Author: chucklevine

The Upper Montgomery Lightning and the Rockville / Magruder Rams are so evenly matched that the teams have played into overtime in their last two meetings. The game prior to the two overtime tilts was decided by a last minute goal. Friday night’s matchup between the two programs was high on drama and was very entertaining to watch. Both coaching staff were not happy with some of the sloppy play and turnovers committed by their team which directly led to goals scored by the opposition. Both coaching staffs were not pleased with the subpar officiating in the game. In the end, Cameron Gifford scored with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and the Rams salvaged a 5-5 tie with Upper Montgomery. Gifford’s goal came with Rockville / Magruder skating with an extra attacker after having pulled their goalie. The teams then played a scoreless five minute overtime period.

Scoring within the first two minutes of the game, the Rams got off to a fast start. Five, yes five, failed defensive zone clears by the Lightning lead to Gifford’s first goal of the evening. The last of the defensive zone failed clears along the left wing boards was kept in the zone at the right point. Upper Montgomery regained possession of the puck in the right faceoff circle. Gifford stripped the puck away from the Lightning and he fired a wrist shot from the low slot that beat Upper Montgomery goalie Ilan Shterenberg five hole for the unassisted goal.

Later in his shift, Gifford took a hooking penalty on the backcheck to put Upper Montgomery on the powerplay. While on the five on four skater advantage, Rockville / Magruder’s second best defender, 18U AA Aiden Ward was called for a boarding minor and also given the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty that comes with a boarding penalty. One might have thought that Upper Montgomery would be headed to a five on three powerplay for forty five seconds. But, no. Upper Montgomery junior center Owen Robbins, the skater who was boarded, was somehow called for a holding minor penalty while being boarded to even out the call and leave Upper Montgomery with only one extra skater on the ice. A mystery penalty on Robbins to say the least.

Upper Montgomery failed to score on powerplay opportunity number one. Then, on his next shift, Gifford was once again called for a two minute minor penalty, his second hooking penalty in three minutes. With two seconds left on the powerplay, the Lightning evened the score at one. The scoring sequence began with a faceoff in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the right of Shterenberg. Upper Montgomery controlled the draw with sophomore forward Aiden Zheng skating the puck up ice through the neutral zone and into the Rockville / Magruder defensive zone. He battled for possession of the puck along the left wing boards in the offensive zone. With good pressure, Zheng forced the Rams defender to quickly throw the puck up the boards to the left point where the puck was kept in the offensive zone by sophomore defender Miles Wendland. Zheng swooped in and collected the loose puck. He skated around the ice to the right side and fired on net from near the right wing boards. Rams goalie Sean Connelly made the save with his goalie pads. The puck rebounded out to the far side and directly to Lightning senior center Henry Honacki who was streaking to the net on the left side of the crease. Honacki had an easy tap in goal low along the ice past Connelly before he could react and come over to the far side of the net.

Then, it became Upper Montgomery’s turnstile to the penalty box. Robbins took as seat once again, this time for an interference minor. Upper Montgomery withstood Rockville / Magruder’s intense pressure with Shterenberg making several good saves to preserve the tie. With top end offensive talent on the ice, the Rams spent most of the two minute extra skater advantage in the Lightning’s defensive zone. After Upper Montgomery’s successful penalty kill, the teams skated five on five for only about a minute before Honacki was whistled for a hooking minor penalty. Upper Montgomery was a little better killing off this Rams powerplay until Gifford scored just after Honacki stepped out of the penalty box. Technically, not a powerplay goal, but before Honakci had any chance to enter the defense zone and re-engage in the game action.

Upper Montgomery failed to clear the defensive zone with clear possession of the puck. The Upper Montgomery forward fanned on the clearing attempt with the puck sliding over to the left wing boards. Gifford was first on the puck and he sent a pass back to Rams defender Lincoln Herrick at the left point. Herrick returned the puck down the boards to Gifford at the side wall. Gifford again passed back to Herrick at the left point. Herrick’s long range wrist shot from the left point was easily blockered aside by Shterenberg to the left corner. Gifford retrieved the puck and shielded the puck from the Upper Montgomery penalty killers. He skated in space to the top of the offensive zone near the blue line where he sent a backhand pass to the right point to 18U AAA defender Drew Pfeufer. Pfeufer sent a pass down low in the slot to Rams forward Toyin Okunseinde looking for a tip in at the top of the crease. Shterenberg made another fine save on the deflection. The puck came out into the slot where Okunseinde regained control momentarily before Rockville / Magruder senior forward Brendyn Iliff stretched out and sent a backhand pass to Gifford along the left side of the crease area. Gifford was able to extend the puck past Shterenberg’s right leg pad and send it into the net giving the Rams a 2-1 lead. The goal came with twenty seconds left in the opening period. Shots on goal in the first fifteen minutes of action were fourteen for Rockville / Magruder and nine for the Lightning.

Upper Montgomery began to adjust to the pace of play in the middle period. Even through the Rams outshot Upper Montgomery twelve to five in the second period, Upper Montgomery was able to make plays and it did not feel as if Upper Montgomery was back on their heels as much. A minute into the period, the game was again tied. From behind the goal line to the left of his own net, Honacki sent an outlet pass up the left boards to Lightning sophomore forward Jake Hudson. Hudson reached out and tipped the puck past Rockville / Magruder’s onrushing defender who was attempting to keep the puck in the offensive zone at the point. Upper Montgomery’s leading scorer from last season, senior forward Nathan Cassel read the play. He timed his move perfectly and darted between the two Rams defenders. Hudson’s poke of the puck found Cassel in stride streaking down the ice on a clear breakaway from the red line in. Cassel headed down the right side of the ice, neared Connelly in the net, faked to his forehand getting Connelly to commit to his left, and deftly slid the puck with his backhand around the goalie’s right leg to the opposite side of the net. Connelly was easily faked out by Cassel’s stickhandling move.

Three minutes later, Robbins was tackled by the side of the net by Rams defender Max Yuen. For getting tackled Robbins was assessed a matching minor penalty for holding. It was a abysmal call by the referees and nullified what should have been a clear powerplay opportunity for the Lightning and a great chance to jump back into the lead. The loud protestation from the Upper Montgomery coaching staff seemed to have an impact on the officials as they largely put away their whistles after the matching coincidental minors were handed out.

With four minutes remaining in the second period, Upper Montgomery depth forward TJ Gottesman punched a Rams defender in the head. Gottesman drew a minor penalty for head contact and an automatic ten minute misconduct penalty on the play. Twenty seconds into the Rams powerplay, Cassel struck again to give Upper Montgomery the lead. Cassel was inside his defensive blue line high in the zone. He stepped in between a cross ice pass from Rockville / Magruder’s right point defender. As the puck was on its way to the left side of the ice, Cassel gloved the puck out of mid-air and he was off to the races on another breakaway opportunity. Using almost a carbon copy move to his first breakaway goal, although Cassel did not cleanly control the puck on the transition from forehand to backhand this chance, he once again slid the puck past Connelly’s right leg pad for the shorthanded unassisted goal giving Upper Montgomery their first lead of the night at 3-2.

Inside of one minute remaining in the second period, Pfeufer really made his presence felt. He took possession of the puck in the Rockville / Magruder defensive zone. He skated all the way down ice into the left corner of the offensive zone. In the left corner, he spun around to get separation from the Upper Montgomery defense. Pfeufer then intentionally sent a backhand shot off Shterenberg to the right side of the net. Rockville / Magruder ninth grade forward Alexander Johnston was wide open at the back right post where he easily deposited the rebound into the open net to tie the game at three. It was goals in consecutive games for Johnston to begin his high school hockey career. It was also the second consecutive period that Rockville / Magruder scored in the final minute. The game was quickly turning into a back and forth classic.

The third period turned into a tale of two halves. Two minutes into the final period of regulation, Zheng again gave Upper Montgomery the lead at 4-3. Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin had the puck on the right wing boards in his defensive zone. He found Zheng coming up the middle of the defensive zone. Zheng took control of the puck and sprinted up ice through the neutral zone and down the left side of the ice. From the top of the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, he fired a wrist shot to the far side of the net that handcuffed Connelly who could not control the puck which beat him under his glove hand.

With nine and a half minutes left in regulation, Cassel completed his hat-trick putting Upper Montgomery ahead 5-3. Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer collected the puck along the left wing boards in his defensive zone. He skated toward his own goal, turned, and settled down play. He then sent the puck up the left wing boards to Hudson near the blue line. Hudson won a puck battle with the Rams defender and pushed the puck over the blue line to center ice. As the puck was approaching the Upper Montgomery offensive zone, Robbins raced forward with possession of the puck and came in on a fast developing two on one rush with Cassel. Robbins’ shot short side was saved by Connelly with the puck bouncing behind the goal. Robbins collected the puck on the right side of the net with little defensive pressure. He slid a backhand pass across the crease to Cassel which the skilled forward immediately slammed home past Connelly who was out of position too heavily focused on Robbins.

With six minutes left in the third period, Pfeufer made the game very interesting, scoring to close the margin to 5-4 in favor of the Lightning. A missed Upper Montgomery shot sprung Rockville / Magruder up ice. From the left side of the ice in the neutral zone, Herrick shot the puck into the Lightning defensive zone from just prior to the Lightning defensive blue line. The puck wound all the way around the Upper Montgomery net to the right wing boards where Pfeufer was waiting. Pfeufer skated in a semi-circle around the top of the offensive zone from the right wing boards to the left faceoff circle. Coming downhill with momentum, Pfeufer fired a low wrist shot short side on Shterenberg past the young goalie’s stick and blocker.

Superior Upper Montgomery defense over the next five and a half minutes stifled the Rams. There were tremendous efforts to clear the defensive zone with Upper Montgomery stacking the blue line and making it hard on Rockville / Magruder to penetrate into the offensive zone and generate good scoring chances. Upper Montgomery iced the puck with 42 seconds left and again with 35 seconds remaining. The last faceoff was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the left of Sheterenberg. There was a puck battle along the left wing boards with Robbins stuffing the puck along the left wing boards. He was pushed over and fell near the puck keeping the Rams from grabbing possession. All the while the clock ticked under ten seconds. With five seconds remaining in the game, Berkhammer had the puck in the left corner. His clearing attempt to seal the victory was intercepted by Iliff at the blue line. With three seconds remaining Iliff skated in towards the goal where he lost possession of the puck when he encountered traffic. Cassel and Gifford were standing close by. The loose puck was at Gifford’s feet. He sent a wrist shot towards the net with four bodies standing between him and Shterenberg. The puck found its way through each of the four skaters without hitting any of them. It flew low past a completely screened Shterenberg’s right side, past his leg pad with 1.3 seconds remaining in the third period. The goal set off a wild celebration on the Rams bench and salvaged the game for Rockville / Magruder.

Overtime was all about puck possession. For minutes at a time Rockville / Magruder possessed the puck with Pfeufer, Iliff, and Okunseinde out on the ice together. Although holding on to the puck, that trio did not create superior offensive chances with all of the open ice. Upper Montgomery used Berkhammer, Cassel, and Robbins to counter the Rams and Cassel had the two best chances of the overtime period. Both of his clean looks ramped up high and had Connelly ducking as the puck twice sailed over the crossbar high with a lot of empty net available. At the buzzer sounded to end the game each team seamed content with the outcome of the game. Upper Montgomery was pleased to have tied a team higher in the country rankings although feeling as if they should have won the game. Rockville / Magruder was thrilled to have scored so late to salvage the tie and come away from the game with standings points.

Game Notes:

• Rockville / Magruder outshot Upper Montgomery 36-22 for the game, including twelve to five in the second period.
• Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel scored a hat-trick.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki and sophomore forward Aiden Zheng each scored a goal and dished out an assist for two point games. For Zheng it was his second consecutive two point game.
• Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Jake Hudson had two assists in his first career high school varsity game.
• Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin contributed an assist for his first career high school varsity point.
• Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay for the second consecutive game. It has been a welcome change from last season when the Lightning miss-fired on their first 46 extra skater advantages, not scoring on the powerplay until the final game of the regular season against Bullis.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action on Thursday, Halloween evening to face off against Northwest / Quince Orchard. Game time is 7:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Lightning then play the following evening against the high powered Wootton Patriots. Game time on Friday is late night, a 10:00 pm start.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Cameron Gifford—Rockville / Magruder Forward—3 Goals
Second Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals
Third Star—Drew Pfeufer—Rockville / Magruder Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity entered Friday evening’s game against the DC Stars knowing that several of the student athletes would also be playing later that night in the varsity game. It was going to be a balance of effort and energy expenditure versus holding back and conserving that energy for later that night. The Lightning used a strong defensive effort to smother the DC Stars with Upper Montgomery controlling play for long stretches of action leading to a 4-1 victory and improving the junior varsity’s record to 2-1-2 on the season.

A quick start for the Lightning allowed the team to settle in and activate the defense first approach. Just over a minute into the game, Lightning senior defender and alternate captain Patrick Sell scored his first goal of the season. The strike came after a poor clear by the Stars defense. Upper Montgomery had rushed up ice pushing offensively. A missed pass left the puck deep in the right corner of the Stars defensive zone. The attempted defensive zone clear was a weak one and Sell stepped in from his right point position. He cut off the puck just beyond the tops of the faceoff circles, five feet inside the blue line. Sell changed his body position so he could fire off a long range wrist shot. Sell’s rising shot traveled through traffic and beat DC Stars netminder Liam Parkinson high over his glove hand to the right side of the net.

The early 1-0 deficit seemed to rattle the Stars. The Stars pushed forward offensively falling into the defensive shell established by the Lightning who were comfortable simply chipping the puck out of their defensive end of the ice. When the forwards reached center ice, the puck was dumped in and the Stars were forced to turn and chase after the puck. The Upper Montgomery coaches kept the shift times short trying to keep the skaters as fresh as possible. There was not very much action in the first period which suited the Lightning just fine as they were in the lead. Shots on goal for the first period were low, the DC Stars fired seven non-threatening shots at Upper Montgomery ninth grade goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons and the Lightning put only five pucks on Parkinson.

The second period also saw a quick Lightning goal which extended the lead. Stars forward Callum Cochran was called for roughing thirteen seconds into the period sending Upper Montgomery to the powerplay. The Lightning’s first powerplay unit struggled to gain possession of the puck in the offensive zone. After a DC Stars full length of the ice clear, Upper Montgomery finally entered the offensive zone with puck possession. Eventually, the puck was in the left corner where sophomore forward Jake Hudson had control of the puck. An aggressive move by the Stars defense knocked the puck loose up the left wing boards towards the left point. Lightning ninth grade defender Matt Rivera moved in and kept the puck in the zone. He fired a snap shot from the outside edge at the top of the left faceoff circle. Lightning senior forward AJ Marks deflected the shot from just in front of Parkinson who was still able to make a stick save on the play. The rebound eluded Parkinson’s control and went to the right side of the goal where Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender/forward Luke Hudson was standing all alone. Hudson slammed home the rebound for the powerplay marker and his first career high school goal.

Up 2-0, Upper Montgomery continued to hang back and protect the lead. The DC Stars pushed harder looking to get back in the game. Every time the Stars had a good opportunity, Stutsrim-Lyons was there to shut the door. With under three minutes left in the second period Upper Montgomery would extend the lead. From a faceoff outside the DC Stars blue line along the left wing side of the ice, Lightning ninth grade center Decklin Hughes won the faceoff left to Jake Hudson along the left wing boards. Hudson cut toward the middle of the ice and entered the offensive zone. He crossed to the right side of the ice clearing the Stars defender in the right faceoff circle. His wrist shot went wide of the goal short side. The puck circled around to the left point where it was kept in the zone at the left point by Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans. Evans shoveled the puck forward with her backhand. The puck clanked off a skate and caromed into the slot where it was picked up by Hudson. Hudson took two strides and fired a wrist shot that went seven hole on Parkinson below his glove and into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

On the next shift after Hudson’s goal, Lightning senior defender and team captain Cole Howerton was assessed a checking from behind penalty. The two minute minor automatically comes with a ten minute misconduct penalty. Utilizing only four defenders to start the game, the Lightning coaches got creative on the back line with both Luke and Jake Hudson coming back to take shifts on defense to help the team out. The DC Stars failed to convert on the powerplay which expired just as the period was ending. Shots on goal in the second period were twelve for the DC Stars giving them nineteen through two periods of play and Upper Montgomery countering with five for a two period total of ten, three of which got past Parkinson.

Thirty seconds into the final period, the Lightning were back on the penalty kill when Rivera was called for a phantom high sticking minor penalty. As with the Stars earlier powerplay opportunity, this one went awry as well as the Stars missed the net on several quality scoring chances. Upper Montgomery was awarded a powerplay soon after Rivera’s penalty ended when the Stars were called for too many skaters on the ice. Upper Montgomery used good judgement while on the powerplay with one defender back in the neutral zone at all times to prevent the Stars from a shorthanded opportunity and any chance to get back into the game.

Five minutes into the final period, Lightning varsity netminder Ilan Shterenberg, skating out in the junior varsity game, scored his first career high school goal. The Stars cleared the puck the length of the ice to relieve pressure. Rivera was first back and he corralled the puck picking it up inside his defensive zone. He curled around the net from left to right and headed back up ice with a head of steam. Rivera skated the puck out of the defensive zone down the right wing through neutral ice. Entering the offensive zone he skated wide around the Stars defender and then cut to the net. As he entered the crease area he fired a shot that was stopped by Parkinson’s blocker. The puck fell to the ice where Shterenberg was standing by the left side of the net. Shterenberg chipped the puck into the air and over Parkinson who was coming over to the far post.

Halfway through the third period the Stars got on the board. An Upper Montgomery defensive clear up the left wing boards was intercepted by DC Stars forward Eli Schwartz. Schwartz fired on goal from the boards at a bad angle. Stutsrim-Lyons made the save and directed the rebound out to the wide side of the offensive zone. Unfortunately, the puck went directly to Cochran who had the entire net to shoot at. From the inside edge of the left circle he fired past Stutsrim-Lyons’ stick and into the net.

On the very next shift, Stutsrim-Lyons made a sprawling save with his right arm on a fantastic look by the Stars keeping the game at 4-1. Likely showing frustration at how the game had gone, Cochran took a roughing penalty behind the Lightning net. With the lead and the extra skater, Upper Montgomery used that two minutes to continue to eat clock and prevent the Stars from generating offensive chances. One more good pad save by the Lightning’s goalie late in the game kept the three goal bulge. It became just a matter of time until the Lightning skaters could rejoice around their goalie after getting back into the win column after a three game stretch of a loss and two ties.

Game Notes:

• The DC Stars outshot the Lightning 26 to 18 for the game, but many of their shots were from distance that just rolled in on Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.
• The Lightning finally scored a powerplay goal ending a four game skid to open the season.
• Upper Montgomery’s varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, skated out and scored his first career high school goal.
• Ninth grade defender Luke Hudson scored his first career high school goal on the powerplay.
• With his 25 save effort, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons increased his save percentage to .933. If his pace holds throughout the rest of the season, it would be a new Upper Montgomery junior varsity program record.
• In only giving up one goal to the Stars, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons lowed his goals against average to 1.96.
• Jake Hudson scored his team leading fourth goal of the season.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team returns to action next Friday against the worst team in the league. The Blair Blazers are having tough time of it this season. Anticipate that the Lightning will rest certain student athletes in preparation for the varsity game later that same evening. Game time is at 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Patrick Sell—Upper Montgomery Defense—Goal
Second Star—Matt Rivera—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Decklin Hughes—Upper Montgomery Center—Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning defeated BCC 4-3 on Friday night securing their first ever victory over the Barons. In the prior sixteen seasons that the Upper Montgomery program has existed, the Lightning had only earned a tie against BCC two seasons ago on Halloween. All of the other contests between the two programs had gone in favor of BCC. Now, it is just the Churchill Bulldogs that the Lightning have never beaten, coincidently also earning a tie two seasons ago. This year’s season opener was an extremely exciting game for the Lightning to have made history with the graduation of nine seniors and with two top juniors departing the program this season. The young mighty Lightning were the team to get the first ever win over the Barons.

In nearly every game this season Upper Montgomery is likely to dress a lineup that is short on varsity experience. In the season opener, the Lightning dressed the following student athletes who had never before skated for the Upper Montgomery varsity team; junior varsity all-time leading scorer, senior TJ Gottesman, ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin, ninth grade defender Luke Hudson who wound up playing forward against the Barons, sophomore defender Avery Evans, and ninth grade defenders Lillian Robbins and Matt Rivera. Each new student held their own when called upon allowing the entire team to receive adequate rest throughout the contest.

BCC controlled the majority of play during the opening period although most of their shots on goal were from the exterior or from long range. Halfway through the period, Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel was called for a two minute minor penalty for interference. With a bit of scrambling and some Barons shots fired wide of the net from in close, Upper Montgomery survived the extra skater advantage keeping the game tied. Five minutes later, the Lightning’s most experienced defender, junior Brady Berkhammer was headed to the penalty box for a slashing penalty. It was during this second powerplay of the period, that BCC converted to take an early 1-0 lead.

Upper Montgomery cleared the puck down ice. It was stopped by BCC netminder Vivienne Boyle at the left side of her net. She left the puck for the Baron’s most talented skater, defender Grady Jiggens, to carry the puck up the left wing boards. As he approached the defensive blue line, Jiggens sent a cross ice, diagonal pass to the right wing of the ice at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. His pass was right on the money for BCC forward Evan Williams. Williams skated into the offensive zone and he fired a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Upper Montgomery’s sophomore goalie, Ilan Shterenberg made the save on Williams’ initial shot. Williams kept skating toward the net and he outhustled the Lightning defense to the puck just outside the crease near the right post. The puck had bounced over some sticks and clanked off of a skate, but Williams stayed with the play and he shot the rebound past Shterenberg’s left leg pad into the back of the net for the powerplay goal.

Rather than sulk in having fallen behind, Upper Montgomery answered back quickly, on the very next shift. Berkhammer had the puck at his own blue line along the right wing boards. He sent an outlet pass to sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng received the pass on the left side of the ice at the center red line of the neutral zone. Zheng entered the offensive zone down the left side of the ice shielding the puck from the BCC defense with his body position. He pulled up at the top of the left faceoff circle and found junior center Owen Robbins coming into the offensive zone down the middle of the high slot. Robbins collected Zheng’s pass and riffled a rocket of a wrist shot to the left side of the net that went high past Boyle’s blocker and screaming into the net. The first period ended knotted at one with BCC having the advantage in shots on goal with thirteen while Upper Montgomery countered with seven.

Upper Montgomery looked much more comfortable in the second period as the team got into the flow of the game and relaxed. Realizing that they could compete with BCC contributed to the Lightning becoming more confident and offensive minded as the game progressed. Ten seconds into the middle period, Lightning senior center, Henry Honacki crashed into a BCC defender with his back turned. Honacki was called for a minor penalty for roughing. He was lucky that he was not called for a check from behind as that would have brought an additional ten minute misconduct penalty. Upper Montgomery’s penalty killers stood tall and neutralized the Barons’ powerplay as the Barons continually fired wide of net with open looks.

Four minutes into the second period, Upper Montgomery went to their first powerplay of the game when BCC forward Brady Page was called for elbowing. With forty seconds left on Page’s penalty, one of BCC’s top defenders, Benjamin Lyons was called for hooking as Upper Montgomery had possession of the puck in the slot setting up for a prime scoring chance. The two penalties gave Upper Montgomery a 5-3 powerplay and a great opportunity to take the lead. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the BCC defensive zone, Robbins won the draw with his feet to the side boards. With body position, he shielded BCC’s center which allowed Zheng to come over to assist and win the puck along the left wing boards. Zheng sent the puck back to the left point to Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton turned to his right and sent the puck across the blue line to his defensive partner, sophomore Miles Wendland. Wendland stepped in from the right point and sent a rising wrist shot toward the net from the right faceoff circle. With Bhasin standing in front setting a screen, the unseen puck thudded into Boyle’s shoulder and she was late to corral the biscuit. The puck fell behind her and Robbins was there to slam home the rebound from a foot outside the goal line. For the Lightning it was a welcome outcome to score early on the powerplay especially since the team did not score on the powerplay last year until the final regular season game of the season.

Scoring as quickly as they did, Upper Montgomery remained on the extra skater advantage for another one minute and forty five seconds. A minute later BCC was able to clear their defensive zone. Wendland hustled back and outskated an onrushing BCC forward in the left corner of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He quickly advanced the puck along the left wing boards to Zheng inside the Lightning defensive zone. Zheng advanced the puck further up the ice finding Robbins at the red line in center ice. Robbins skated into the Barons defensive zone and cut to the middle of the ice. From up top of the offensive zone near the blue line, surrounded by four BCC skaters, he lined up and fired a shot low along the ice that beat Boyle stick side. Upper Montgomery was ahead by two goals at 3-1 halfway through the game.

On the next shift two very poor clearing attempts by high level experienced students led to the Lightning being hemmed in the defensive zone. Before the BCC offensive sequence was finished, Berkhammer had taken his second slashing minor penalty of the game. On the ensuring powerplay, BCC would score with one second remaining before Berkhammer was set to return to the ice. Off of a rewind in the BCC defensive zone, Jiggens had control of the puck along the right wing boards. He sent a cross ice pass to his defensive partner Jeronimo Castano-Tellez on the left wing at the BCC defensive blue line. Castano-Tellez skated the puck out of the defensive zone, through the neutral zone, and toward the offensive blue line where he dumped the puck around the boards and behind the net. Along the right wing boards BCC forward Leo Alley-Strocher controlled the puck and skated into the right wing corner. He then sent a pass to the crease that came all the way through sticks and legs of BCC forwards and Upper Montgomery defenders.

BCC forward Ramin Jacobs settled down the puck along the left wing boards and dropped the puck deep into the left corner to Alley-Strocher. Alley-Strocher took the puck behind the net from left to right. From the right corner he sent a backhand pass to BCC forward Julia Reitz along the right wing boards. She sent a return pass down to Alley-Strocher in the right corner. Alley-Strocher’s next pass to the mid point looking for Castano-Tellez was deflected by Reitz’s stick which slowed the puck down for Castano-Tellez to step into a one time slap shot. His shot hit traffic in front of the net where the puck bounced off sticks and bodies over to Jacobs. Jacobs sent an unselfish pass across the crease to a wide open Alley-Strocher all alone at the back right goal post. Alley-Strocher had no problem easily tucking the puck home as he was behind Shterenberg.

With four and a half minutes remaining in the second period the Lightning were called for a phantom too many skaters on the ice penalty. Its hard to have a too many skaters on the ice when there are only the five permitted skaters. The referees completely blew the call. Maybe because the team was mad, the penalty killers bared down and used a determined effort to kill off the BCC extra skater advantage. It was Upper Montgomery’s best penalty killing effort of the evening.

Forty five seconds into the penalty kill, Upper Montgomery turned on the offense. A BCC forward lost control of the puck in the slot area. Upper Montgomery’s coaches had Robbins playing back on defense during the penalty kill and he cleared the puck out of the slot to the left wing boards just outside the defensive blue line. Cassel sped after the puck and he outraced the BCC defender who was also chasing after the puck. Cassel gained control of the puck and he skated up ice down the left wing. At the left faceoff circle he curled around and sent a forehand pass from the left side of the ice to the right goal post where Philip Shkeda had followed the play into the offensive zone. Shkeda was alone in front. He possessed the puck and fired from right in front of Boyle. His shot banked off of her left leg pad and went up over her pads and into the net for the shorthanded goal.

Just after Shkeda’s goal, Alley-Strocher was called for a tripping minor to eliminate the rest of the BCC powerplay. With its two goal lead restored late in the second period, Upper Montgomery played the four on four shift in a defensive posture similar to still being on the penalty kill. The Lightning did not want BCC to gain any momentum to take into the third period. Shots on goal in the second period were even with Upper Montgomery placing twelve shots on net including the three that got past Boyle. BCC fired eleven shots on Shterenberg.

Upper Montgomery played chip and chase hockey for the entirety of the third period. Shifts were kept short. Each Lightning student athlete was instructed simply to clear the puck over the defensive blue line to relieve pressure. If the Lightning had possession of the puck in the neutral zone, it was an automatic dump from the red line deep into the BCC defensive zone, making the Barons carry the puck up the full length of the ice going through all five Lightning skaters to create offensive chances. If by chance Upper Montgomery was pinned in their defensive zone, the students were told to ice the puck. In high school hockey, line changes are permitted after an icing call. So, icing the puck allows tired skaters to depart the ice and it settles down the game for a little while. Upper Montgomery played through a couple of chaotic moments in the opening five minutes of the third period and then went on the powerplay.

Back to back penalties called on BCC gave the Lightning a prime opportunity to widen the lead. First, Jiggens was called for tripping and then twenty seconds later Lyons was called for high sticking. BCC was down two skaters for a minute and forty seconds and both of their top defenders were in the penalty box. Unfortunately, Upper Montgomery was not able to finish off a couple of good scoring chances with the puck trickling just wide and then Boyle making a nice save on a shot from point blank range. The powerplay did allow for additional time to come off the clock leaving only the second half of the third period remaining when BCC was finally back at full strength.

The Lightning coaching staff began to shorten the bench to protect some of the younger students from being put in unfavorable matchups and situations on the ice. As time continued to wind down, the BCC pressure ramped up with all five skaters taking offensive chances in an attempt to try and climb back into the game. That pressure paid off with an Upper Montgomery icing with less than three minutes remaining in the game. BCC called timeout and pulled Boyle in favor of an extra skater.

When play resumed, the faceoff was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone in the right faceoff circle. The draw was tied up in the faceoff dot. BCC’s Page poked the puck to the right corner. Williams shuffled the puck lower around the curve toward the back of the net to Alley-Strocher. Alley-Strocher fed the puck out front with his backhand. Coming down the slot from his left point position and wide open was Lyons. He fired a snap shot along the ice to the far side of the goal past Shterenberg’s right leg pad. The Upper Montgomery right wing was in the corner puck chasing and left the slot unguarded permitting Lyons to have a clear route to the slot. It took only eight seconds with the goalie pulled for BCC to close the score to 4-3.

The final two and a half minutes were intense. Lightning skaters gave maximum effort to shield Shterenberg and to preserve the one goal lead. A few long clearing attempts missed the empty net resulting in icing calls. The last icing coming with two seconds remaining in the game. A tie up on the final faceoff draw allowed Upper Montgomery to secure the historic victory. Along with the win came important standings points to open the season on a high note. It felt good for the program to finally break through and defeat an opponent that had owned the Lightning over the past decade and a half.

Game Notes:

• BCC outshot Upper Montgomery 34-27 for the game.
• Upper Montgomery dressed six students who had never before played in a high school varsity hockey game.
• Junior center Owen Robbins scored his first career multi-goal game and finished with his first career hat-trick. He added an assist for a career high four point game.
• Miles Wendland and Aiden Zheng each contributed two assists.
• Both teams were 2-5 on the powerplay. For Upper Montgomery the powerplay success was a welcome change from last season when the Lightning miss-fired on their first 46 extra skater advantages, not scoring on the powerplay until the final game of the regular season against Bullis.
• Upper Montgomery won it season opener for the first time in four seasons. Last year’s squad began the season 1-7. In 2022 – 2023, the Lightning started the year 1-4-1. With Northwest / Quince Orchard appearing on the schedule on Halloween evening, the worst that Upper Montgomery will begin the season this year is 2-1.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action next week in another late night affair when the Lightning hosts the Rockville / Magruder Rams. Game time is at 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Owen Robbins—Upper Montgomery Center—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Miles Wendland—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie–Win, 31 Saves, .912 Save Percentage

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faced off against the Churchill Bulldogs Friday night dressing only seven skaters. The team rotated three defenders and four forwards the entire game. Faced with four students out-of-town with their external travel teams, three students ill with the virus circulating through Damascus High School, two students injured, and one student suspended, some observers may have thought that Upper Montgomery was going to be trounced by the Bulldogs. Not so fast!

Putting forth a heroic effort, Upper Montgomery’s vastly outnumbered roster of senior defenders Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell along with ninth grade defender Matt Rivera stood tall. The four forwards sold out all evening long to get the puck out of the defensive zone and to dump the puck in deep into the Churchill defensive zone. It was an outstanding effort by senior AJ Marks and sophomores Aiden Zheng, Mason Jagoz, and Ilan Shterenberg, the Lightning’s varsity goalie who skated out and played forward to assist the junior varsity.

In the pregame preparation meeting, the Lightnin’g’s coaching staff instructed the team to go out play hard and have fun. There were no expectations on the outcome of the game as it was such an unfair request of these young students to play with hardly any rest in between shifts. If a team forfeits a game, they are prevented from participating in the season ending junior varsity playoffs. Thus, the Lightning were left to summon the fortitude to compete and make it extremely difficult for Churchill. And, compete they did!

The first period was played even although Upper Montgomery finished the period outshooting the Bulldogs seven to four. Upper Montgomery spent the period making sure that they had multiple skaters back on defense to force the Churchill skaters to skate through a couple of defenders on each shift to bring the puck up the ice. The Lightning’s defense held the blue line forcing Churchill to dump the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone and chase after the puck. Upper Montgomery was patient and comfortable simply to pound the puck off the boards out to center ice and let the Bulldogs try and gain the offensive zone again and again, over and over.

With four minutes remaining in the first period, Shterenberg got his stick caught under the skates of a Churchill skater and took a minor tripping penalty. Upper Montgomery remained in a tight box and Churchill fired several shots wide of the net. Other attempts were blocked by the Lightning penalty killers who quickly iced the puck to relieve pressure. Five seconds after the successful Lightning penalty kill, Churchill center Elias Elhallou was called for a minor roughing penalty behind the play. Upper Montgomery showed gumption by forcing Churchill senior goalie Nicholas Nelson to come up with several challenging saves to keep the score tied. Shterenberg had two quality scoring chances from in front while the Lightning were on the powerplay.

Churchill played much better in the second period but could not pull away from the tiring Lightning. Three minutes into the second period, Bulldogs defender Michael Dong was called for a minor hooking penalty. The Lightning struggled a little on their second powerplay opportunity and did not nearly muster as much offensively as they did on the extra skater advantage at the end of the first period.

After Dong’s penalty time expired, Churchill ramped up the offensive pressure once again. Upper Montgomery swatted the puck down ice to relieve the pressure and get repositioned. Churchill forward Oskar Sims retrieved the puck in the left corner of his defensive zone. He fired the puck up ice along the left wing boards. As the puck crossed the Churchill defensive blue line it deflected off of a Lightning skater to Churchill forward Saami Yousufi in the neutral zone. Yousufi sent a pass to Elhallou on the left wing entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. It was a very close play at the blue line and barely onside as Elhallou motored up the left side of the ice. At the top of the left faceoff circle, Elhallou jump cut and juked to the center of the ice while avoiding Sell, the lone Lightning defender back on the play. Coming in alone down the slot, Elhallou shifted the puck from his forehand to his backhand and slung the puck past Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand to give Churchill the lead.

If the Bulldogs thought that jumping into the lead would cause the Lightning to fold they were sorely mistaken. Upper Montgomery continued to play hard and fight for loose pucks earning yet another powerplay chance when Dong was sent back to the penalty box for a cross checking minor with four minutes remaining in the middle period. Upper Montgomery had a few chances on powerplay number three but could not get one by Nelson to tie up the game.

Then, as time wound down in the second period, Upper Montgomery’s forecheck paid dividends. A turnover was caused by Zheng getting in heavy on the forecheck to the left of Nelson. His poke check loosened the puck from a Churchill defender. Nelson stepped out and smacked the puck to the right wing boards with his goalie stick. Zheng raced over to the boards and took possession of the puck with eleven seconds remaining in the period. He fired on net from long range and from a bad angle. Nelson cuffed the puck down with his glove but did not make a clean save. Marks, standing at the left post, had an excellent chance but he fired wide into the meshing of the net just outside the left goal post. Churchill’s defense got to the puck and shot it up the ice. The puck traveled less then two feet before connecting with a backchecking forward’s skates. The puck changed directions and quickly slid though Nelson’s five hole to tie the game with 3.4 seconds remaining in the period. It was Upper Montgomery’s eleventh shot of the period compared with ten fired on net by the Bulldogs.

Inexplicably, Upper Montgomery’s seven skaters had played thirty minutes of hockey even with Churchill. Surely the Bulldogs depth would become a factor in the third period as Churchill looked to take advantage of the supremely tired Lightning. However, Churchill kept the Lightning invested in the game with poor choices. Two minutes into the final frame of regulation, Churchill defender Cyrus Sawyer was assessed a holding minor penalty for grabbing onto Shterenberg. Upper Montgomery again had a few nice scoring chances but could not put one past Nelson. Then, halfway through the period, Elhallou was called for a hit from behind body check way away from the play. The referees missed the call as Elhallou’s hit was not from behind. The result of the bad officiating decision was that Churchill’s most talented student athlete was forced to watch the remainder of the game from the penalty box. First, as his two minute minor penalty put Upper Montgomery back on the powerplay for the fourth occasion in the game and then with the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty that is assessed for checks from behind.

Upper Montgomery misfired on its second powerplay of the third period. With the referees holding their arms in the air, Nelson charged over to the Churchill bench area. As play continued, Zheng hit the right goal post with a shot from the offensive blue line and no goalie near the net. The Churchill coaching staff believed that a delayed penalty was going to be called on Upper Montgomery. Instead, the penalty was being called for Churchill having too many skaters on the ice. Churchill had narrowly dodged disaster striking with Zheng’s shot landing a few inches wide of Upper Montgomery taking a late lead.

Once again Upper Montgomery’s powerplay faltered. The two minutes of play where Upper Montgomery had the extra skater allowed time to come off the clock. Churchill was forced to defend on the defensive side of the ice rather than pushing forward in an attempt to take the lead. The final three and a half minutes of the game were played with Upper Montgomery doing everything in their power to get the puck out of the zone and get to overtime and scratch a point out of the game. The buzzer to end regulation brought with it an exhale of relief for the exhausted Lightning skaters. They had left everything on the ice in the third period pushing to try and win the game. Upper Montgomery outshot Churchill ten to nine in the third period where Churchill could reasonably have been expected to dominate play.

It was an awesome performance just to get to overtime. Now, more skating for the shorthanded Lightning. With three on three overtime, there was much more open ice. Upper Montgomery won control of the opening faceoff of overtime and eventually had a promising rush up the ice that was thwarted as Howerton reached only as far as the slot area. Churchill marched back down to the Lightning defensive zone and Upper Montgomery was able to ice the puck to slow the overtime period down. With running clock, over a minute of overtime had already elapsed when the faceoff draw occurred to the right of Stutsrim-Lyons. Off the draw, the puck shot across the ice directly to the left wing boards. The Lightning’s Rivera reached out and poked the puck forward towards the blue line while being pressured by Churchill forward Atahun Saydam. Sims kept the puck in at the left point and skated forward two strides. His long range shot his Saydam’s legs and dropped right back onto his stick. Sims skated through the left faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot at the net from the bottom of the left faceoff circle. His rising shot far side was placed perfectly over Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand into the apex of the goal sending the Bulldogs over the bench celebrating their overtime victory.

It was hard to know which team had achieved more at the conclusion of the game. Upper Montgomery’s performance of guts and determination was far more impressive in earning a tie against a full Churchill roster. Churchill may have come away with the victory on this night, but Upper Montgomery gained the knowledge of how to play to overcome the odds which will help the team throughout the rest of the season. The Lightning junior varsity has a bye next week before they return to action against bottom dweller Blair. The Lightning may play the contest with student athletes who may not play significant minutes on varsity this season as Upper Montgomery has back to back junior varsity and varsity games that evening. Either way, look for Upper Montgomery to finish the month of October with a 2-1-2 record and right in the thick of the conference standings fighting for playoff positioning and a first round playoff bye.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal were fairly even for the game with Upper Montgomery firing 28 at Churchill goalie Nicholas Nelson and Churchill putting 25 on Upper Montgomery goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.
• The Lightning were 0-5 on the powerplay and have yet to score a powerplay goal in four games this season.
• Upper Montgomery’s varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, skated out and played forward for the junior varsity.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team returns to action in two weeks on Friday, October 25th when the team takes on the DC Stars. Anticipate that the Lightning will rest certain student athletes in preparation for the varsity game later that same evening. Game time is at 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Nicholas Nelson—Churchill Goalie—Overtime Win, 27 Saves, .964 Save Percentage
Second Star—Oskar Sims—Churchill Forward—Game Winning Overtime Goal, Assist
Third Star—Elias Elhallou—Churchill Center—Goal