Author: chucklevine

The Upper Montgomery Lightning destroyed the Wootton Patriots Tuesday afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. The 8-2 stomping ended a fifteen year drought where the Lightning had never before beaten or tied the Patriots. Wootton, long one of the top programs in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, had dominated the Lightning winning each previous game by a minimum of two goals. The long losing streak was not lost on this year’s Upper Montgomery squad. Right from the beginning of the game the Lightning were on the attack. Upper Montgomery was determined to change how the series between the programs had played out.

Upper Montgomery swarmed Wootton right from the opening faceoff. It was indicative of a period in which the Lightning outshot Wootton eighteen to eight and would take a commanding three goal lead into the second period. With Wootton missing several key student athletes due to injury or suspension, the Lightning had the more talented roster. Just two minutes into the game Upper Montgomery would grab a lead it would never relinquish. A Wootton defender attempted to keep the puck in at the offensive blue line. Bradley Cupples beat the defender to the puck and backhand whacked the puck into the neutral zone where it was picked up by Olivia Robbins. Robbins skated to just inside the offensive blue line and fired between the remaining Wootton defender’s legs into the net.

A minute and a half later, the lead would grow to 2-0. In the offensive zone, Nathan Cassel intercepted a Wootton defender to defender pass, deflecting the pass into the slot. Lightning leading scorer, Chris Hassett fired a backhand shot that was stopped by Patriots netminder, Will Mellen. The rebound squirted to the side of the net where Cassel tapped it into the wide open net. Upper Montgomery had been looking forward to facing Mellen who played goalie for the Lightning last season. Shortly after the Lightning went up 2-0, Hassett was called for an interference minor after laying a big hit on Wootton forward, Owen Goozh. The hit knocked Goozh out of the remainder of the game. Thankfully, Goozh would be alright, and the Lightning did not suffer the consequences of either a lengthier penalty to Hassett or a Wootton powerplay goal. The Upper Montgomery penalty kill easily killed off the Wootton powerplay opportunity.

With two minutes remaining in the first period, the Hassett to Cassel combination would strike again. After a Wootton clearing pass Hassett collected the puck in the neutral zone. He skated to the right wing boards entering the offensive zone. Hassett passed the puck over to Cassel at the top of the right face off circle. Cassel snapped a wrist shot glove side high to beat Mellen and put Upper Montgomery up by three. Cassel’s goal seemed to put a belief in the bench that the Lightning had the upper hand in the game. They just needed to continue playing and applying pressure on the Patriots.

The first five minutes of the second period were filled with constant Lightning pressure and nice saves made by Mellen. Then, Ryan Jacobson would score his first goal of the game. Jacobson intercepted a bad Wootton pass in the neutral zone and turned on the jets. Cassel who had been in the offensive zone skated hard to get back onside. It was close. Cassel exited the zone just as Jacobson entered the zone, barely an onside play. Jacobson skated around both Wootton defenders who were flat footed and shot high blocker side from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.

Three minutes later Wootton would get on the board. Star Wootton defender Sam Hosier took possession of the puck in the right corner of his defensive zone near the goal line. He skated slowly out of the defensive zone, eventually cruising to the left wing boards in the offensive zone. Hosier shot wide of the net. The puck was picked up by Patriots forward William Rusiecki behind the goal line to the right of the net. Rusiecki centered the puck out front to Justin Heller in the slot. Heller shot low glove side from ten feet in front of Upper Montgomery goalie Landon Bernard beating Bernard for his first career varsity goal.

The rest of the second period would belong to the Lightning. Less than a minute after Heller’s goal, Upper Montgomery would respond and reclaim their four goal lead. Bernard saved a Wootton shot with the puck winding up behind the net. Lightning senior defender, Ethan Hockey swept the puck around the boards and up the right wing side of the ice. Hassett collected the puck and stepped around a pinching Wootton defender at the Lightning defensive blue line. The maneuver sparked Hassett and Cassel on a two on one rush up ice. Hassett passed the puck wide to Cassel who took the puck hard to the net. Jacobson entered the zone late off a line change and filled the slot. As Cassel neared the goal, and with Mellen squared up to face him, Cassel passed the puck over to Hassett cutting for the net. It was an easy catch and shoot for Hassett into the wide open back side of the net.

Upper Montgomery would score again with two minutes left in the period to grow the lead to 6-1 at the second intermission. Off a scramble in front, Lightning 9th grade defenders Owen Robbins and Brady Berkhammer teamed up to swipe the puck free behind Landon Bernard’s net. Landon’s brother Brandon swooped in and picked up the puck. He initially skated left, then reversed to his right all still behind the Lightning goal. He then skated up the center of the ice weaving around all of the Wootton forwards and defenders and went in alone against Mellen. Bernard faked and slid a backhander five hole for his fifth goal on the season. Shots on goal in the second period were again heavily slanted in Upper Montgomery’s favor, sixteen to only eight for Wootton.

The first ten minutes of the third period were played in the Wootton end with Upper Montgomery generating chances and Mellen making more saves. With five minutes left in the game, Wootton would score to cut into the Lightning’s lead. The Lightning dumped the puck to the Wootton blue line. Patriots defender Cole Webber passed the puck to his defensive partner, Connor Jackson. Jackson skated straight up ice into the Lightning defensive zone. He fired a simple wrist shot from the top of the slot high blocker side past Landon Bernard to make the score 6-2.

Cassel, Hassett, and Jacobson then dominated the final four minutes of the game, with Jacobson scoring on both of their shifts. First, from the neutral zone, Berkhammer sent an indirect pass up to Hassett. Hassett dumped the puck into the right corner and hustled in after it. He outraced the Patriots defense and won possession of the puck, deep in the corner. Hassett skated around the net, passing to Cassel just outside the crease area as he cleared coming around the net from right to left. The Wootton defense closed out on Cassel causing him to slide a pass across to Jacobson. Jacobson scored with a low shot to the wide open back side of the net.

Jacobson’s hat trick goal started at the Lightning defensive blue line when depth defender Cole Howerton stood up at blue line and was run over by the oncoming bigger Wootton forward. The puck separated from both skaters and went deep into the right corner of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The puck was collected by Lightning senior defender, George Benedick. Benedick ringed the puck around the net and up the boards to Cassel on the left wing. Cassel slinged the puck diagonal out of the defensive zone across the ice and over to the Wootton defensive zone. The puck was collected by Hassett on the right wing boards. Hassett skated into the offensive zone and cut to the net, passing across the crease to Jacobson for a tap in.

The historic victory evened the Lighting’s record at 4-4-1 to close out the first half of the season. With the victory the Lightning will climb to seventh place in the conference rankings, tied for the highest ever ranking achieved by the program. The 8-2 margin of victory over Wootton will turn heads as now two of the Montgomery Hockey Conference heavyweights will have failed to beat Upper Montgomery. Churchill and Walter Johnson remain the only programs to beat Upper Montgomery every time the teams have played. Wootton will be looking for revenge as the Lightning and Patriots face off once again in each team’s next game post winter break. Upper Montgomery will be looking to continue their hot play of late having won four of their previous five games.

Game Notes:

• Illustrating how lopsided the game was, shots on goal for the game were Upper Montgomery with 44 and Wootton with 21.
• There was only one penalty called during the game.
• With his hat-trick, Jacobson now has three multiple goal games this season.
• Cassel had his second five point game this season.
• Hassett also had his second five point game this season.
• Upper Montgomery will bring a three game winning streak into the post winter break rematch against Wootton. Game time is 9:00 pm on Friday, January 6th at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—1 Goal, 4 Assists
Third Star—Ryan Jacobson—Upper Montgomery Forward–-3 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning used a dominating defensive effort coupled with a second period offensive explosion to down the Sherwood Warriors on Friday night at Cabin John Ice Rink. Continuing to follow the structured defensive system employed by the coaching staff, Upper Montgomery thrived in their defensive zone. Outside of one end to end rush by gifted Sherwood defender Samuel Greenberg, the Lightning excelled in shutting down the high octane Sherwood attack. The defensive effort paired with excellent goaltending by Landon Bernard, spurred Upper Montgomery to a 6-1 victory over the Warriors.

The first period was a blend of offensive rushes by both teams that produced limited quality offensive chances. Sherwood had no difficulties exiting their defensive zone only to be shut down upon entry into the Lightning defensive zone. Although firing nine shots on net, many of the Warriors’ chances were from bad angles or from distance with no traffic in front. Bernard had little difficulty steering the puck into the corner or stopping play with routine glove saves.

Five minutes into the contest, Upper Montgomery was awarded the games first powerplay when Sherwood defender Riley Shearer was called for tripping. With almost a full two minutes of zone time, Upper Montgomery was unable to break down the Warriors defense. Shots either missed the net or were blocked when opportunities did present. Just prior to the end of the Lightning powerplay, Upper Montgomery senior captain, Geroge Benedick was called for hooking. Similar to the initial Lightning powerplay, Sherwood controlled the puck in the offensive end but was unable to mount any real threat of their own. Towards the end of the first period, gifted Upper Montgomery forward Ryan Jacobson was called for boarding. While the Lightning would kill off the two minute boarding penalty, the squad would be without Jacobson’s presence for twelve minutes of action after he also had to serve the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty.

Shortly after Jacobson’s minor boarding penalty expired at the end of the second period, the offensive fireworks began. First, Greenberg possessed the puck behind his net. He singlehandedly skated up ice through the Lightning backchecking forwards and then through the defense. From the top of the right circle, and through a screen, he let loose with a rising wrist shot that beat Bernard to put Sherwood on top. Sherwood’s goal seemed to energize the Lightning.

On the very next shift, only fifteen seconds later, Upper Montgomery would tie the game. Off the faceoff at center ice the puck was dropped into the Lightning defensive zone. A smart looking breakout pass to Lightning leading scorer, Chris Hassett, in the neutral zone started the scoring play. Hassett immediately sent the puck wide on the left wing to Upper Montgomery’s second leading scorer, Nathan Cassel. Cassel took the puck wide, down the left wing boards, before centering the puck to his opposite winger Philip Shkeda. Shkeda, the team’s leading 9th grade scorer, one timed the puck with his left handed forehand. His slapshot went low along the ice and past Warriors netminder Samuel Hutt before he had a chance to square up to the shot. The quick response by Upper Montgomery seemed to relax the team.

Upper Montgomery continued pressuring the Warriors. It took until there was seven minutes remaining in the second period before Upper Montgomery would grab the lead. Benedick fired a shot toward the goal. His shot was blocked in front where Lightning center Bradley Cupples dug the puck free and fired from the low slot. Cupples shot beat Hutt for his second goal of the season, beginning an explosion of offense.

Two minutes later, Hassett would score to provide some additional breathing room. Lightning defender Andrew Botti passed the puck up ice to Cassel. Cassel drew the Sherwood defenders to him before layering over a pass to Hassett alone in front. Hassett deked Hutt and shot past him for his fifth goal of the season. A minute later the score would jump to 4-1. Lightning defender Owen Robbins kept the puck in at the right point. He passed the puck left along the blue line to his defensive partner, Botti. Botti hesitated, allowing traffic to get to the front of the net before cranking a snap shot on goal. With limited vision, Hutt did not pick up the shot which beat him glove side.

The four goal period could have been more when the Lightning went on the powerplay with two and a half minutes remaining in the period after Sherwood was assessed a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice. Continuing to apply heavy pressure, the Lightning would be unable to pot another goal. They would ultimately lose the powerplay opportunity halfway through when Hunter Cameron was called for slashing. The dominating period ended with Upper Montgomery firing fifteen shots on net while Sherwood only sent six on Bernard.

Up by three goals entering the third period, the Lightning focused on pressure defense and shutting down Sherwood. The trickle over 45 seconds on Cameron’s slashing penalty were killed off with little difficulty. With an urgent need to generate offense, Sherwood could not penetrate the Lightning’s suffocating defense. The Warriors offensive rushes were throttled by the Lightning who were content to chip pucks out of the defensive zone and dump pucks into the Sherwood end. Halfway through the third period, Upper Montgomery would score to realistically finish off the game. Lightning defender Ethan Hockey kept a Sherwood clearing attempt in at the blue line. His shot was blocked in the slot. The puck went directly to Lightning winger Josh Nadler. Nadler fired from the slot past Hutt to score his first goal of the season.

A minute and a half later Upper Montgomery would grow the lead to 6-1. Benedick kept another bad Sherwood clearing attempt in at the point. His slapshot was deflected in front by Hassett. The puck easily beat Sherwood backup goalie Alexander Crotzer who had just entered the game. For the last seven minutes of the game the Lightning were on cruise control as Sherwood was not able to penetrate the stifling Lightning defense. The last 3:45 of the game were interesting though as the Lightning finished the game shorthanded. First, Botti was called for cross checking. Then, just before his penalty expired, Benedick was called for interference. Those minutes, while the Lightning were shorthanded, were chaotic. Sherwood applied plenty of pressure and broke down the Lightning penalty kill. However, every shot was either wide, high, or deflected. Several goal mouth scrambles occurred, with each time the puck squirting wide of the net or being cleared into the corners and out of harm’s way.

Two consecutive wins have clawed the Lightning’s record back to one game under the .500 mark. Up next is a short-turnaround to play Wootton on Tuesday afternoon. This is a game that has been circled on the calendar for the last several weeks. Upper Montgomery has never before beaten Wootton. It is a match up of seemingly comparable evenly matched teams in terms of talent. The Lightning have another chance to remove a long losing streak from the record books. A victory over Wootton would definitely confirm Upper Montgomery’s place in the top half of the Montgomery Hockey Conference.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were Upper Montgomery with 27 and Sherwood with 22.
• Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill came through for the second consecutive game and killed off all five Warriors powerplay opportunities. The team’s penalty kill on the season is now 20 for 30, raising the penalty kill success rate to 66.7%.
• Brandon Bernard’s four game goal streak ended.
• George Benedick continued to pile up the points with two more assists. He now has ten points on the season, more points than over his first three seasons combined.
• Landon Bernard finished his second straight game only allowing one goal.
• Upper Montgomery will look to continue its resurgence on Tuesday afternoon against the Wootton Patriots. Upper Montgomery has never beaten Wootton in its fifteen year history. Game time is 4:00 pm at the Laurel Ice Gardens.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Assists
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 21 Saves, 1 Goal Against, .955 Save Percentage
Third Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center–-2 Goals, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning played their most complete game of the 2022 – 2023 season thus far in throttling the Blair Blazers 9-1 on Friday night at Rockville Ice Arena. The victory claws the Lightning’s record back to 2-4-1, with all four losses to teams ranked in the top eight of the state high school ice hockey rankings. Upper Montgomery dominated in all aspects of the game thoroughly outplaying the overmatched Blazers. Upper Montgomery’s rugged play, hard hitting, stifling defense, and potent offensive skill was way too much for Blair to handle.

The Lightning brought their A game right from the opening faceoff. Three minutes into the game, Upper Montgomery jumped out on top and just kept going. Olivia Robbins collected the puck in the slot in the Lightning defensive zone. She passed the puck to Bradley Cupples on a controlled breakout play. Cupples skated into center ice and dumped the puck into the Blair defensive zone following in hard on the forecheck. Cupples’ pressure forced a turnover with the puck going directly to Robbins who was following the play. Robbins immediately shot the puck low along the ice from a bad angle. The puck went five hole and snuck past Blair netminder Lily Bendavid.

Three minutes later it was 2-0 Upper Montgomery as Stephen Shkeda struck for his first goal of the season. Shkeda collected the puck in the right corner of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He took two strides with possession and passed the puck indirect across the ice to Nathan Cassel on the left wing boards. Entering the offensive zone Cassel backhanded the puck down the boards and low by the side of the net to Chris Hassett. Hassett pivoted and sent a backhand pass into the low slot just outside the crease. Shkeda was able to reach back and backhand the puck into the far side of the net low under Bendavid’s glove hand.

The next several minutes were heavy pressure put on by Upper Montgomery sprinkled with dangerous counterattack rushes by Blair’s two offensively gifted brothers, Alex and Chris Birchard. When Alex Birchard was called for roughing with three and a half minutes remaining in the period, Upper Montgomery would open up some breathing room. Off the powerplay faceoff, Upper Montgomery worked the puck around the perimeter of the Blair defensive set up. The puck came to Lightning forward Hunter Cameron on the right wing boards. He sent the puck down to Hassett stationed behind the net. Hassett and Cameron played catch, passing the puck back and forth to each other before Hassett sent the puck into the slot where Lightning senior captain George Benedick had snuck into an opening having gained inside position in the crease. Benedick shoveled the puck over Bendavid’s glove short side for the powerplay goal.

On the next shift, Upper Montgomery would put the game out of reach with still two periods left to play. Ethan Hockey used his skates to keep the puck in at the point blocking a Blair clearing attempt. The puck clicked off Hockey’s skates and over to Henry Honacki in the high slot. Honacki turned and fired. The puck went along the ice from long range and beat Bendavid five hole. For Honacki, it was his first career high school goal. Shots on goal in the first period were eleven for Upper Montgomery and six for Blair, not yet a true indication of how lopsided the game was or would become.

Five minutes into the second period, Upper Montgomery would push their lead to 5-0. Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer collected the puck in his defensive zone. He sent an indirect pass off the boards to Cassel who was skating back into the neutral zone. Cassel skated the puck down the left wing and snapped a shot far side high from the top of the left wing circle. The shot was too good beating Bendavid glove side. The hard hitting affair continued with Alex Birchard attempting to hit Lightning defender Andrew Botti up high. Birchard was in some discomfort after initiating the contact and would leave the game early for the dressing room.

The last five minutes of the period were filled with Lightning penalties and more Lightning goals. Lightning senior defender Andrew Gean took a hooking penalty. A soft call, but up 5-0 it was expected. Upper Montgomery continued to pressure the Blazers with Brandon Bernard challenging the Blazers defense all over the defensive zone. Applying tons of pressure, Bernard finally baited the Blair defense into coughing up the puck. After stealing possession of the puck along the left wing boards, Bernard cut to the center of the ice. He pivoted to his forehand and shot seven hole between Bendavid’s body and the far post for the unassisted shorthanded goal.

While Gean’s penalty was winding down, Benedick was called for roughing. Down two skaters for the final fifteen seconds of Gean’s penalty was no concern for Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill which for the first time all season had no difficult moments. With Gean returning to the ice, Upper Montgomery returned to attack mode while still shorthanded. The puck was cleared to the Blair defensive zone. Cassel pressured the Blazers defender behind the net. The breakout pass up the boards was cut off by Bernard. Bernard flipped the puck into the high slot area where it was possessed by Cassel. Cassel skated around the Blazers defense, then went around the net, and backhand dunked the puck into the empty side of the net with Bendavid caught out of position. Similar to the first period, the shots on goal were heavily slanted to the Lightning’s advantage. Upper Montgomery fired thirteen shots on goal against Bendavid and Blair placed only five shots on Lightning netminder, Landon Bernard.

The third period felt like a high intensity scrimmage because the hitting continued with Cameron laying a big hit off a faceoff in the Blair defensive zone. The Upper Montgomery coaching staff began distributing playing time to some of the depth skaters dressed for action. Upper Montgomery was forced to kill off two more penalties, one to Cameron for interference and one to Hassett for cross checking. With running clock, the game quickly moved toward conclusion with Upper Montgomery still leading 7-0.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Cupples sent the puck in deep. Robbins pressured the puck in the Blair defensive zone cutting off the clearing attempt along the left wing boards. She passed the puck back to the point to Botti. Botti walked the puck along the blue line toward the center of the ice where he ripped a wrist shot high and past Bendavid’s glove. During the same shift, after the neutral zone faceoff, Upper Montgomery would score its ninth and final goal of the game. More forechecking pressure in the offensive zone preceded a great display of passing and teamwork. Cupples passed to the point to Berkhammer. Berkhammer sent the puck to the right to Benedick who riffled a slapshot into the feet of the forwards crashing the net. Philip Shkeda used his feet and kicked the puck loose to Robbins who fired a wrist shot past Bendavid.

The only question left was could Upper Montgomery keep the shutout for the final minute and a half left in the game. Unfortunately, no. Blair would score with 49 seconds left on a shot from Jackson Martindill from distance outside the right circle. It was a shot that Landon Bernard would certainly have liked to have back and to have secured the shutout.

The Lightning will be looking to find consistency in their game leading into important upcoming games against Sherwood and then a back to back set against perennial powerhouse Wootton. If the heavy forechecking and the stingy defensive effort both continue, Upper Montgomery will start climbing the conference standings (and rankings), with a home playoff game potentially available to secure.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were lopsided, Upper Montgomery with 37 and Blair with 15.
• Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill came through and killed off all four Blazers powerplay opportunities. The Lightning scored two shorthanded goals as well. The team’s penalty kill on the season is now 15 for 25, raising the penalty kill success rate to 60%.
• The Lightning scored on their only powerplay of the game.
• Henry Honacki scored his first career varsity goal.
• Brandon Bernard scored again, bringing his streak to goals in four straight games.
• George Benedick scored a goal and added an assist. He now has eight points on the season, more points than over his first three seasons combined.
• Landon Bernard came within 49 seconds of his second shutout of the season.
• Upper Montgomery will look to continue its resurgence and build upon Friday’s effort when the team faces the Sherwood Warriors next Friday, December 16th. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Olivia Robbins—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—George Benedick—Upper Montgomery Defense–-1 Goal, 1 Assist

One week after its dominating performance in easily handling the Northwest Jaguars, the Upper Montgomery Lightning learned a lesson that will hopefully benefit the team over the course of the rest of the season. Against fourth ranked Whitman, the Lightning lacked the intensity necessary to compete with one of the top teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. A lackluster first two periods were too much for the team to overcome, even with a dominant third period effort. Upper Montgomery was left searching for answers in a game the team thought would be a jump start to the rest of the season. It’s possible that the poor performance against Whitman will be a teaching lesson that could have a positive impact on the team moving forward, in that to be successful against quality opponents, a full game effort is needed 100% of the time.

Three minutes into the game, Bradley Cupples was called for tripping. The Lightning penalty kill faltered as it has for much of the young season. The Vikings would score, and Upper Montgomery seemed to be chasing the game the rest of the contest. In his defensive zone, Vikings defender Walter Ingis passed the puck to Teddy Hauptman at the defensive blue line. Hauptman skated through neutral ice and down into the left wing corner of the Lightning defensive zone. He passed the puck back to Andrew Fou along the left wing boards. Fou cut to the top of the circle, and from the mid slot fired a wrist shot past Upper Montgomery goalie Landon Bernard high blocker side.

Five minutes later Fou would score again making the score 2-0. Fou backchecked hard and won the puck at his own defensive blue line. He passed the puck back and over to Ingis in the defensive zone before he curled up ice along the left wing boards. Ingis passed to Fou heading up ice with speed. Fou collected the pass in stride and rocketed past the Lightning defense which was slow to react. Fou’s rising wrist shot from the bottom of the left wing circle went past Bernard stick side and into the top corner of the net.

As the clock approached the expiration of the first period, Upper Montgomery would literally hit a buzzer beater. With fifteen seconds remaining in the period and a faceoff in the Lightning defensive zone it looked like Upper Montgomery would reach the first intermission down 2-0. Whitman won the draw cleanly between the two defenders at the point all the way down into the Vikings defensive zone. Ryan Jacobson used his speed to race down ice on the forecheck causing a turnover. The puck went directly to Lightning captain George Benedick. From a bad angle in the lower right circle, Benedick fired high, short side past Vikings goalie Ryan Graf’s glove, just before the buzzer sounded to end the period. The shots on goal in the first period did not convey just how much Whitman outplayed the Lightning. Shots on goal were Whitman with seven and Upper Montgomery with four.

One minute into the second period the Lightning went on their first powerplay of the game when Samuel Van Leeuwen was called for interference. Looking to build on the momentum after Benedick’s goal, Upper Montgomery possessed the puck in the offensive zone but was unable to get many good looks or shots on Graf. Then, with eight minutes left in the period, Whitman would score a backbreaking and crazy goal from behind the net from the right corner. It was the soccer equivalent of an own goal. Vikings forward Charles Ingis collected a loose puck in the corner. His attempted centering pass into the slot was blocked by Lightning defender Owen Robbins. The puck caromed off Robbins, hit the near post, popped up, then hit Bernard, and somehow landed in the net for a deflating goal and a 3-1 Whitman lead.

Thereafter, Lightning forward Nathan Cassel was called for slashing. Whitman used a minute and thirty seconds to cash in for its second powerplay goal in as many chances. Fou entered the zone and curled up at the right point. He left the puck for Walter Ingis who skated to the top of the right circle. Bernard made a leg pad save on Ingis’ shot. The long rebound bounded to the left circle where the puck was collected by Fou. Fou passed the puck through the goal mouth looking for Van Leeuwen who had snuck behind the Lightning defense. With inside position, Van Leeuwen whacked the puck between the far post and Bernard into the empty net. At the end of the second period with the game teetering out of reach, the Lightning were able kill off an interference penalty to Benedick. The successful penalty kill provided some momentum and kept the game within reach at 4-1.

Just before the period ended, Vikings defender Rowan Miller was called for cross checking. That penalty began a parade to the penalty box over the next couple of minutes. While on the powerplay to start the third period, Jacobson was called for roughing, negating the Lightning powerplay. However, thirty seconds later, Walter Ingis was called for cross checking putting the Lightning back to a 4-3 powerplay advantage. Off the offensive zone faceoff, Lightning center Chris Hassett controlled the puck along the left boards. He sent a pass to the left point to Lightning defender Andrew Botti. Botti turned and fed along the blue line to Robbins at the right point. Robbins shot with Hassett setting a screen in front. The puck rebounded off Graf’s pads to Cassel in the bottom left circle. Cassel’s wrist shot went low along the ice just inside the left post and Graf’s right toe to bring Upper Montgomery back into the contest at 4-2.

With momentum building, Upper Montgomery began pressing to further close the Whitman lead. With eleven minutes left in the game, Upper Montgomery got a little too overaggressive and the Vikings upped the lead to 5-2. Vikings forward Jacob Lerman collected the puck behind his own net and fed Charles Ingis on the right wing boards in the defensive zone. Ingis skated through the Lightning defenders who reached to poke check and swung sticks at Ingis rather than play the body. Ingis split the Lightning defense at the offensive blue line and went in on a breakaway down the slot alone against Bernard. Ingis shot high glove side for his second goal of the game and for all intents and purposes icing the game.

To their credit, Upper Montgomery kept up the pressure. Walter Ingis was called for a minor boarding penalty along with the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty just after his brother’s goal. While Upper Montgomery failed to score, not having the Vikings top defender, Walter Ingis, available for the remainder of the game gave the Lightning some opportunities. However, even with the added pressure being applied by the Lightning, Graf held firm. As the game wound down, there was a bit of a skirmish with just under three minutes remaining. Miller and Lightning forward Hunter Cameron were called for coincidental roughing minors. With the extra ice and the goalie pulled, Upper Montgomery would pull closer with 1:36 left in the game.

Upper Montgomery took possession of the puck off of a faceoff win in the Whitman defensive zone. The puck went to Botti at the right point. His shot was deflected and wound up behind the net. It was retrieved by Benedick aggressively pursuing the puck with time winding down. Benedick passed to Cassel at the right boards. Cassel’s shot toward the goal was deflected on net and the save was made by Graf. The rebound trickled to the left side of the net where Brandon Bernard shot quicky high and into the open side of the net before Graf could slide over to make the next save.

Upper Montgomery kept the goalie pulled and had several good scoring chances over the final minute and a half with Graf making a standout save on Jacobson. The Lightning fired fifteen shots on goal over the third period as they finally played with urgency. Upper Montgomery had only eleven total shots on goal over the first two periods combined. Displeased with how they played, Upper Montgomery may be able to use the poor performance as a springboard for the rest of the season, starting with next week’s matchup against faltering Blair.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were even, Upper Montgomery with 26 and Whitman with 25.
• Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill reverted back to its poor early season form. Whitman scored on two of its three powerplay opportunities. The Lightning PK which has struggled all season is now eleven for twenty-one on the season, 52.4%.
• Brandon Bernard scored in his third straight game.
• George Benedick scored in back to back games for the first time in his career. He now has as many points this season in four games as he did all of last season.
• Upper Montgomery will look to bounce back and start a long winning streak next Friday, December 9th versus Blair. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Andrew Fou—Whitman Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Charles Ingis—Whitman Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Walter Ingis—Whitman Defense–-3 Assists