The Upper Montgomery Lightning were hoping to bring momentum from yesterday’s 5-0 senior night shutout of Blair into their game against the Urbana Hawks Tuesday afternoon at Skate Frederick. The highly touted Hawks had other ideas and Urbana got the better of a short benched Lightning squad skating to a 5-2 victory on their home ice. The Lightning did generate several good quality scoring opportunities throughout the game but just could not convert enough of their chances to keep pace with Urbana’s top skaters.
The Lightning started fast against the Hawks reversing a trend that had plagued the team over the past several games. The Upper Montgomery coaching staff had made it a point in the pregame conversation to have the team play quicker and more aggressively early on in the game. That strategy paid dividends as Upper Montgomery scored the game opening goal less than two minutes into the game.
Lightning center Brandon Bernard had the puck behind his own net. He sent a pass over to forward Philip Shkeda along the left wing boards. Shkeda nimbly chipped the puck forward to Lightning defender Andrew Botti cutting up the ice. Botti carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the Urbana defensive zone. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle he then sent a backhand pass to Lightning forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng’s low hard snap shot from the slot was saved by Hawks starting goalie Abby Tanner. The rebound was left in front where Bernard sent a forehand shot past Tanner who had lost her positioning in the crease. Upper Montgomery had an early lead, but the remainder of the opening period was dominated by the Hawks.
Four minutes after Upper Montgomery’s opening tally, Urbana scored the equalizer. Urbana’s top scorer forward Cody Keegan blocked the puck just inside his own defensive zone. He recovered the puck and sent a pass up to fellow forward Zachary Thayer stationed just outside his own blue line. The deft defensive zone breakout sent Urbana’s top two offensive threats, Keegan and Thayer, in on a two on one rush. Nearing the lower portion of the slot, Thayer sent the puck over to Keegan in front. Lightning senior goalie Landon Bernard made a nice right leg pad save on Keegan’s initial shot. The rebound was cleaned up by Thayer into the open side of the net before either Bernard or the Upper Montgomery defense could recover.
Five minutes later it was Keegan’s turn to light the lamp. Upper Montgomery’s defense was messing around with the puck in their own defensive end and ultimately turned it over. Forward Kendall Hanson sent the puck from the left corner around the net and over to Keegan in the right corner. Keegan fired a pass to Thayer in front at the bottom of the faceoff circles. Thayer’s shot was saved by Bernard with the puck bouncing out into the crease area and into a pile of Upper Montgomery skaters’ feet. Keegan fished the puck loose. He lifted a high shot over Bernard’s shoulder of his glove hand side into the top of the net. Urbana had a lead that they would never relinquish.
A minute after Keegan’s goal, the Hawks went to the powerplay when Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer was called for hooking. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers and Bernard stood tall keeping the Hawks from extending their lead. Just after the powerplay ended, Keegan and Thayer struck once again. Thayer dug the puck out of his left defensive corner. He sent an outlet pass up to Keegan, who then chipped the puck past the Upper Montgomery onrushing forward. Keegan carried the puck all the way down the left wing side of the ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Off the rush, Keegan fired a slap shot far side past Bernard’s glove hand.
After the opening flurry gave the Lightning the lead, Upper Montgomery generated very little offense the rest of the first period mustering only four shots on goal. Urbana had taken control of the game leading the Urbana coaching staff to change goalies and put backup netminder Chloe Hanson in net to begin the second period. It was quite the unexpected transition especially after little used Hawks defender Nathan Gu took an interference penalty as the first period neared its end. With the powerplay carrying over to the second period, Upper Montgomery was once again unsuccessful with the extra skater. After Gu’s penalty expired, Urbana defender Thomas Alexander took a roughing penalty. As with their first powerplay of the game, Upper Montgomery again failed to convert as they have all season long. A more evenly matched period saw Upper Montgomery generate some quality scoring chances that were turned aside by Hanson. The second period ended with Urbana still holding on to its 3-1 lead.
Four minutes into the third period, Urbana would extend their lead to 4-1. Another Upper Montgomery turnover in the defensive zone provided the impetus for the goal. A poor Lightning clearing attempt off the left wing boards was cut off by Urbana forward Alexander Cheves. Cheves turned and centered to fellow forward Max Dabruzzo standing in the slot. Dabruzzo quickly fired a wrist shot over Bernard’s blocker. Urbana’s three goal lead seemed safe with Upper Montgomery unable to convert their scoring chances. It got even tougher for the Lightning when Brandon Bernard was called for boarding with seven minutes remaining in the game. It was his second boarding penalty in the past three games and finished his evening early. With boarding minor penalties, a ten minute misconduct penalty is automatically also assessed.
The Lightning caught a break while on the penalty kill when the Hawks’ Alexander picked up a loose Upper Montgomery stick and shoveled it out of the way. The equipment violation penalty ended Urbana’s powerplay early. The clock kept ticking toward the final buzzer and Upper Montgomery kept battling. Senior center and Lightning co-captain Chris Hassett, the team’s leading scorer, was rewarded with two minutes remaining in the game.
Depth forward Adam Levine brought the puck through the neutral zone and into the Urbana defensive zone. From the high slot, he put a shot on net which Hanson saved with her leg pads. The puck was pushed into the corner where a Hawks defender carried the puck around the net and back into Levine who was chasing after the rebound. The pressure caused the Hawks defender to change direction where he ran into Hassett, losing control of the puck in the process. The puck scattered into the right corner where after a puck battle with a Hawks defender it was taken by Upper Montgomery’s third leading scorer, Shkeda. The puck popped loose from the scrum to Hassett. He curled around the right faceoff circle and fired short side high over Hanson’s glove hand.
Urbana’s Dabruzzo finished off the scoring with nine seconds remaining in the game easily scoring into the empty net with Bernard having been pulled for the additional skater. Thayer got to the puck along the right wing boards in his defensive zone. His outlet pass to Keegan exited the defensive zone. Keegan deftly moved the puck to Dabruzzo who crossed the center red line and fired into the unguarded net. Upper Montgomery now heads into a showdown game on Friday against Rockville/Magruder with Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff seeding on the line.
Game Notes:
- Shots on goal for the game were Urbana with 25 and Upper Montgomery with a very low 18. For the second consecutive game Upper Montgomery only fired four shots on goal during the first period.
- Upper Montgomery’s futility on the powerplay continued. Three more failed powerplay opportunities versus the Hawks has extended the Lightning’s season long drought which now stands at 37 straight unsuccessful powerplays. Upper Montgomery is 0-37 on the season on traditional powerplays, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
- Ninth grade forward Aiden Zheng has assists in consecutive games. The points are his first career varsity points.
- Brandon Bernard scored for the second consecutive game.
- Upper Montgomery returns to action on Friday night, January 26th for a very important game against the Rockville/Magruder Rams. It is likely that the winner of the game will earn the all important sixth seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff rankings. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Cody Keegan—Urbana Forward—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Max Dabruzzo—Urbana Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Chloe Hansen—1 Goal Against, 13 Saves, .929 Save Percentage