The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity played their most complete game of the season Monday evening in beating the Rockville/Blair Rams 6-2 at Cabin John Ice Rink. The Rams entered the game in second place in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity standings, but were badly outplayed by Upper Montgomery from the opening faceoff. With the victory the Lightning improve to 3-4-2 on the season and 3-3 in conference play.
After controlling play for the first five minutes of the game, the Lightning went shorthanded after a roughing penalty to Greg Felder. However, it was Upper Montgomery that capitalized. Joshua Miller controlled the puck along the left wing boards in the defensive zone and sped up ice past the defense in alone on a breakaway. He deked Rams goalie Lily Bendavid and scored easily on the forehand for his team leading fifth goal of the season. The Lightning killed off the balance of the penalty to extend their excellent penalty kill to 22-24 on the season.
Three minutes later the Lightning were again on the penalty kill after an interference penalty to George Benedick. This time the Rams broke through and tied the game. Jackson Martindill released a shot from the right circle that was saved by Landon Bernard. The rebound bounced into the slot where Ari Gardner snapped a quick shot past Bernard far side into the open net. The score would not stay tied for long. Just 34 seconds later on the next shift, the Lightning would re-take the lead. Bradley Cupples advanced the puck from his left defense position to Brandon Bernard in center ice. Bernard skated the puck down the right wing boards into the offensive zone and whipped the puck from along the right wing boards toward the net. Before Bendavid could get to the puck, the stick of Lucas Eyman got there first. Eyman who had skated hard into the zone on the left wing side, made a bee-line to the back post and he knocked the puck along the ice past Bendavid for his first goal of the season.
A minute and a half later the lead grew to 3-1. TJ Gottesman passed the puck over to Brandon Bernard who quickly shot the puck from the right wing circle to the net. Bendavid made the save but was beaten to the puck by James Hyman who crashed the net looking for a rebound and was rewarded with his second goal of the season. The Rams closed out the entertaining first period with a late goal with 25 seconds left in the period. George Marcolin skated from his defensive position into the middle of the ice and entered the Lightning defensive zone. His long-range shot was saved by Bernard but William Martindale collected the rebound in the left faceoff circle and his quick shot beat Bernard before he could locate the puck and get back into position. The shorthanded goal was the fourth shorthanded goal given up by the Lightning this season and gave the Rams a lift entering the second period.
The second period was dominated by the Lightning. Although the shots on goal in the period were 6-2 in favor of the Lightning, Upper Montgomery controlled the play. An early unassisted goal by Bradley Cupples again gave the Lightning a two goal lead. Cupples collected the puck in the defensive zone and skated solo up ice around three Rams defenders and beat Bendavid with a wrist shot from in close for his second goal of the season. With three and a half minutes left in the second period Brandon Bernard was called for roughing. The Upper Montgomery penalty kill foursome of Josh Nadler, Adam Levine, Andrew Gean, and George Benedick controlled the play for the entire penalty kill and did not allow the Rams to gain possession of the puck. The one, three penalty kill set up kept control of the puck with dump ins and puck retrievals and cycles for the entire two minute shorthanded situation.
The third period was again controlled by the Lightning with the Rams mustering only four shots on net in their attempted comeback. Three minutes into the third period Upper Montgomery would extend the lead to 5-2 and end the competitive portion of the game. Joshua Miller had control of the puck along the left wing boards in the offensive zone. His contested shot toward the net glanced off of Jordan Lynch in the slot and bounded over to the right wing faceoff circle where it went directly onto the stick of Henry Honacki. Honacki’s wrist shot beat Bendavid high stick side for his second goal of the season. As the game wound down, the Lightning kept up the pressure. Cupples finished out the scoring with another unassisted goal, similar to his tally at the beginning of the second period. Cupples had the puck deep in the defensive zone. He skated up ice through the neutral zone and into the Rams’ defensive zone. He stopped at the top of the faceoff circles and fired a sharp wrist shot from the mid-slot area that Bendavid had no chance of saving. For Upper Montgomery it was by far their most complete game of the season. The coaching staff will be looking for the team to use this game as a springboard toward the playoffs and to continue to play with confidence.
Game Notes:
- The Lightning outshot Rockville 27-17 and gave up only six shots on net in the final two periods of the game.
- The Lightning have scored 11 goals in their last two games.
- The Lightning again gave up a shorthanded goal, their fourth shorthanded goal against in nine games.
- Joshua Miller scored his team leading fifth goal of the season.
- Jordan Lynch had an assist, her first career high school point.
- The Lightning will look to continue their hot play of late on Sunday night, January 23rd when the team travels to Frederick to take on the Northwest Jaguars. Game time is 7:20 pm.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Bradley Cupples—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Joshua Miller—Upper Montgomery Forward–-1 Goal, 1 Assist
Third Star—Lucas Eyman—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal