Author: chucklevine

In thrilling fashion, the Upper Montgomery Lightning won its first ever division one varsity playoff game late Friday night with a come from behind 2-1 overtime victory against the St. Johns Cadets. With the win, Upper Montgomery advances to face long-time perennial powerhouse Churchill in the quarterfinals of the division one playoffs. The winner of next Friday’s game will advance to the Maryland state high school playoff tournament. The game against Churchill will be Upper Montgomery’s first ever chance to earn a state playoff berth.

In Upper Montgomery’s first ever overtime game, Lightning forward Hunter Cameron finished off a two on one rush with a forehand snapshot into a wide open net. The play originated deep in the Lightning defensive zone. Lightning center and leading scorer Chris Hassett swung the puck from behind the Upper Montgomery goal up the right wing boards to George Benedick. Benedick protected the puck with his body. While shielding the puck from the St. Johns’ attacking skater, he placed a neat little spinning backhand pass into open ice toward Cameron in the center of the defensive zone.  Behind the net, Hassett collided with the onrushing St. Johns’ defender who then lost his balance and dropped his stick behind the goal. Hassett alertly beat the St. Johns skater up ice as he went to retrieve his stick creating the two on one rush with Cameron. 

As they entered the offensive zone, the lone remaining defender closed in on Cameron. Seeing the defender’s positioning, Cameron made the correct read and sent the puck over to Hassett coming down the off wing on the left side of the ice.  Cameron’s pass was an aerial pass, knee high, and Hassett did an excellent job knocking the puck out of mid-air while also maintaining control of the puck. In doing so, he traveled wide of the net on his backhand with a poor angle to get off a quality shot. Instead, with St. Johns goalie Jack Faricy committing to Hassett and expecting a likely shot on goal, Hassett backhand passed the puck across the ice to Cameron who was wide open in front of the net at the right post. Cameron buried the cross ice return pass into the empty net from three feet in front of the net and two feet outside the right post. The goal sent the jubilant Lightning bench pouring over the boards into a mob pile along the far boards surrounding Cameron. For Cameron, it was a memorable way to score his first goal of the season and sent the Upper Montgomery spectators into a wild celebration.

The game itself was a gritty and tightly contested contest. Exactly what one would expect in a playoff game. Upper Montgomery defended all over the ice and limited the Cadets scoring opportunities. St. Johns managed just 23 shots on goal for the game and went a long stretch of the second and third period with zero shots. This included a four minute span of the second period where the Lightning were forced to play with six skaters on the ice after Upper Montgomery’s goalie Landon Bernard lost a skate blade that needed to be replaced on the bench. It was an unbelievable circumstance that added a level of drama as Upper Montgomery tried to fend off the Cadets and earn their first ever division one playoff victory. Imagine four minutes of game action with no goalie. It was close to a miracle that St. Johns was unable to score. Many in attendance had never seen anything like it.

From the outset it was clear that Upper Montgomery was the better team, even while missing two important forwards, Nathan Cassell and Ryan Jacobson. Cassel and Jacobson are the Lightning’s second and third leading scorers. The Lightning earned eight powerplays during the game, but were unable to mount much pressure with the extra skater, likely a function of missing both Cassel and Jacobson. When Upper Montgomery was able to tilt the ice, St. Johns’ netminder, Jack Faricy was there to make critical and timely saves to keep the Cadets in the game.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the first period, St. Johns would jump in front with Cadets leading scorer Teddy Kurowski scoring a shorthanded goal. Unfortunately for the Lightning, the play was two feet offside, a call that was missed by both referees. Cadets’ defender Thomas Pilkington shot the puck in on net from the neutral zone. Lightning netminder Landon Bernard blocker padded the shot to the corner. Kurowski raced into the zone while a St. Johns forward was skating to get back onsides. Kurowski entered the zone early placing the play offside. While play continued, Kurowski collected the puck which should have immediately stopped play. Bernard made the save on Kurowski’s initial shot which went low to his stick side. The puck bounded back to Kurowski who skated one more step to his right as he beat Bernard low glove hand into the far side of the net. St. Johns had a 1-0 lead with two minutes remaining in the first period, the Cadets most effective period of the game. Shots on goal in the first period were St. Johns with twelve and Upper Montgomery with eight.

The St. Johns lead would hold until ten minutes remained in the second period. Upper Montgomery would get on the board when Lightning 9th grade forward Philip Shkeda scored off of a two on one play with Brandon Bernard. The play began ten seconds after the end of a St. Johns powerplay. A fine defensive play and pass up ice by Lightning forward Olivia Robbins made the play. St. Johns rewound in the neutral zone. Robbins stacked up the blue line and blocked the St. Johns entry play with her skates, directing the puck back into the neutral zone. St. Johns attempted for a second time to dump the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. This time, Robbins blocked the puck again with her skates, but was able to play the puck with her stick up the ice. Her pass went to Bernard standing just outside the offensive blue line. Bernard entered the zone with Shkeda cutting down the left wing. Bernard was poke checked by the St. Johns defender with the puck sliding over to Shkeda. Shkeda’s wrist shot went far side toward Faricy’s glove hand. The knuckling puck snuck just under Faricy’s catching mitt sort of seven hole to tie up the game. Shots on goal in the second period were heavily one sided in favor of the Lightning, fourteen to three.

The score would remain even at one for the final 25 minutes of regulation setting up the climatic three on three overtime session. Prior to the end of third period each team had to kill off a late powerplay. First, Lightning team captain Benedick was called for roughing with 4:30 remaining. Then, Kurowski evened up the number of skaters by also taking a roughing penalty with 3:45 remaining in regulation. With a minute and fifteen seconds of late powerplay time, Upper Montgomery failed to convert. Shots on goal in the third period were Upper Montgomery with thirteen and St. Johns with eight.

Overtime would last just one minute and ten seconds before Cameron’s deciding goal. For Cameron it was redemption after struggling for much of his junior season. Sending Upper Montgomery to next week’s quarterfinal matchup against Churchill wiped away a season of personal disappointment.

Upper Montgomery will be a prohibitive underdog against Churchill. A massive underdog one would conclude. The Bulldogs have not lost a county or state playoff game in nine years. The Bulldogs have won eight of the past nine Maryland state championships. The only time Churchill was not state champions was during the recent COVID season when too many Bulldog student athletes were unavailable to play while in quarantine and Churchill was not permitted to compete in the state playoffs.

Upper Montgomery is going to need to play together and within the defensive system that the coaching staff is installing for the matchup. Make no mistake, it will take an unbelievable effort. A Lightning victory would be the greatest upset in the history of Maryland high school ice hockey. That is not an understatement, just a fact. One team has not lost a county or state playoff game in nine seasons, with eight straight state titles when they were allowed to compete, the other team won its first every playoff game this past Friday night. Upper Montgomery has never played Churchill to within three goals. Join the Lightning faithful this upcoming Friday night to see if the Lightning can make history and rain on Churchill’s parade to this year’s state playoffs. It’s time to shock the world!

#Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The remaining teams alive in the Montgomery Hockey Conference varsity playoffs are:

Wootton (9) versus Walter Johnson (1)

Upper Montgomery (7) versus Churchill (2)

Richard Montgomery (6) versus Quince Orchard (3)

Whitman (5) versus BCC (4)

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were lopsided, Upper Montgomery with 36 while St. Johns managed only 23.
• Upper Montgomery was very poor on the powerplay finishing 0-8, and giving up a shorthanded goal.
• The Upper Montgomery penalty kill was a perfect 4-4.
• Landon Bernard stopped 22 of 23 shots for his first career varsity playoff victory.
• The game was Upper Montgomery’s first ever overtime game.
• With the victory, the Lightning will enter the top fifteen in the Maryland state public high school ice hockey rankings. The team will be ranked 23rd overall when the private high schools are included.
• Upper Montgomery will seek to claim its first ever Maryland state ice hockey playoff berth next Friday night against the mighty (and historically unbeatable) Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. In early November, Churchill easily handled Upper Montgomery by a score of 8-2.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Hunter Cameron—Upper Montgomery Forward—Game Winning Overtime Goal
Second Star—Jack Faricy—St. Johns Goalie—34 Saves, .944 Save Percentage, 2 Goals Against
Third Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward–-1 Goal

Upper Montgomery closed out the 2022 – 2023 regular season with a dud of a performance. The late 10:00 pm start time may have contributed especially with the game starting closer to 10:15 pm after the Lightning celebrated the careers of its five senior student athletes (team captain, defender George Benedick, defender Ethan Hockey, defender Andrew Gean, and forwards Stephen Shkeda and Lucas Eyman). The pre-game ceremony was by far the highlight of the evening for the Lightning’s supporters. On Halloween, Upper Montgomery shocked the conference by tying BCC. On Friday night, the Barons took out their revenge hammering the Lightning by a score of 8-2. With losses in two consecutive games to close out the regular season, the Lightning’s recent five game winning streak seems like a long time ago.

The first ten minutes of the game were fairly even in terms of shots on goal, but BCC controlled play and possession of the puck. The BCC shots on goal were far more challenging than the Upper Montgomery attempts. Upper Montgomery’s shots were from the outside, from bad angles, or zone entry dump ins that happened to go on net. Conversely, Lightning netminder Landon Bernard made some nice saves to keep Upper Montgomery even. The Lightning did not generate much offensive thrust with an early first period powerplay after BCC defender Benjamin Lyons was called for interference.

With just under six minutes remaining in the first period the BCC deluge of goals would commence. First, BCC center Sebastian Harrison took a pass from defender Henry Blumberg, skated through both the neutral zone and into the offensive zone before firing a wrist shot past Bernard. Two minutes later on a similar play, BCC star offensive forward Henry Caldicott scored on a wrist shot from the left circle after being sprung up ice on a pass from center Matthew Duffy. For Caldicott it would be the first of his five points on the night. For Duffy it was the first of his four assists in the game.

BCC would score early in the second period on a long range shot from the point. Duffy won the faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone. The puck went to Caldicott along the right wing boards. Caldicott passed back to Lyons at the point. The big defender unleashed a low, hard slap shot that went along the ice and past a screened Bernard. Just under the eight minute mark of the second period Harrison scored on an end to end rush with several Lightning skaters attempting to play the puck rather than take the body. Harrison went in alone on Bernard and scored from the low slot area.

Upper Montgomery would have two additional powerplays at the end of the second period when Grady Jiggens was called for roughing. The second opportunity was when Collin Eccles was called for tripping. Upper Montgomery mounted some shots on net with the skater advantages but did not really threaten Barons’ goalie Graham McGrath White. After two periods of play, BCC had a 4-0 lead and was cruising to the season ending victory.

The Lightning were able to find a brief spark at the beginning of the third period. In his final regular season game, Benedick would score to cut the Barons lead to 4-1. Lightning forward Henry Honacki shot the puck from the right circle. McGrath White made an easy stick save with the puck shuffled off to the boards behind the net. The BCC defense cleared the puck around the boards where it was stopped by Lightning center Bradley Cupples along the left wing boards. Cupples sent the puck cross ice to Benedick back at the right point. Benedick skated in a few strides. He let loose with a long range wrist shot that beat McGrath White far side blocker with both Cupples and Lightning forward Josh Nadler screening in front of the net.

The comeback would be short lived. On his next shift Benedick would be called for interference for a high body check. Caldicott would score on a shot from the left circle after the Barons moved the puck around on the powerplay. Aleksander Talty sent the puck from the right wing boards to Graham Leblanc at the middle point. Leblanc sent the puck across to Caldicott who stopped, changed the angle of the shot, and ripped the puck past Bernard to restore the Barons four goal cushion.

Upper Montgomery would score a powerplay goal of its own with Marlowe Curalli in the box for roughing after an over aggressive play with seven minutes remaining in the game. Lightning leading scorer Chris Hassett moved the puck down the left wing boards behind the net. He curled around and went back toward the left faceoff circle. With the BCC defense paying attention to Hassett, linemate Nathan Cassel snuck into the slot area. Hassett’s backhand pass found Cassel in prime scoring position. Cassel’s snap shot went low stick side past McGrath White. The Lightning were back to within three goals at 5-2 with 6:45 remaining in the game.

That would be as close as the Lightning would get. After two consecutive shifts with their top offensive scorers on the ice and the three goal bulge remaining, Upper Montgomery began putting several of their seniors who do not typically receive a lot of ice time on the ice. BCC would receive goals from John Brunn (twice) and Eccles in garbage time to widen the margin of victory to 8-2. On many of the late goals Bernard was let down by the skaters in front of him.

The regular season is now complete. Upper Montgomery earned the seventh seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament. Last season, Upper Montgomery earned the tenth seed in making the division one playoffs for the first time ever. The Lightning showed progress and improvement this season. The team is probably one more year away from everything falling into place for a deep playoff run. However, this year’s team has an outside chance to shock one of the top teams in the conference and make it to the state playoffs. The playoffs start next Friday night. The storm is brewing. The Lightning are coming. Watch out.

#Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were fairly even, BCC with 35 and Upper Montgomery with 32.
• Upper Montgomery was 1-4 on the powerplay.
• The Lightning finished the regular season with a .500 record at 6-6-1. Five of the team’s six losses were to teams ranked in the top ten in the Maryland state public high school ice hockey rankings.
• Upper Montgomery will seek to claim its first ever Montgomery Hockey Conference division one playoff victory next Friday evening. The Lightning’s likely opponent is the St. Johns Cadets, although the opponent and schedule will be announced over the next 24-48 hours.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Henry Caldicott—BCC Forward—2 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Sebastian Harrison—BCC Center—2 Goals
Third Star—Matthew Duffy—BCC Center–-4 Assists

The Upper Montgomery Lightning’s five game winning streak is over. It ended with a dud of a performance against the seventh ranked Richard Montgomery Rockets, the team right behind the Lightning in the Montgomery Hockey Conference rankings. The Rockets possess two of the top offensively gifted student athletes in the conference, and both showed out against Upper Montgomery on Friday night in the Rockets 6-4 win. What was concerning more than the loss, Upper Montgomery’s first since way back on December 2nd, was that the coaching staff had implemented a simple game plan. The focus was 100% on stopping Rockets’ game changing top line center Daniel Martella and high school hockey’s top scoring defender, Luke Guttman. The Lightning did neither.

Upper Montgomery came out sluggish right from the start of the game and was back on its heels for the entire first period. Maybe it was next game hangover after beating number two ranked Quince Orchard last week? Two minutes into the game, Brandon Bernard was called for tripping. An immediate powerplay for the high powered Rockets offense. The Lightning’s vastly improving penalty kill was up to the task and kept the game scoreless. On their next shift after the powerplay ended, Guttman and Martella teamed up to put the Rockets in front.

Guttman collected the puck deep in the left corner of his defensive zone. He passed the puck up ice into the neutral zone to Martella. Martella gained possession of the puck at the red line and skated into the offensive zone. Entering the zone, he cut to the middle of the ice. At the top of the faceoff circles, he fired a snapshot to the top left corner of the net past Bernard’s blocker to open the scoring.

The Rockets next goal would start an eleven second sequence that defined the game. Off the rush, Richard Montgomery entered the offensive zone with speed. Rockets center Tom Stone unleashed a shot from the left circle that was blocked by Lightning defender Andrew Botti. The puck deflected over to Martella who sent it back to Stone in the corner. Stone returned the puck to Martella who skated around the back of the net from left to right. Coming around the net, Martella passed the puck out to Guttman who was cutting in from his right point position. Guttman’s shot went seven hole stick side past Bernard. It was a play from beginning to end where the Rockets speed and effort were rewarded with the goal.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Lightning center Chris Hassett won the draw back to Botti just inside the Lightning defensive zone. Botti banked the puck out of the zone off the boards. Unfortunately for Upper Montgomery, the unathletic, out of shape, and out of position referee had the puck bounce off his hip and back into the Lightning defensive zone. It was an extremely poor attempt by the referee to get out of the way and it cost the Lightning. With every Lightning skater headed up ice, the puck was sitting free for Martella to enter the zone on a clear breakaway. He faked forehand to backhand and slid the puck around Bernard for an unassisted goal. The first period mercifully ended with the score 3-0 Richard Montgomery and with the Rockets outshooting the Lightning eleven to six.

After a thorough tongue lashing by the Upper Montgomery coaching staff that was heard throughout the rink, the Lightning responded with a better second period. Four minutes into the second frame the Lightning would strike for their first goal of the game. Upper Montgomery captain, senior George Benedick curled around in the neutral zone with the puck. He headed up ice and entered the offensive zone along the right wing. His shot attempt was blocked with the puck tumbling into the high slot. After a poor clearing attempt by Richard Montgomery, Lightning center Bradley Cupples shot wide left of the net. The puck rebounded off the end boards to Brandon Bernard near the goal line. Falling away from the net Bernard banked in the shot off Rockets’ senior netminder, Ian Hutchinson. The goal epitomized the renewed effort being put forth by the Lightning during the second period.

Two minutes after the Lightning had crept back into the game, Upper Montgomery was called for a too many skaters on the ice penalty. Lightning defender Owen Robbins served the penalty as the penalty was required to be served by a skater on the ice when the penalty was called. With twenty seconds remaining in the resulting powerplay, Richard Montgomery would again hold a three goal lead at 4-1. Martella and Stone battled with the Lightning defense in the left corner. The puck came free into the lower slot right to Guttman who banged a slap shot past Landon Bernard. On the very next shift, the Lightning were again back on the penalty kill as Benedick was called for interference.

Continuing to show fight, the Lightning would follow up last week’s three shorthanded goals with another shorthanded tally. Off of a defensive zone faceoff in the left faceoff circle, Hassett won the draw back to Lightning senior defender Ethan Hockey. Hockey cleared the puck to center ice where a Rockets’ defender stuck out his foot in an attempt to stop and control the puck. The puck deflected past him, and speedy Upper Montgomery forward Ryan Jacobson outraced the Richard Montgomery defense. He gathered the puck and shot stick side seven hole from close range. The shot was a body blow that was saved by Hutchinson. Jacobson stayed with the play and slammed the puck into the open net from a foot in front. With five minutes remaining in the second period the score was 4-2.

Jacobson’s goal started an explosion of offense and goals over the final five minutes of the second period. A minute and a half after Jacobson closed the margin, the Lightning would pull even closer, to within one. A bad Richard Montgomery pass deep in their defensive zone provided the opportunity Upper Montgomery needed. The errant pass was headed from the right wing boards over to the left wing. Lightning forward Henry Honacki outraced the Rockets to the puck, and he then skated wide down the right wing boards. From a bad angle he slung a shot at the net. Hutchinson made the easy save but sent a juicy rebound into the slot. Brandon Bernard collected the loose puck and took one stride to the left. Having a better shooting angle, he fired a wrist shot short side high over Hutchinson’s blocker and into the top portion of the net for his second goal of the game.

With Richard Montgomery’s lead down to just one goal and momentum seemingly on Upper Montgomery’s side, it would be up to the Lightning to continue to take the play to the Rockets. However, rising to the challenge once again Guttman and Martella struck. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Martella won the draw back to Guttman at the left point. Guttman unleashed a perfectly placed slap shot that went high far side above Bernard’s glove hand. The puck nestled into the nook of the net just below the point where the crossbar and the right post converge. Guttman’s long range cannon of a shot completed his hat trick to cap off a memorable senior night for the star defender. Having clawed all the way back into the game, just like that Richard Montgomery was again up by two goals. The score was 5-3 with two minutes remaining in the second period.

Just over a minute later, Upper Montgomery would again climb to within one goal, completing an explosive five minutes of hockey in which four goals were scored. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Lightning’s defensive zone, the puck was sent to the left wing boards where Richard Montgomery’s Stone dropped the puck back to the point. His pass got away from the Rockets’ defender. Cassel collected the puck and sped up ice down the right wing boards all the way into the offensive zone. Cassel faked a shot which froze Hutchinson before sliding the puck across the crease to where Jacobson was waiting for another tap in goal at the left side of the net. Jacobson’s second goal of the period closed out the frame in which Upper Montgomery scored four times. Richard Montgomery’s lead was closed to 5-4.

Upper Montgomery had the entire third period to play needing just one goal to even the score. Every time the Lightning seemed to gain momentum, the failure to bottle up Martella, Guttman, or both, would come back to haunt the team. Four minutes into the third period senior Martella would score his senior night hat trick goal, a back breaker for the Lightning’s chances. In the Richard Montgomery defensive zone Martella won the faceoff over to the right wing boards. Rockets forward Lester Benitez dropped the puck back to his near side defender, Jack Evans. Evans lifted the puck off the glass to Martella just inside his defensive blue line. Marella skated the puck diagonally across the ice from right to left reaching the top of the left circle in the Lightning defensive zone. Martella fired a wrist shot high far side and past Bernard’s glove.

On the very next shift, immediately after Martella’s goal provided Richard Montgomery with a bit of breathing room, Botti was called for interference. Richard Montgomery was back on the powerplay and Upper Montgomery was losing precious time to mount yet another comeback. Upper Montgomery was able to successfully kill the penalty, and earned its first powerplay of the game with eight minutes remaining to play. Benitez was called for cross checking in the offensive zone trying to create space in the slot. Unfortunately, Upper Montgomery was not able to generate any grade A scoring opportunities. The push over the last eight minutes of the game was not enough. The early hole that the Lightning dug in the first period was too much to overcome.

With their five game winning streak over, the team must regroup heading into the regular season finale next Friday night against BCC. BCC will be out for revenge after Upper Montgomery was able to earn a tie early in the season on Halloween, a game that BCC surely thought would be a cakewalk. Expect BCC to come with a much better focus and effort this time around. Hopefully, the energy from the Lightning’s senior night will provide a spark as the Lightning’s five senior student athletes (George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Gean, Stephen Shkeda, and Lucas Eyman), will be celebrated for all that they have provided to the program over the past four seasons.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were fairly even, Richard Montgomery with 32 and Upper Montgomery with 30.
• Continuing a developing streak, Upper Montgomery dropped to 0-5 when giving up more than three goals in a game. Conversely, the team is 6-0-1 when giving up three or fewer goals in a game.
• Ryan Jacobson has now scored two or more goals in four games this season.
• Landon Bernard’s career high five game winning streak ended.
• Upper Montgomery will conclude the regular season next Friday, January 27th with senior night. It is a late start against perennial powerhouse BCC. Game time is 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Daniel Martella—Richard Montgomery Center—3 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Luke Guttman—Richard Montgomery Defense—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Forward–-2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning sent shock waves throughout the Montgomery Hockey Conference by stunning second ranked Quince Orchard Friday night at Cabin John Ice Rink. For Upper Montgomery it was the highest ranked opponent the team has ever beaten. The victory will surely move the Lightning to the sixth spot in the conference rankings, the highest ranking the Upper Montgomery program has ever received since beginning play back in 2008. While Quince Orchard will claim the outcome of the game would have been different if starting goalie Jeremy Eager and star offensive talent Joshua Weitzman were available for the contest, that claim rings hollow as Upper Montgomery was missing several top student athletes as well including second leading scorer Nathan Cassel, top flight defender Andrew Botti, and key contributing forwards Hunter Cameron and Bradley Cupples.

The flow of the game was certainly interesting to say the least. Due to being without Weitzman, Quince Orchard chose to double shift its other star forward Dylan Eyester the entire game. He was on the ice constantly and was by far the best and most dangerous skater on the ice. He would strike early, just three minutes into the game to put the Cougars on top. Quince Orchard forward John Sherikjian sent the puck from the left wing in his defensive zone across the ice to Eyester who was skating through the neutral zone on the right wing. Eyester entered the offensive zone and let loose with a snap shot from between the right faceoff circle and the blue line. The shot went high, far side past Lightning goalie Landon Bernard’s blocker. Bernard would recover from the early goal to stop 31 of 34 shots during the game.

Less than two minutes after the opening goal, Quince Orchard would go on what would be the first of their six straight powerplays when Lightning senior captain George Benedick was called for holding. Although Quince Orchard had several shot opportunities while playing with the powerplay advantage, Bernard was there to make several key saves to prevent the Quince Orchard lead from growing. With five and a half minutes remaining in the opening period Upper Montgomery forward Josh Nadler took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for knocking the stick away from a Quince Orchard forward deep in the Lightning defensive zone well away from the play. The unnecessary penalty put the Lightning shorthanded and would put Nadler on the bench for the remainder of the game.

While shorthanded, Upper Montgomery would cash in to tie the game. Quince Orchard had possession of the puck in the Lightning defensive zone. A pass back to the point split the Cougars’ defenders. Lightning center and leading scorer Chris Hassett outraced the Quince Orchard defenders to the puck. He tracked down the errant pass deep in the right corner in the Cougars defensive zone. He then sent a pass out in front of the crease to where Olivia Robbins had followed the play. Robbins was able to stuff the puck short side along the ice past Quince Orchard backup goalkeeper Jack Peyser. For Robbins, it was her fifth goal of the season. The first period would finish tied at one goal apiece. Each team managed ten shots on goal illustrating how evenly played the period was.

The first ten minutes of the second period were played with Upper Montgomery matching up against Eyester determined to prevent him from dominating and taking over the game. Benedick and 9th grade defender Brady Berkhammer drew the assignment and did an excellent job negating good scoring chances when Eyester was on the ice. Benedick played a pressure style of defense and Berkhammer played excellent positional defensive hockey. With a shortened bench, Quince Orchard’s skaters began to tire which limited the amount of their offensive thrusts. On the other hand, Upper Montgomery kept coming and looking to counter attack. With four and a half minutes remaining in the period, the Lightning would jump on top.

From his defensive zone to the left of the net, Benedick fired a long breakout pass up ice. While one of the Quince Orchard defenders was changing and the other was playing wide to the right side of the ice, Hassett sprung through the opening. He received Benedick’s pass between the red line and the offensive blue line and charged in on a breakaway. A simple deke to his left and Hassett lifted the puck forehand to the middle of the net on the right side to put the Lightning on top 2-1.

A minute after Hassett’s goal gave Upper Montgomery the lead, the Lightning would spend the next eight minutes of the game shorthanded. First, Brandon Bernard was called for tripping. While shorthanded, another penalty was called on Lightning defender Ethan Hockey. Hockey was whistled for roughing. A marginal call. Certainly not a penalty when it would be the fourth consecutive penalty called on the Lightning to open the game, and especially a bad call considering the Lightning were already shorthanded. The Lightning successfully killed the 38 seconds of Quince Orchard’s five on three powerplay to kill off Bernard’s penalty.

With half a minute remaining in the period, and the Quince Orchard forwards tired from being on the ice for an extended shift, the speed of Upper Montgomery forwards Ryan Jacobson and Bernard led to the Lightning’s second shorthanded goal of the game. With Upper Montgomery scrambling in the defensive zone, Jacobson hustled after a blocked shot, dove, and just barely swatted the puck out of the defensive zone. Bernard sped to the puck and collected it just outside the defensive blue line ahead of the onrushing Cougars defenders. Bernard outraced the backtracking defenders and went in alone on Peyser. He made a backhand to forehand deke and sent the puck along the ice into the wide open net. The second period would end with Quince Orchard zero for four on the powerplay while surrendering two shorthanded goals to Upper Montgomery, all contributing to the 3-1 Lightning lead after two periods of play.

The start of the third period was just like the end of the second period. More of the parade of Upper Montgomery skaters to the penalty box. First, Jacobson was called for tripping after only thirty seconds of five on five play. Upper Montgomery successfully killed off the fifth Quince Orchard powerplay. Many blocked shots and a timely Landon Bernard glove save kept Quince Orchard from scoring. Twenty seconds after Jacobson returned to the ice a terrible roughing penalty was called on Hockey. The penalty call was so bad that the Upper Montgomery coaching staff spent several minutes demonstratively showing their displeasure with the officiating crew.

Off the defensive zone faceoff from the right faceoff circle, Jacobson lost the draw and chased the puck to the point. While challenging at the point, he was able to partially block the point shot sending the shot off net and bouncing along the ice. Benedick whacked at the puck as it was passing by similar to a golfer hitting a long drive. Benedick connected squarely and drove the puck down the middle of the ice. His swatting of the puck splitting the Cougars defense and hit Jacobson in the side of the pants. The accidently on purpose pass was so on target that Jacobson was ten feet past the furthest Quince Orchard defender. He had possession of the puck and was easily in alone on a breakaway. He too went backhand deke and to his forehand (although to the opposite side of the net as he shoots left handed) and jammed the puck past Peyser for the Lightning’s third shorthanded goal of the game. It was Jacobson’s eighth goal of the season and one which deflated the Cougars. A couple of quality saves by Bernard over the remainder of the Quince Orchard powerplay made the Lightning’s heavily criticized PK unit six for six so far on the penalty kill.

Finally back to even strength, the Upper Montgomery bench continued to chirp at the officiating crew. The official who had not been calling the majority of the penalties in the game instantly called a hooking penalty on Cougars defender Matthew Mills. Mills’ penalty came just nine seconds after the Quince Orchard powerplay ended. A Bronx cheer chorused through the hockey rink as finally with ten minutes remaining in the game and after six straight Quince Orchard powerplays, Upper Montgomery was headed to the powerplay.

With a four to one lead and only ten minutes remaining in the game, and with Eyester on the ice to penalty kill, Upper Montgomery was very cautious. The Lightning were content to run the regular defensive pairings while on the powerplay paying special attention to Eyester when he was near the puck, often with Benedick and the nearside forward converging almost immediately.

Only a minute and fifteen seconds into the powerplay Hassett was called for roughing. Another questionable call by the same official calling all of the penalties. Once again infuriating the Lightning bench which erupted with its displeasure. The seventh time was the charm for the Cougars. A minute into the powerplay Cougars defender Daniel Abarjel exited the Quince Orchard defensive zone with control of the puck. He passed to the right side of the neutral zone to Eyester. Drawing a crowd of Lightning defenders, Eyester returned the puck to Abarjel coming down the left wing boards and into the offensive zone. Abarjel cut toward the high slot. Ten feet above the left faceoff circle he unleashed a wicked wrist shot that beat Bernard high glove side to make things a bit more interesting at 4-2.

Less than a minute later the wind would be sucked out of the Cougars sails. Off of an offensive zone faceoff in the right faceoff circle, a 50/50 puck went to the right wing boards. A Quince Orchard clearing attempt was knocked down by Lightning senior forward Stephen Shkeda. Shkeda shoveled the puck back to 9th grade defender Owen Robbins at the right point. Robbins wound up and sent a routine slap shot at the net. A screened Peyser never saw the shot which went by him untouched along the ice for a very necessary Lightning insurance goal making the score 5-2. For Robbins, it was his first career high school goal.

More chirping from the Lightning bench seemed to sway the other official into making another make up call against the Cougars. Once again, it was Mills back in the box. This time for interference with five minutes remaining in the game. Upper Montgomery took the same approach to this powerplay opportunity. Stay with Eyester, and make sure that there were always two defenders back to protect. Because of the defensive posture to the powerplay, the Lightning never really threatened to score. With a 5-2 deficit and time winding down, Eyester took advantage of the Lightning’s third line and depth defensive skaters. He took possession of the puck off of an offensive zone faceoff in the left faceoff circle. He stickhandled around the Lightning defense riffling a shot from the high slot past Bernard high glove side.

Curiously, with two and a half minutes remaining in the game and only down by two goals, Quince Orchard never pulled their goalie to play with an extra skater. Their forwards were clearly gassed, but it only played to Upper Montgomery’s advantage. Upper Montgomery kept its top skaters on the ice for the remainder of the game playing a shell defensive structure preventing Quince Orchard from getting any further quality scoring chances on Bernard.

The massive victory not only clinched a home playoff game for the Lightning, but at 6-4-1 the team is likely going to be ranked in the top 25 of the Maryland state high school ice hockey rankings. The state rankings include all teams in Maryland and DC, including all of the private school teams that recruit in student athletes. It is an outstanding achievement for the Lightning, but one that can quickly disappear if the team becomes overconfident. There are two regular season games remaining on the schedule. A win in either game and the team will clinch a winning regular season record. It is important for the team to garner the highest possible seed for the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs and be playing well heading into post season play. Finishing sixth or higher likely means avoiding likely top seed Walter Johnson or probable second seed Churchill in the playoffs.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were pretty even, Quince Orchard with 34 and Upper Montgomery with 31.
• The much maligned Upper Montgomery penalty kill was the difference in the game, scoring three shorthanded goals and prevailing on six of the seven Quince Orchard powerplay opportunities.
• Olivia Robbins increased her career high goals in a single season to five. She scored four goals total over her first two seasons.
• With both Robbins siblings scoring goals in the same game, it was the first time in Lightning history that brother and sister siblings scored in the same game.
• Stephen Shkeda’s third point of the season tied a career high for points in a season.
• Upper Montgomery will bring their five game winning streak into next Friday’s key matchup against Richard Montgomery. Game time is 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. A victory against Richard Montgomery would mean that the Lightning would finish with no worse than the sixth seed in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament. It would also keep alive the slight possibility of a top four seed and a first round bye.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Dylan Eyester—Quince Orchard Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—George Benedick—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center–-1 Goal, 1 Assist

After not having beaten Wootton in fifteen years, the Upper Montgomery Lightning made sure they did not have to wait long to secure their second ever victory over the Patriots. Just seventeen days separated the game between the two squads this season. In Friday’s game, Wootton had their full roster while Upper Montgomery was missing key student athletes out-of-town with their external travel teams or suspended. Almost the complete opposite of the earlier matchup in December. The result was the same, an Upper Montgomery victory in a hard fought penalty filled contest and quite possibly the beginning of a budding rivalry between the two teams.

The game started off ominously for the Lightning. A minute and a half into the game Lightning forward Hunter Cameron was called for roughing after throwing a late unnecessary check against a Wootton defender as Cameron went in on the forecheck. Wootton would waste no time jumping to the lead on the ensuing powerplay. Off the faceoff a scramble occurred with both teams fighting for possession of the puck. Eventually, Wootton forward Grady Sellman shot wide left from the right faceoff circle. The puck caromed around to Wootton star defender Conor Harris at the left point. Harris passed down the boards to Wootton’s star forward Ilhom Abdulaev, who was just returning from being out for most of the season with a lower body injury. Abdulaev returned the puck to Harris at the mid-point of the blue line. Harris’ shot went wide left but was recovered by Abdulaev once again. Abdulaev sent the puck back to Harris a second time. Harris had now traveled over to the right point. Harris skated back toward the center of the blue line and his second shot attempt went high blocker side past a screened Lightning netminder, Landon Bernard. It was a goal that Wootton needed for confidence after the non-competitive Lightning victory just over two weeks ago.

One minute after their opening goal, Wootton was back on the powerplay once again after Lightning senior defender, Andrew Gean was called for cross checking. This time, Upper Montgomery’s penalty kill came through. Even though it was very early in the contest, it was an important moment in the game to keep the score only 1-0 Wootton. After the expiration of Gean’s penalty, Wootton was called for too many skaters on the ice after a bad line change. Upper Montgomery would take advantage of their first powerplay opportunity to tie up the game.

The Lightning won the ensuing faceoff in the left faceoff circle and worked the puck around the offensive zone. Upper Montgomery defender Andrew Botti shot from the top of the blue line mid point. His shot went wide left of the net and was retrieved by Lightning forward Nathan Cassel along the left wing boards. Cassel cycled the puck back down the boards to Chris Hassett. Hassett returned the puck to Cassel still stationed along the left wing boards. Cassel maneuvered around the Wootton defense and shot on Patriots netminder Will Mellen. Mellen made the save and the puck bounced into the slot. A failed attempt at a clear kept the puck in the offensive zone where Cameron gained possession. Cameron’s shot was blocked by Wootton forward William Rusiecki directly back to Botti standing at the point. Botti’s shot was saved by Mellen who made a nice kick out save with his left leg pad. The puck, however, bounced just out of Mellen’s reach. Hassett made a quick backhand tap pass across the crease over to Cassel. Cassel easily then backhanded the puck into the wide open net.

A minute later, the Lightning would grab the lead. Wootton possessed the puck in their own defensive zone and started a controlled breakout. The initial outlet pass went to the left boards, with the second pass exiting the zone into neutral ice. Lightning senior captain, defender George Benedick gained possession of the puck at the red line along the right wing boards. He skated into the offensive zone and cut to the high slot. Once he reached prime scoring range, Benedick fired a wrist shot high blocker side, top shelf past Mellen for the unassisted goal.

After Upper Montgomery went ahead 2-1, the parade to the penalty box began in earnest. First, Wootton defender Timothy Yun was called for roughing. Then, Hassett was called for hooking. Neither team was able to take advantage of their powerplay chance. The gritty, hard hitting first period would end with the Lightning on top by one goal and having a ten to seven shots on goal advantage.

Wootton would come out hard to start the second period. The effort would be rewarded with the tying goal just over two minutes into the period. On a delayed penalty being called on Benedick for roughing the Patriots worked the puck along the boards. Wootton’s other star defender, Sam Hosier, passed from the left wing boards to Harris at the point. Harris’ shot from the mid point went wide left of the net. The puck bounced off the back end boards and directly to the front of the net over on the right side. Wootton forward Nathan Tai shot the puck near side past Bernard as he was coming over to the right post. The next six minutes of action were back and forth with each team having opportunities to jump to the lead. Bernard and Mellen each made several saves to keep the score tied.

With five and a half minutes left in the second period, the tie would be broken. Wootton entered the offensive zone on the right wing. Lightning defender senior Ethan Hockey swiped a poke check to free up the puck. Lightning forward Philip Shkeda skated in to retrieve the puck. Shkeda sent the puck up ice to Hassett in the neutral zone. The pass was a little behind Hassett and he needed to reach back to gain full possession of the puck. Once he had control of the puck, Hassett skated down the right wing boards. With Mellen committing to Hassett for a likely shot attempt, Hassett instead passed back to Shkeda who was sprinting toward the back post. The pass was on target giving Shkeda an easy tap in goal, backdoor at the far side of the net.

With three minutes left in the period, Lightning center Bradley Cupples and Wootton’s Tai were called for coincidental penalties after a skirmish to the side of the Wootton cage. Both Cupples and Tai were assessed minors for head contact and ten minute misconduct penalties, keeping both skaters off the ice for twelve minutes of game action. Tai was the aggressor and Cupples should never have been penalized. Then, directly after, Patriots defender Michael Murphy was called for cross checking. It was a questionable penalty and likely a make up call for the poor officiating decision just prior. Upper Montgomery was unable to stretch the lead while on the powerplay. The second period ended with the Lightning holding a 3-2 lead. Shots on goal in the second period were Upper Montgomery with eleven and Wootton with eight.

The third period began with an ugly incident as Wootton’s Yun was ejected from the game and issued a major penalty for head contact for an attempt to injure Lightning forward Henry Honacki. Yun cross checked Honacki in the side of the head as he was laying on the ice behind the Wootton net well behind the play. A dirty play that will result in additional supplemental discipline from the Montgomery Hockey Conference. With the resulting five minute powerplay, Upper Montgomery failed to score to open up a larger lead.

At the tail end of the Lightning powerplay, Benedick was called for a head contact penalty. Another questionable call that resulted in a minor penalty putting Wootton on the powerplay with a chance to even the score. The call also removed Benedick from the remainder of the game as there was just less than ten minutes remaining in the game. All head contact penalties come with an automatic ten minute misconduct penalty. Upper Montgomery held firm and killed off the dangerous Wootton powerplay. The flow of the game had changed as the Lightning were content to play defense and prevent Wootton from scoring to tie up the game. With the Upper Montgomery commitment to defense, Wootton had trouble generating much offense without Harris, Hosier, and Abdulaev all on the ice at the same time.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery would score to provide a bit of breathing room. With an offensive zone faceoff in the right faceoff circle, Hassett won the draw back to Brady Berkhammer at the right point. Berkhammer’s shot went wide of the net far side. Cassel raced over to win possession of the puck at the half wall on the left wing sending the puck back to Hockey at the left point. Hockey’s high wrist shot with Hassett waiving his stick at the puck was saved by Mellen’s glove hand. Hassett’s stick waive may have distracted Mellen as he dropped the routine wrist shot with the puck falling to the ice in the crease. Hassett got a stick on the puck first and backhanded it into the open net.

Upper Montgomery continued to defend over the last minutes of the game and kept Wootton off the scoreboard once Mellen was pulled for an extra skater with 1:22 left to play. The victory has now propelled the Lightning to a winning record at 5-4-1, with all four losses to teams in the top eight in the Maryland high school hockey state rankings. It has been quite the turnaround since the team’s 1-4-1 start to the season. Upper Montgomery may be the hottest team in the Montgomery Hockey Conference at the moment. The Lightning will take a four game winning streak, with wins in five of their past six games, into a huge game against second ranked Quince Orchard next Friday night. A Lightning win would send shock waves throughout the county.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal for the game were Upper Montgomery with 31 and Wootton with 21.
• Different from ten days ago, this game was a penalty filled affair. In the team’s game prior to winter break, there was only one penalty called during the game. In Friday’s game, there were fifteen penalties assessed, including four misconduct penalties, and one game misconduct.
• With his three point game, Chris Hassett had eight points in the two games versus Wootton.
• Upper Montgomery will bring a four game winning streak into next Friday’s marque matchup against second ranked Quince Orchard. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. A victory against Quince Orchard would be the highest ranked opponent that Upper Montgomery would ever have beaten.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Second Star—Conor Harris—Wootton Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist
Third Star—George Benedick—Upper Montgomery Defense–-1 Goal

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