The Upper Montgomery Lightning atoned for an ugly Halloween performance by stifling the Sherwood Warriors 5-1 to advance to the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Championship game. The semifinal matchup turned into a story of which team could overcome the absence of their key contributors. Sherwood features a dynamic duo offensive threat in center Noi Jonasson and the Warriors’ leading scorer, senior forward Grayson Winckler. When both are present, the Warriors are a very dangerous team. In Wednesday’s semifinal matchup Jonasson missed the game due to a conflict with his external AAA travel team.
Upper Montgomery shed no tears as the Lightning were missing many core student athletes themselves. Junior AAA center Ryan Jacobson missed the game injured. Junior AA forward, and the team’s second leading scorer, Nathan Cassel missed the game injured. Depth forward, senior Adam Levine missed the game injured. Senior AAA forward Olivia Robbins missed the game with an external travel team conflict. Sophomore AA defender Owen Robbins missed the game with an external travel team conflict. Five regulars were out of the Lightning lineup for the semifinal matchup.
With so much talent out of their lineup, the Lightning game plan centered around swarming Winckler and forcing the rest of the Warriors lineup to win the game. Upper Montgomery’s revamped first line of senior co-captain and leading scorer Chris Hassett playing between regular winger Philip Shkeda and senior Brandon Bernard were the most dangerous trio on the ice. The line propelled the Lightning to victory with Hassett scoring four goals set up primarily by Bernard and Shkeda. The Lightning’s second and third lines did an excellent job of playing defensive hockey. Upper Montgomery senior goalie, Landon Bernard played a solid game stopping 26 of 27 shots on goal to secure the win.
Upper Montgomery jumped out to an early 1-0 lead three minutes into the game. Off of a faceoff from the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Lightning senior co-captain Hunter Cameron won the draw back to ninth grade defender Miles Wendland at the left point. Wendland’s wrist shot was deflected by junior forward Henry Honacki who had slipped behind the Sherwood defense. Honacki’s deflection beat Warriors goalie Samuel Hutt near side along the ice past his goalie stick.
Two and a half minutes after the Lightning jumped in front, Hassett was called for a hooking penalty. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers led by junior defender Andrew Botti and sophomore defender Brady Berkhammer helped keep the Warriors at bay. Just more than halfway through the powerplay, Sherwood was penalized for too many skaters on the ice after a poor line change. The miscue ended the Warriors powerplay early, and after a short period of four on four play Upper Montgomery then went on its first powerplay of the game. Similar to the Warriors earlier powerplay, the Lightning also failed to capitalize with the extra skater.
With three and a half minutes remaining in the first period, Upper Montgomery would open up a 2-0 lead. This time, the faceoff was in the right faceoff circle in the Lightning’s offensive zone in front of Hutt. Upper Montgomery had possession of the puck inside the offensive zone for 45 seconds working the puck around. Botti held the puck at the left point where he sent the puck down the boards and around net to Shkeda. Shkeda reversed direction back behind the net and sent the puck to Brandon Bernard in the left faceoff circle. With his stick tied up, Bernard kicked the puck over to Hassett who was near the left goal post. Hassett went back behind the net from left to right where he attempted to send a cross ice pass. Hassett’s pass was blocked by the Sherwood defense with the puck bounding back behind the net once again. Bernard retrieved the puck and curled up to the right faceoff circle where he fed Hassett now stationed in front of the net. Hassett faked to his backhand and then moved the puck over to his forehand before he put a well placed shot to the wide side of the net along the ice and past Hutt’s glove hand.
The first period ended with Upper Montgomery ahead 2-0 while outshooting the Warriors fourteen to eight. It was a period controlled by the Lightning with Sherwood trying everything possible to free up Winckler to allow him to spark the Warriors offensively. In the team’s regular season game, Winckler had a hat-trick and added three assists in the Warriors 9-7 win.
The second period played out like a replica of the first period. An early Upper Montgomery goal made the score 3-0, then Upper Montgomery and Sherwood took penalties, then a second Lightning scoring strike, and Upper Montgomery outshooting Sherwood by a healthy margin. On the first shift of the period, Hassett scored his second goal of the game to put Upper Montgomery up 3-0. The goal definitely took some of the pressure off the Lightning who continued play with a solid lead. In the right corner of his defensive zone, Hassett intercepted a pass on the back check. He sent the puck up the right wing boards to Bernard. Bernard lost control of the puck but was once again able to kick the puck forward to Hassett in the neutral zone. Hassett continued up the right wing side of the ice where he jumped past the Sherwood left defender to the inside. Clear of the defender he sent a pass over to Shkeda. Shkeda unleashed a wrist shot toward the goal where Hutt made a glove hand save with the puck caroming to the left wing boards. Berkhammer kept the play alive near his right point position, coming down into the offensive zone to possess the puck. Berkhammer’s flip shot from the boards was stopped on its way to the net by Hassett. Hassett then uncorked a snap shot that went short side past Hutt’s left arm and glove into the net.
Less than a minute and a half later, Upper Montgomery junior defender Cole Howerton was called for a tripping penalty when he rode a Warriors forward wide. The Sherwood skater lost an edge and fell. There was no penalty deserved yet the Lightning were once again shorthanded. Upper Montgomery killed off the Sherwood powerplay with ease. At the nine minute mark of the second period Sherwood forward Charles Sickel was given a ten minute misconduct penalty for his comments toward the officials after he thought he was fouled and no penalty was called.
That sequence also started Upper Montgomery’s offensive play culminating with the Lightning’s fourth goal of the evening. A Sherwood turnover at neutral ice was caused by a poke check from Shekda. Bernard carried the puck into the offensive zone entering over the blue line in the middle of the ice. Bernard returned a pass to Shkeda down the left side. Shkeda fired on net from a bad angle and Hutt made an easy save. However, rebound control was an issue and the puck went to Hassett. With no angle to shoot, Hassett curled back up ice into the left faceoff circle. From the inside edge of the left faceoff circle Hassett fired a wrist shot short side, mid goal height, that went past Hutt’s blocker for his hat-trick marker.
At four to nothing, Upper Montgomery played to keep the clock moving and to play excellent team defense. Whenever the puck went near Winckler, two Upper Montgomery skaters jumped in his way. The Lightning’s defensive strategy forced Winckler to give up possession of the puck. Or, if Winckler pressed play, the aggressive Upper Montgomery defense created turnovers which Upper Montgomery cleared down ice. The Warriors were then forced to go the entire length of the ice through the Lightning’s defensive posture to generate offensive looks. Upper Montgomery’s strategy worked very well with the second period ending with the Lightning ahead 4-0, and outshooting Sherwood fourteen to six in the middle period.
With desperation mounting and only fifteen minutes remaining in their season, Sherwood came out with renewed effort in the third period. That effort, coupled with Upper Montgomery’s focus on the defensive side of the ice, helped Sherwood outshoot Upper Montgomery twelve to ten in the final period. Lightning goalie Landon Bernard was far busier in the third period than he had been over the first thirty minutes of action making several solid saves to keep Upper Montgomery well in front.
Just over a minute into the third period, Sherwood would finally get on the scoreboard. In front of his own net, Sherwood defender Noah Temenak chipped the puck with his backhand over to Winckler. Winckler skated the entire length of the ice down the right wing, from his defensive zone into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His shot from the right faceoff circle was blocked by Botti who was in excellent defensive position. Unfortunately, the puck bounced immediately to Sherwood forward Cameron Colandro. Colandro was prepared for the puck’s change of direction and instantly in shooting motion where he fired the puck past Bernard’s left leg and glove.
Sherwood had a bit of momentum that was immediately blunted by the Lightning’s top line. Forty seconds into the next shift, with the puck along the side boards in the Sherwood defensive zone, Bernard worked the puck loose to Shkeda in the right faceoff circle. Shkeda’s wrist shot was saved by Hutt, but Hassett was there to knock home the rebound. With their four goal lead restored, the Lightning resumed strong defensive play.
With ten minutes remaining in the game, Honacki was called for a high sticking penalty. The Upper Montgomery penalty kill was up to the challenge once again and kept Sherwood from scoring. Then, as the clock ticked towards four minutes left, it was Howerton back to the penalty box for his own high sticking penalty. A minute into the fourth Sherwood powerplay of the night, Botti was assessed another high sticking penalty putting the Lightning down two skaters. Upper Montgomery throttled the Warriors attempts and Bernard was there to make timely saves. As first Howerton’s penalty expired, and then Botti’s penalty ended, it became clear that the final minute of regulation would play out with both teams realizing that the outcome had been decided.
Upper Montgomery will play for the most important championship in program history tomorrow when the Lightning face the Wootton Patriots in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament Championship game. It will be a matchup of the top two teams not invited to the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs. After not beating Wootton for the first fourteen years of the Upper Montgomery program’s existence, Upper Montgomery swept Wootton last year winning 8-2 and then 4-2 in the rematch. Tomorrow, the Lightning hope to make it three straight wins over the Patriots culminating in the traditional stake around the rink with the championship trophy held high.
Game Notes:
- Lightning senior co-captain and leading scorer Chris Hassett scored four goals versus the Warriors one game after scoring a career high five goals versus Northwest / Quince Orchard.
- Upper Montgomery forward Brandon Bernard contributed three assists in the game.
- Upper Montgomery forward Philip Shkeda also contributed three assists in the game.
- Upper Montgomery outshot Sherwood 38 to 27 for the game.
- Upper Montgomery finishes the season tomorrow against arch rival Wootton in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament Championship game. Puck drop is 4:20 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—4 Goals
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 26 Saves, .963 Save Percentage
Third Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Assists