The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday night’s contest against Wootton knowing that they would need to excel defensively in order to slow down Wootton’s high powered offensive attack. Wootton had scored fourteen and ten goals in their first two games of the season. Upper Montgomery largely succeeded in holding Wootton down by surrendering only three goals. However, Upper Montgomery was unable to convert on several net front scrambles and other prime scoring opportunities flittered away in a 3-1 loss to the highly ranked Patriots. It was a good showing by the young Lightning squad in their first test against a highly rated team.
The contrast in styles made for a very busy night in net for Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg, who made a career high 49 saves during the game. Upper Montgomery was outshot 52-26 for the game with Shterenberg having to make save after save on Wootton fast break rushes up ice. The game played out exactly how the Upper Montgomery coaching staff prepared the Lightning. Wootton would gain possession of the puck in their defensive zone and all of their skaters would fire up ice looking to outnumber the Lightning defenders. Upper Montgomery countered with a defensive game plan seeking to frustrate the Patriots by clearing the defensive zone and forcing the Patriots to constantly rewind at center ice and re-enter the Lightning defensive zone time and again with layers of green shirted defenders protecting the net.
The opening half of the first period was played entirely in the Lightning defensive zone. Wootton had long stretches, shift after shift, of offensive zone time with frequent shots fired at Shterenberg. At times it looked like a shooting gallery. As the game neared ten minutes of action, Upper Montgomery cleared their defensive zone. The Patriots all world senior defender Sam Hosier collected the puck in his own zone and circled around with possession. His pass up ice was broken up by Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng dumped the puck back into the Patriots defensive zone to the right corner. Wootton advanced the puck to neutral ice and the puck was again slammed back into the Wootton defensive zone by Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Matt Rivera. Hosier gained the puck behind his own net. He dumped the puck out the defensive zone and immediately Upper Montgomery sent the puck deep for a third consecutive time.
At that point, Hosier had had enough. He jumped up and intercepted the last dump in on the left wing at his own defensive blue line. Hosier circled in his own zone to the right and headed up ice. He individually advanced the puck out of the Wootton defensive zone, through neutral ice, and then into the bottom of the left faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone. He unleashed a rocket of a wrist shot that went high to the far side of the net. As the puck went past Shterenberg blocker it hit the bottom of Shterenberg’s water bottle sitting on the top of the net.
Forty seconds later the Patriots were on the powerplay after Lightning senior center Josh Nadler was called for tripping. The target practice continued with shot after shot attempt directed at the Lightning’s goalie. With Shterenberg’s fine goaltending display, and a few shots sent just wide, Upper Montgomery survived the penalty kill. The final three minutes of the first period ticked away enabling the Lightning to reach the end of the period down by only one goal even through they had been outshot seventeen to four in the first fifteen minutes of game action.
The second period was more of the same. Target practice, with 25 more shots fired on Shterenberg who was excellent again in the middle period making several outstanding saves. Upper Montgomery was becoming a little more comfortable with and adjusted to the pace of play. Wootton’s speed advantage while noticeable no longer fully controlled the action. Upper Montgomery was able to counter with some goal mouth flurries that produced nine shots on goal. The Lightning were helped by an early second period powerplay opportunity when Wootton sophomore defender Jayden Ahn was called for a roughing penalty just over three minutes into the period. While Upper Montgomery was unable to cash in, the extra skater and Wootton’s focus on the penalty kill momentarily interrupted their go for broke fast pace style of play.
Halfway through the period, Wootton went to their second powerplay of the game when Lightning junior forward Philip Shkeda was called for roughing. Complicating matters was that Upper Montgomery junior center Owen Robbin, a primary penalty killer for the Lightning, was whistled for a cross checking penalty with forty second remaining on Shkeda’s penalty. The rest of the Lightning penalty killers rose to the challenge and Shterenberg made a huge save to get through the five on three portion of Wootton’s powerplay to get Shkeda back on the ice.
As the clock ticked under five minutes remaining in the second period and with thirty seconds still remaining on Robbins’ penalty, Wootton broke down the Lightning penalty killers to increase their lead to 2-0. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck down ice to the Wootton defensive blue line. Hosier retrieved the puck and did his customary circle to generate some speed. He made a backhand pass to Wootton forward Owen Goozh on the right side of the defensive blue line. Goozh traveled through the neutral zone down the middle of the ice. He made a move around the Lightning penalty killers but in doing so lost the puck into the left corner in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. With Goozh and Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton battling for the puck, Wootton forward Justin Heller jumped in and helped dislodge the puck loose. Heller fired the puck behind the Lightning net to Patriots senior center Nathan Tai. Tai came around the goal toward the right corner and then further around the outside of the right faceoff circle. Coming at the net with speed, Tai snapped off a sharp wrist shot that went far side seven hole into Shterenberg’s body under his blocker and stick. The pace of the shot propelled the puck past the young goaltender’s body and into the net.
Upper Montgomery would get a late powerplay of their own to close out the second period when Tai was called for a hooking penalty. Upper Montgomery continued to threaten the crease area but time after time the puck squirted just wide of the net or was blocked away when seemingly headed toward an open net. The Lightning were unable to cash in with the extra skater and entered the third period down by two goals while having been outshot 42-13 through thirty minutes of action.
The Lightning again had a golden opportunity to tighten up the game at the beginning of the third period when Hosier was called for a slashing penalty just seconds into the period. Upper Montgomery put on a significant amount of pressure while on the powerplay with Hosier off the ice. There was a goal mouth scramble with Wootton goalie Kevin Yu bobbling the puck behind him. However, the puck was steered just wide of the net. As Hosier’s penalty ended, the puck was stolen by Wootton forward Michael Klimantov at the red line along the right wing boards. Klimantov skated into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone where he passed the puck to his left finding Hosier open in the high slot. Hosier shot the puck back across his body toward Shterenberg. The perfectly placed shot wound up going under Shterenberg’s outstretched glove hand. It was a deflating moment as Upper Montgomery had an opportunity to climb back into the game, and then seconds after Wootton returned to even strength the Lightning was staring at a three goal deficit.
At the eight and a half minute mark of the third period, Upper Montgomery would use a fine set of passes to finally convert on one of their high danger opportunities. Lightning senior center Henry Honacki poke checked the puck loose from Hosier just inside the Wootton defensive blue line. Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Jake Hudson picked up the puck just outside the blue line. He sent a pass back to Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins standing at the Lightning’s defensive blue line along the right wing boards. Robbins swung the puck left to her defensive partner junior Brady Berkhammer who read a slow developing Wootton line change. Berkhammer fired the puck up to Honacki who had managed to get behind all Wootton skaters. From the offensive blue line in, Honacki was in alone on a breakaway. Honacki faked from forehand to backhand and easily outmaneuvered Yu carefully sliding the puck into the yawning open net.
With Upper Montgomery trailing by just two goals, an all out offensive push provided a lifeline when Wootton’s Tai was called for a tripping penalty on the next shift. Another opportunity with the extra skater to try and claw closer. The right goal post was as close as the Lightning would come with several more chances that just would not go in. After Tai’s penalty ended, Wootton spent the final six minutes of the game focusing on playing sound defense.
For Wootton, their best defense is their potent offense and puck possession. The Patriots struggled to clear their defensive zone, but did manage to block several Upper Montgomery shots to help protect Yu. Even when Upper Montgomery pulled Shterenberg with two minutes left in the game, Wootton had trouble finishing the game. The Lightning applied constant pressure which Wootton relieved with several icings over the final two minutes of the game. But, it was enough as the Patriots found a way to win a game where their offensive output was nine goals lower than their season average. The Lightning have little time to appreciate how well they played against a very good opponent. A clash against another top ranked team, the Urbana Hawks comes up on Tuesday afternoon.
Game Notes:
- Wootton badly outshot Upper Montgomery 52-26 for the game, including 42-13 over the first two periods of play.
- Lightning sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg made a career high 49 saves with a .942 save percentage.
- Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored for the third consecutive game.
- Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins notched her first career varsity point with an assist on Honacki’s goal.
- Upper Montgomery returns to action early Tuesday afternoon facing off against another powerhouse team in the Urbana Hawks. Game time is 3:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—49 Saves, .942 Save Percentage
Second Star—Sam Hosier—Wootton Defense—2 Goals
Third Star—Kevin Yu–Wootton Goalie—Win, 1 Goal Against, 25 Saves, .962 Save Percentage