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