matchup against faltering Blair.
Game Notes:
- Shots on goal for the game were even, Upper Montgomery with 26 and Whitman with 25.
- Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill reverted back to its poor early season form. Whitman scored on two of its three powerplay opportunities. The Lightning PK which has struggled all season is now eleven for twenty-one on the season, 52.4%.
- Brandon Bernard scored in his third straight game.
- George Benedick scored in back to back games for the first time in his career. He now has as many points this season in four games as he did all of last season.
- Upper Montgomery will look to bounce back and start a long winning streak next Friday, December 9th versus Blair. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Andrew Fou—Whitman Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Charles Ingis—Whitman Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Walter Ingis—Whitman Defense–-3 Assists