Author: chucklevine

The Upper Montgomery Lightning showed extreme resiliency fighting back on three separate occasions in the second and third periods to salvage a tie against Northwest/Quince Orchard on Saturday afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. A tie may have been a fitting outcome as both teams were very evenly matched. With Northwest/Quince Orchard, almost all of the student athletes participating in the game also play on those program’s varsity teams.

The first period was evenly played with both teams missing the net on most shot opportunities. The final shots on goal for the period were Northwest/Quince Orchard with five and Upper Montgomery with four. Both teams each scored goals in a similar fashion. The Lightning would open the scoring halfway through the period. A bad clearing pass was kept in just inside the blue line by Lightning defender Patrick Sell. He took one stride and fired a wrist shot from deep near the blue line. The puck was deflected right in front of Northwest netminder Joseph Dean by his defense, changing the direction of the shot which found its way five hole past Dean giving Upper Montgomery the lead.

Three minutes later Matthew Mills of Quince Orchard would tie the game at one. Davany Gonzalez of Quince Orchard possessed the puck in the neutral zone along the left wing boards. He passed the puck back to Mills who was standing at the middle of the defensive blue line. Mills gathered the puck and cut right up the boards. Entering the offensive zone along the right wing boards, Mills fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle past a Lightning defender. The puck went high blocker, far side, past a screened Landon Bernard into the top corner of the net.

A minute into the second period, Northwest/Quince Orchard would jump into the lead. Off of a faceoff win, Northwest defender Micah Chin kept the puck in at the left point. He passed the puck down the left wing boards to Clark Atkinson. Atkinson while covered, returned the puck back to Chin at the left point. Chin sent a wrist shot toward the net from deep. As the puck neared the net, the puck deflected off Lightning defender Jake Roth, changing direction enough to beat Bernard high glove side putting Northwest/Quince Orchard in front.

The next few minutes of the game settled into a chess match where neither team generated much offense. With seven and a half minutes left in the second period, the Lightning would go on the game’s first powerplay when Northwest forward Sohiab Younes was called for interference. On the powerplay, Upper Montgomery would draw even. A bad clearing opportunity by Chin was kept in at the blue line by Lightning defender Sean Levine. Levine quickly pivoted and fired a slap shot from just inside the blue line at the left point. The puck beat Dean cleanly five hole for an Upper Montgomery powerplay goal to tie the game at 2-2.

Three minutes later, Northwest/Quince Orchard would again jump to the lead. After an Upper Montgomery dump in, Chin retrieved the puck in the right defensive corner. He swung the puck up the boards and Rhett Swick swiped it into the neutral zone. Younes picked up the puck along the right wing boards and skated into the offensive zone moving left along the blue line. He cut toward the center of the slot and fired a wrist shot back across the grain to beat Bernard high glove side.

With a minute remaining in the second period, the Lightning would once again tie the game. Upper Montgomery center Henry Honacki coming back on defense laid a crushing body check on a Northwest/Quince Orchard forward who was carrying the puck. The result of the hit was that the intended shot went way off mark and over to the left wing boards. Adam Levine won the puck in the defensive zone. He hesitated a moment and found a wide open Branson Hughes in the neutral zone. Hughes brushed the puck as he fumbled it. Honacki, trailing the play, picked up the puck and skated up ice on the right wing. He entered the offensive zone and ripped a wrist shot through a defensive screen and Dean. The puck went high glove side to even the score at three. Upper Montgomery had scored on three of their ten shots on goal through two periods of play.

The third period started off poorly for Upper Montgomery. Similar to the start of the second period, Northwest/Quince Orchard would score one minute in. Off a bad Lightning turnover behind the net, Nikhil Mudunuri slapped the puck from behind the net back up the boards on the right wing to Younes. Younes centered the puck which was batted to Chin in the high slot. Chin’s wrist shot beat Bernard high blocker side to give Northwest/Quince Orchard yet another one goal lead.

Soon thereafter, Sean Levine was called for roughing, the only penalty assessed to Upper Montgomery during the game. The Lightning penalty kill stepped up and held Northwest/Quince Orchard to only low percentage perimeter chances. With under five minutes remaining in the game, Northwest/Quince Orchard sent the puck around the boards in their defensive zone. The puck was held in at the blue line by Sean Levine at the left point. He smacked the puck to keep it in the offensive zone. Josh Nadler collected the puck and swung around to the outside of the right circle. From a bad angle at the bottom outside of the right circle near the boards, Nadler shot the puck toward the net. Nadler’s shot deflected off the Northwest/Quince Orchard defense and past Dean five hole. The third Upper Montgomery goal of the game that went five hole on Dean.

With time winding down, Cole Howerton laid a massive body check into Mills on a step up just inside the defensive zone blue line. The puck flittered into the corner as the clock ran out giving each side a draw along with an important standings point. Upper Montgomery has one final chance to earn conference standings points versus lowly Rockville/Magruder when league play finishes later this week.

Game Notes:

• The Lightning’s leading scorer TJ Gottesman missed the game.
• The Lightning were outshot by a 23-14 margin, 18-10 over the final two periods of the game.
• The four goals given up with a goalie in net were the most surrendered by Upper Montgomery in a month.
• Henry Honacki scored his team leading sixth goal of the season.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to game action for their final Montgomery Hockey Conference game of the season on Thursday afternoon in a pivotal matchup versus Rockville/Magruder. Game time is 4:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Micah Chin—Northwest Defense—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Matthew Mills—Quince Orchard Defense–1 Goal
Third Star—Sean Levine—Upper Montgomery Defense–1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning showed extreme class in Sunday’s victory over winless and completely overmatched Churchill. In a game that was beneficial for neither program, Upper Montgomery handily defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 12-2. In reality, Upper Montgomery could have easily scored in excess of 20 goals. Many of the experienced Lightning student athletes were told not to shoot after the first couple of minutes of the second period and the coaching staff did a nice job of utilizing the entire bench throughout the game. Defenders were switched to playing forward and forwards were switched to playing defense. The Lightning also started backup goaltender Chris Hassett in net.

Going into the contest the coaching staff was expecting the game against Churchill to be non-competitive. Churchill is by far the weakest junior varsity program in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. As anticipated, the outcome was decided just about four minutes into the game. Upper Montgomery’s opening goal was scored by Stephen Shkeda. In the offensive zone, Lucas Eyman battled along the boards to win the puck. The puck squirted over to TJ Gottesman at the top of the right circle. Gottesman’s wrist shot went wide of the net on the short side. The puck rebounded off of the back end boards to the left of net. Shkeda was standing just off the left post outside of the crease area. He banged home the puck before Churchill netminder Lucas Petrosyan could get across the net into position to make a save.

Uncharacteristically, Upper Montgomery seemed to relax after the initially tally. On the very next shift, Churchill would momentarily tie the game. Joshua Gerstein knocked the puck from the Churchill defensive zone into the neutral zone where it was collected by Victor Levonenko. Levonenko skated the puck up ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He shot low along the ice from in between the top of the circles. The puck avoided Hassett’s glove hand low along the ice to tie the game at one.

Just ten seconds later the floodgates would open. Off the ensuing faceoff at center ice, Henry Honakci went forward to win the faceoff and skated into the offensive zone. He shot the puck from the high shot and Petrosyan made a pad save. Adam Levine was cutting to the net and jumped through both Bulldog defenders to reach the rebound in the lower portion of the left circle. Levine spun and shot the puck in the same motion. The puck went five hole on Petrosyan to open the floodgates and the rout was on.

Eight seconds after Levine’s goal, Jason Woodman would strike to make it 3-1. This time Lightning center Josh Nadler collected the puck off of the center ice faceoff. Nadler skated into the offensive zone and shot very similar to Honakci’s shot moments earlier. Petrosyan again made the pad save on the initial attempt. The rebound bounced to the right circle where Woodman was crashing the net. Woodman outraced a Churchill defender and shoveled the puck high into the top portion of the open net.

On the next shift, AJ Marks would score to push the game out of reach at 4-1. Marks goal would cap off a sequence where Upper Montgomery scored three goals in 31 seconds, and four goals in 1 minute and 5 seconds sandwiched around the Churchill tally. Gottesman battled along the side wall and caused an errant pass by Churchill. The puck was stolen by Marks in the neutral zone. Marks skated into the offensive zone and fired a chip shot high blocker side past Petrosyan.

After stretching the lead to 4-1, Upper Montgomery began to take their foot off the gas. The next five minutes of the game settled into what felt like a pickup hockey game. Then, off of a sharp angle shot, Hassett paddled the puck into the left wing corner. Cole Howerton collected the puck and cleared the puck up the boards to Gottesman just inside the Lightning defensive blue line. Gottesman collected the puck and skated up ice weaving his way through several Bulldog defenders. Once in alone on a breakaway, Gottesman elevated the shot off the ice and above Petrosyan.

A minute and a half later, Gottesman would strike again. Patrick Sell collected the puck inside his defensive blue line and skated toward the left wing boards eventually all the way into the offensive zone. He shot the puck toward Petrosyan who made a pad save. As was the case throughout the entire period, Petrosyan did not control the rebound which shot into the crease. Gottesman won the race for the puck and backhanded it past Petrosyan’s skates.

Thirty seconds later the Lightning would tally their seventh and final goal of the first period. Sean Levine collected the puck along the left wing boards. Like Sell moments earlier, he skated from the defensive zone into the offensive zone. Upon entering the offensive zone, Levine nudged the puck forward to Nadler. Nadler skated laterally across the ice from left to right all the way to the side of the net. With Adam Levine setting a screen in front of the goal, Nadler shot high above Petrosyan’s glove hand.

Nine seconds into the second period Upper Montgomery would extend their lead. Off the opening faceoff, Honacki again went forward with the puck. He stickhandled free and skated forward to the top of the right circle. Honacki then fired a wrist shot low past Petrosyan’s pads for a shorthanded goal with Sean Levine in the penalty box for roughing. After Levine’s penalty expired, Sell was called for tripping. On the ensuing powerplay, Upper Montgomery would again score shorthanded to extend the lead to 9-1. Howerton stood up the Churchill attack at the Lightning defensive blue line. He stripped the puck loose and skated down the right wing boards into the offensive zone. Howerton cut to the top of the slot and ripped a wrist shot high glove side to the top right corner of the net.

Two minutes later, Gottesman would score again for his hat-trick goal, the first ever hat-trick in Lightning junior varsity program history. It would also be his fifth point of the game, another Lightning junior varsity record. Behr Schicker passed the puck up ice to Adam Levine in the neutral zone. Levine skated into the offensive zone and executed a drop pass for Gottesman. Gottesman, not expecting the pass, fumbled the puck. Eyman was trailing the play and picked up the puck. Eyman’s backhand shot went on net. Petrosyan made the save with the puck squirting past the goal into the left wing corner. Levine collected the puck and skated around the net left to right. He backhanded the puck in the direction in which he had skated tying up two Bulldog defenders in the process who had converged on him. Eyman received the puck in the left corner and shot towards the slot after coming back over the goal line toward the left circle. Gottesman deflected the shot along the ice between Petrosyan’s right skate and the near post.

With the position shuffling in full force, the coaching staff was attempting to have members of the team who are not normally in a position to score, to light the lamp. With four minutes left in the second period, Sean Levine would tally his first career high school goal. Levonenko’s shot was blocked by Schickler. The puck shot out into the neutral zone where Honacki was first to the puck. He skated up the right wing boards into the offensive zone. Stopping, he intentionally looked for Levine in the high slot. Levine’s wrist shot low along the ice beat new Bulldog netminder Cameron Shure just inside the left post blocker side.

With 34 seconds remaining in the second period, the Lightning would score their twelfth and final goal of the game. Howerton again stood up in the defensive zone and pokechecked the puck free. He skated up the left wing boards this time. Similar to his first goal of the game, he broke wide around the Churchill defender and cut to the middle of the ice. In on net he fired a shot, short side just inside the left post past Shure’s blocker for an unassisted goal.

The third period was played with full running clock and Upper Montgomery doing everything possible to keep the clocking running. The period was spent with the Lightning trying to force feed Jake Roth for his first ever goal in organized hockey. Upper Montgomery took two penalties late in the third period with Levonenko scoring a meaningless goal with just over a minute left with the Bulldogs on the powerplay.

Now, it will be up to Upper Montgomery to flush this non-competitive game. The team needs to move on and get ready for their final two regular season conference games which will determine playoff seeding.

Game Notes:

• TJ Gottesman set a program record for goals in a junior varsity game with three and points in a junior varsity game with five.
• The Lightning outshot Churchill by a 22-8 margin. Several of the Lightning student athletes were told NOT to shoot the puck after the conclusion of the first period.
• Upper Montgomery scored on seven of its twelve shots on goal in the first period.
• TJ Gottesman extended his personal career high points streak to all six games he has played in this season (6GP, 4G, 8A). His twelve points on the season leads the Lightning junior varsity.
• Chris Hassett notched his first career victory in net in the win, stopping six of eight shots.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to game action in a pivotal matchup on Saturday against Northwest/Quince Orchard. Game time is 11:30 am at Laurel Ice Gardens.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense–2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Henry Honakci—Upper Montgomery Center–1 Goal, 2 Assists

In what was his signature game at the junior varsity level, Upper Montgomery junior goaltender Landon Bernard stole the show Wednesday afternoon. His goaltending performance in the Lightning’s game against top ranked Walter Johnson was superb. Bernard stopped 37 of 39 shots on goal including five breakaway chances in Upper Montgomery’s 3-1 loss to the Wildcats. Both Wildcats goals were scored on two additional late third period breakaway chances. The final score was not representative of how the game played out as Upper Montgomery was winning with less than six minutes remaining in the game.

Going into the contest the coaching staff was expecting the game against Walter Johnson to be challenging. The Wildcats had only given up three goals in their four previous games. Upper Montgomery responded by playing better and tougher than they had in several games and that effort is what kept the team in the game in the opening period. Outshot 9-1 in the frame and having to kill off two Wildcats powerplay chances limited the team’s ability to get into the flow of the game. Still, finishing off the first period tied gave the Lightning confidence that they could compete against Walter Johnson.

Upper Montgomery jumped to the lead very early in the second period. Wildcats forward Sam Mayster was called for hooking 19 seconds into the period. The Lightning would capitalize immediately only ten seconds later while on the ensuing powerplay. Steven Shkeda won the faceoff directly behind him in the right faceoff circle. TJ Gottesman nudged the puck back a few feet to the right point. Behr Schickler was able to collect the puck at his defensive position along the blueline. He took one stride to the center of the ice and fired a wrist shot toward the net. The shot deflected off of a Wildcat defender and then Wildcats goalie Joseph Villatoro’s goalie stick. The puck ricocheted up in the air and into the far side of the net. For 9th grade defender Schickler, it was his first career high school goal and put Upper Montgomery in front 1-0.

From there it was the Landon Bernard show. The ice was tilted, and Walter Johnson dominated the rest of the period. Among his 17 saves in the second period, Bernard stopped three Wildcat breakaway chances and he made several additional acrobatic saves. Meanwhile, after Schickler’s goal, Upper Montgomery managed just two shots on goal over the remainder of the period. This included spending time on a short lived 5-3 powerplay opportunity that was wiped out by a tripping penalty called against Lightning defender Cole Howerton.

The Lightning had a powerplay early in the third period as well when Gianluca Megna was called for roughing. Upper Montgomery could not capitalize. As Megna’s penalty was expiring, Shkeda was called for roughing on a good hard back check that should not have been ruled a penalty. The Lightning and Bernard held strong and limited the Wildcats to puck possession around the perimeter and long range shots from the points.

Halfway through the third period Walter Johnson would finally break through against Bernard. Walter Johnson defender Patrick Murphy blocked a Lightning shot attempt deep in the crease area in front of Villatoro. Unassisted, Murphy skated the puck up ice on the right wing. He skated past the Lightning defense and curved in alone on Bernard. A lefty shot, Murphy flicked a wrist shot far post above Bernard’s leg pad and past his blocker to tie up the game.

With 3:07 left in regulation, Wildcats defender Jaden Luskin was called for interference as he tussled with Lightning forward Jason Woodman. The late powerplay was an opportunity for the Lightning regain momentum. Possibly, if they could put a late goal past Villatoro, maybe come away with the upset win.

A weak Wildcat clearing attempt went toward the left point where Howerton had a bead on the puck. As he skated in, he attempted to one time the puck toward the net. In one of those hockey plays, the puck slid under his stick and out into the neutral zone. With Howerton’s momentum heading into the offensive zone, Wildcat forward Megna was heading out of the zone in the same direction as the puck. Megna collected the puck and raced up ice by himself. Lightning defender Jake Roth skated hard up the ice and he tried to impede Megna from getting off a clean shot on Bernard. With Roth bothering him, Megna was still able to get off a backhanded shot that somehow got between Bernard’s glove side and his body. The puck barely tricked over the goal line before Bernard could turn and keep the puck out of the net. The shorthanded goal put the Wildcats in front with 2:09 left in the game.

The late shorthanded goal was demoralizing, but the Lightning kept up the pressure for the second half of the powerplay and continuing with Bernard pulled for the extra attacker. With timing running down, Wildcat defender Lucas Chang was able to gain possession of the puck deep in the Wildcat defensive zone and bang the puck up the right wing boards. Megna won a puck battle at the defensive blue line. He skated up over the red line before shooting from next to the boards into the empty net to seal the Wildcats’ hard fought victory.

The effort from the Lightning junior varsity student athletes was non-stop throughout the entire game. Although more talented, Walter Johnson barely escaped with the victory thanks to Bernard’s performance. The last three games, all against the top teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, should prepare Upper Montgomery for the remainder of the schedule which begins this upcoming Sunday versus bottom dweller Churchill. The Lightning will need to avoid complacency and playing down to Churchill’s level. The team needs to bring it right from the start of the game and not let up to rack up the two standings points.

Game Notes:

• The Lightning were badly outshot by the Wildcats by a wide 40-8 margin.
• Behr Schickler scored his first career high school goal, a powerplay goal early in the second period.
• TJ Gottesman extended his personal career high points streak to all five games he has played in this season (5GP, 1G, 6A). His seven points on the season leads the Lightning junior varsity.
• Upper Montgomery killed off all five Wildcat powerplays and has now successfully killed off ten straight opponents’ powerplay opportunities.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to action on Sunday afternoon against lowly Churchill. Game time is 1:30 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—37 Saves, 2 GA, .949 Save Percentage
Second Star—Gianluca Megna—Walter Johnson Forward–2 Goals including SH GWG
Third Star—Lucas Chang—Walter Johnson Defense–1 Assist

In a rematch of last season’s junior varsity championship game, the Upper Montgomery Lightning dropped a tight game against the Richard Montgomery Rockets Sunday morning at Wheaton Ice Rink. Absent a consistent offensive attack, the Lightning lost 3-1 after Richard Montgomery scored into an empty net with twenty seconds left to clinch the victory. For the Rockets, it was a measure of revenge after their undefeated season last year was ruined by the Lightning in the junior varsity championship game. Junior goaltender Landon Bernard played well once again stopping 22 of 24 shots. As with the last few games, he was let down by the team’s play in front of him on both Richard Montgomery goals.

The start of the game got off to a sleepy start. Not surprising considering the 9:15 am Sunday morning start time. Richard Montgomery was able to get their legs going first and broke on top a little over three minutes into the game. Off a faceoff in the Lightning defensive zone, the puck was won sideways to the left wing boards by Rockets forward Jack Evans. Connor Rosier sent the puck from the side boards into the low slot on a shot or pass that went right to Jaxson Hartle. Hartle was unguarded at the back post. He had plenty of time, enough to settle the puck and push it into the open far side of the net. Upper Montgomery musted just one shot during the opening period.

In the second period, the Lightning played better and began to take the body more frequently. The game stalemated for most of the period which was mainly played in the neutral zone. Each team failed to convert on their lone powerplay opportunity. Just after the Rockets killed off a tripping penalty to Evans, a defensive breakdown gave the Rockets the break they needed to extend their lead. Evans controlled the puck in the Rockets defensive zone along the left wing boards. He skated up ice and was able to clear the Lightning defense at the offensive zone. He cut toward the net from the left wing boards in alone on Bernard. His forehand shovel shot was a body blow that squirted between Bernard’s glove hand arm and his side, just nudging over the goal line for an unassisted goal.

Two minutes later Upper Montgomery cut the lead in half. Similar to the Rockets first goal, Upper Montgomery scored off of a faceoff from the left wing circle. Stephen Shkeda won the face off to the left wing boards. TJ Gottesman controlled the puck and sent it around the boards behind the net to Shkeda. Shkeda sent a perfect centering pass from the right corner boards out front. Standing alone in the slot was Branson Hughes. Hughes had his stick on the ice and fired a quick snap shot along the ice five hole through the pads of Rockets’ netminder Gregory Saffell to bring Upper Montgomery to within one.

The third period was a quagmire with neither team able to generate many high quality scoring chances. Richard Montgomery had the better of play simply because of two powerplay opportunities over the first half of the third period. The Lightning killed off both penalties with Bernard making a few nice saves to keep the score 2-1. With a late powerplay opportunity of their own, Upper Montgomery was not able to capitalize. Needing to push at the end to tie up the game, the Lightning were not able to generate much offensive flow finishing the third period with just three shots on goal. A late empty net goal scored by the Rockets’ Benjamin Giblin cemented the win for the Richard Montgomery.

The Lightning’s collective team play was much better against Richard Montgomery. The game followed a practice session where the coaching staff focused on body checking, positional play, and being more responsible with the puck. Competing hard against the second place team in the conference was a step in the right direction for the young junior varsity squad. The effort and compete factor will need to ramp up even further for Upper Montgomery in the upcoming week. Next up on the schedule is a non-conference game against Walter Johnson’s top ranked junior varsity team.

Game Notes:

• The Lightning were outshot 25-8 by the Rockets.
• TJ Gottesman extended his personal career high points streak to all four games he has played in this season (4GP, 1G, 5A).
• The Lightning penalty kill had its best performance of the season killing off all three Rockets’ powerplay opportunities.
• The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to action against Walter Johnson in a non-league game on Wednesday afternoon. Game time is 1:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Jack Evans—Richard Montgomery Forward—GWG Goal, 1 Assist
Second Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—2 GAA, 22 Saves, .917 Save Percentage
Third Star—Jaxson Hartle—Richard Montgomery Forward–1 Goal