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