Author: chucklevine

It was a late night Friday in Reston, Virginia as the Upper Montgomery Lightning and the DC Stars battled to a 3-3 tie. The game was delayed at the start and then somehow the teams played through the full five minutes of overtime action. The DC Stars felt that they should have won the game in regulation and the Lightning were left wondering what they needed to do to finish off the comeback with six superb chances in the extra session yielding no result.

The game itself was an unusual second act of the season series between the two programs. The Lightning dominated the earlier game in October only to have Stars goalie Anton Tracy steal the victory, a 3-1 decision where the Stars cashed in late. In this game, Upper Montgomery only had eleven skaters available due to external travel team commitments, injuries, and illnesses. Compounding the short roster situation, was that Brady Berkhammer was the only Lightning regular defender present for the game. This made the Upper Montgomery coaches scramble to fill in the defense with a rotation of almost every forward skater. Depth forward Adam Levine and 9th grade forward Aiden Zheng saw significant action alternating every other shift with the second line. Rest was impossible to come by as Upper Montgomery ran only two sets of five skaters during the entire game.

The patchwork lineup worked extremely hard the entire game. The Lightning’s effort was outstanding. Defensively, the first period saw senior center and co-captain Chris Hassett play on defense paired with forward Nathan Cassel while Berkhammer was paid with senior forward Brandon Bernard. While the Upper Montgomery’s offense suffered with the top line forwards playing defense, the Lightning were able to limit the DC Stars to seven shots on senior netminder Landon Bernard. Tracy had a rather easy first period making saves on all seven Lightning shot attempts. The abysmal Upper Montgomery powerplay fizzled on two opportunities, the first five minutes into the game when Stars talented defender Leo Nyberg was called for interference, and then five minutes later when little used forward Adam Chilbert was called for roughing. After one period of play the game was tied as it would be for much of the evening.

The second period saw a shuffling of Upper Montgomery forwards shifting back to play defense along side Berkhammer. Olivia Robbins, Henry Honacki, and senior co-captain Hunter Cameron were deployed to stop the DC Stars while the first line was reunited on offense; Hassett centering Cassel and Philip Shkeda. Brandon Bernard shifted up to center the second line with Bradley Cupples and the Levine/Zheng forward rotation. The juggling of skaters paid dividends on the very first shift of the second period when Hassett scored to put the Lightning in front. With the Stars pressuring in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, Berkhammer took the puck behind his net for cover before passing to Cassel in the left defensive corner. Cassel skated up the left wing boards before sending an outlet pass to Hassett who had snuck behind the Stars defensive in the neutral zone. Hassett received the long stretch pass at the offensive zone blue line. He skated in alone on Tracy in alignment with the right goal post before firing to the left low blocker side past Tracy.

The Upper Montgomery lead did not last long. On the following shift the Stars would even the score. The puck was batted out of mid air just inside the DC Stars defensive zone. Stars defender Jonathan Lust gathered the puck and nudged it over by approximately a foot to Stars forward Walter Bernstein skating up the left wing with speed. Bernstein got around Honacki and skated all they way down the left side on a two on one rush before firing a wrist shot from low in the left faceoff circle far side past Bernard’s glove. While Honacki may have misplayed the rush, it is hard to fault a skater who has never before played defense. Judging the speed of the oncoming attacker takes years to develop as a defender. Two minutes later, on his next shift, Honacki was called for hooking trying to stop another DC Stars attack. Upper Montgomery was able to thwart the Stars powerplay with Berkhammer and Cameron playing most of the penalty kill situation on defense. The remainder of the period was played at even strength with both goaltenders making a few nice saves over the final nine minutes of action to keep the score tied at one apiece after two periods of play.

The third period saw another shuffling of forwards back on defense. Bernard was shifted back once again to play with Bradley Cupples and Shkeda joined Berkammer on the blue line. Honacki took Shkeda’s spot on the top line while Cameron centered Robbins and the Levine/Zheng platoon. The final fifteen minutes of regulation was the beginning of a wild end to the contest. Two minutes into the third period, DC Stars forward Eli Rubin scored an unassisted goal to give the Stars their first lead of the game. Off of a faceoff in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, from the right faceoff circle the puck was played to the side boards. Stars defender Benjamin Lust sent the puck deep into the corner. The Upper Montgomery defense jumped on the puck and attempted to clear the zone. The clearing attempt was intercepted by Rubin along the wall. He skated into the low slot before firing a wrist shot over Bernard’s shoulder top shelf.

In almost a replica of the second period, the lead lasted less than one shift, this time with Upper Montgomery quickly pulling even. The puck was cleared to the neutral zone by the DC Stars. The puck was poked by Cassel back towards his defensive zone where it was corralled by Hassett just inside the Lightning defensive zone. Hassett took the puck up the right wing. At the offensive blue line he cut toward the middle of the ice. Dancing away from the Stars defense he pivoted back to his right. With the puck again on his forehand, Hassett shot far side past Tracy’s stick and blocker to knot the game up at two.

A cascade of powerplays followed. Upper Montgomery had another opportunity when Stars forward Liam Saxon was called for roughing with ten minutes left in regulation. After the Lightning powerplay was unsuccessful, the Stars had an opportunity when Brandon Bernard was called for high sticking. A minute into the Stars powerplay, Rubin was called for tripping negating the extra skater advantage. Four on four hockey saw some up and down trading of chances, but no goals. Then, Upper Montgomery whittled away their remaining minute on the powerplay with Rubin still in the penalty box.

With neither team scoring during the special teams play, the game was still tied at two with five minutes to play. Upper Montgomery’s line of Cameron, Robbins, and Levine had a dominating shift. Tracy made two big saves on Cameron from the inside edge of the left faceoff circle. Cameron had been set up by passes from Levine originating from behind the net on both occasions. The Stars cleared the puck down ice to relieve the pressure and both teams made line changes. With the puck in the the right corner of the Lightning defensive zone, from his knees Cupples tried to shovel the puck up the right wing boards. The puck was kept in at the left point. Cupples’ second clearing attempt was knocked out of mid air by Saxon who then ran right into his own teammate, Nyberg. Nyberg gathered the puck after the collision and sent the puck back to the point to Stars forward Thomas Cooperman who was covering for Nyberg. Cooperman’s long range shot was blocked by Hassett with the puck squirting to the right wing boards and to Nyberg. Nyberg curled to the point deking around Cassel and unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that went low blocker side past Bernard to give the Stars a 3-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the third period.

With time dwindling down and the Lightning desperately trying to tie the score, a nice breakout passing play would set up Cameron. Deep in the right defensive corner once again, Cupples sent the puck up the boards. Along the right wing Levine controlled the breakout pass just inside the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He fired the puck up ice and fed Cameron in stride coming with speed at the center faceoff dot. Streaking up the ice, Cameron entered the DC Stars defensive zone down the right wing. At the top of the faceoff circle, he made a jump cut inside towards the slot. Cameron deked around both Stars defenders and ripped a wrist shot top shelf over Tracy’s glove to tie the game with under two minutes to play. In the final minute plus, neither team could get the game winning goal as time would run out on regulation play.

On to three on three overtime with five minutes of running clock. No longer having to play with two defenders, Upper Montgomery was free to use its top end talent. Cameron played defense with Cassel and Hassett, while Berkhammer played defense with Shkeda and Brandon Bernard. Upper Montgomery dominated overtime play with sequence after sequence of unbelievable opportunities to win the game. Seconds into the overtime session, a DC Stars defender fell down to create a two on rush from the blue line in for Cassel and Hassett. Cassel sent the puck in front to Hassett who was looking for a hat-tick goal. Hassett went forehand to backhand with Tracy making an excellent save with his outstretched big right leg pad.

Cassel then stole the puck and went in alone. He circled the net and tried a wrap around shot from beneath the left faceoff circle. Tracy made a nice save with his arm to keep the puck out of the net. The DC Stars then had their only rush of the overtime session with Bernard able to make a save on a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circles. Next, with the puck in the neutral zone, Cameron sent Hassett in with a pass to the left side. Hassett tracked down the puck and went into the left corner. He curled to the top of the offensive zone just inside the blue line. As he hit the top of the defensive zone he found Cassel with a pass at the left post. Cassel tried a one time redirection of the pass. Although the creative play beat Tracy, the puck was sent inches wide of the goal.

After retaking possession, Cassel and Hassett had another two on one rush. Cassel went down the left wing. He outwaited the sliding Stars defender and passed to Hassett all alone in front. Hassett tipped the puck past Tracy but it clanked off the right goal post and the puck stayed out of the net with Tracy able to recover and smother the puck. Off the ensuing offensive zone faceoff, Hassett came out of a puck battle in the corner with possession. He cut around the faceoff circle and down the slot. His quick wrist shot went just wide of the left goal post with a lot of open net to shoot at.

Finally, with time running out in overtime, the Lightning had one final terrific opportunity. A horrific clearing attempt by the Stars set up the Lightning. A Stars defender sent the puck through their own slot diagonally from the left side of the ice to the right. The pass was intercepted by Cassel in the right faceoff circle. Cassel sent the puck down low to Hassett directly in front of the net. Hassett deked forehand to backhand and beat Tracy with the backhander. The puck went off the inside of the left goal post and out the other side of the crease from where the puck was cleared from danger by the Stars. The final buzzer sounded on a chaotic and wild last ten minutes of action with the score remaining tied and exhausted skaters from both teams bemoaning lost chances.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery outshot the DC Stars 45-28.
• The Lightning dominated overtime out chancing the Stars six to one.
• Adam Levine’s assist was his first varsity point of the season.
• Upper Montgomery’s futility on the powerplay continued. Four more failed powerplay opportunities. The Lightning has now stared the season 0-25 on traditional powerplays, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try to keep building on their better play of late when the team plays the top ranked public high school team in the state. The Lightning travel to Frederick on Monday evening, January 8th to face the Oakdale Bears. Game time is 8:20 pm at Skate Frederick.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Anton Tracy—DC Stars Goalie—42 Saves, .973 Save Percentage
Second Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals
Third Star—Hunter Cameron—Upper Montgomery Forward—Late Third Period Game Tying Goal

The Upper Montgomery Lightning used a supreme defensive effort Friday night to defeat the Whitman Vikings 3-2 and avenge a season opening loss to the fourth ranked Vikings. Upper Montgomery goalie Landon Bernard returned to the starting lineup and played his best game of the season in leading the Lightning to victory. The Upper Montgomery defensive effort frustrated and confused the Vikings who are also a stout defensive team. The well earned victory should catapult the Lightning’s confidence now having won three of their last four games and securing wins over second ranked Walter Johnson and now fourth ranked Whitman.

The Lightning played the first period in a defensive shell. The team used a full five person trapping system to neutralize and frustrate the Whitman skaters. Shifts were kept short. Skaters reached the red line and dumped the puck deep into the Whitman defensive zone. The team then sat back and made the Vikings work the puck up ice into the Lightning’s trapping defense. The Vikings inability to solve the Upper Montgomery system led to turnovers entering the Lightning’s defensive zone or shots from wide range near the boards and from long distance. Bernard stopped all ten shot he faced in the opening period while Upper Montgomery was content to focus on defense. The Lightning fired only one shot on Whitman goaltender Ryan Graf. The ‘boring’ period played right into the Lightning’s game plan leaving the score tied at zero after one period of play.

In the second period, Whitman began to play uncharacteristic hockey by their standards. The Vikings began to take chances and press the play. This was counter to their desired defense first system where they counter attack their opponents pressure. Five minutes into the period, Upper Montgomery jumped to the lead. Off of a rewind in the neutral zone after a Whitman turnover, Lightning 9th grade defender Miles Wendland played the puck up along the left wing boards. The puck deflected off of Lightning forward Nathan Cassel’s skate to Lightning senior center and co-captain, Chris Hassett. Outside the blue line, Hassett sent the puck to the left back to Cassel. Cassel skated into the offensive zone and around the outer edge of the left faceoff circle. He then cut to the net. As Graf fronted what he anticipated to be a shot from Cassel, Cassel sent a backhand shovel pass over to Upper Montgomery forward Philip Shkeda. With Graf focused on Cassel’s drive toward the net, Shkeda had a wide open net to slam the puck home.

The Lightning were energized by the goal and their confidence in the newly installed defensive system seemed to grow. At the same time, now trailing, Whitman’s defenders began to take more chances. Three minutes later Upper Montgomery would build on its lead. Third line forward Josh Nadler was elevated to the top line to take a shift and give Cassel a breather after a couple of long hard working shifts. Collecting the puck in his defensive zone, Nadler advanced the puck up the right wing boards to Hassett exiting the zone. The pass eluded the pinching Vikings defender and sent Hassett away with Shkeda on a two on one rush. From the top of the right faceoff circle, Hassett sent a pass over to Shkeda on the left side of the offensive zone. Shkeda unleashed a wrist shot that went across Graf’s body high into the top corner of the net past his glove hand.

The Upper Montgomery defensive pressure continued. While the Vikings were able to begin getting some better looks on Bernard, the athletic goaltender was able to shut the door time after time. With just over two minutes left in the second period, Hassett increased the Upper Montgomery lead to 3-0 with a dazzling individual effort. With Whitman straying from fundamentally sound hockey, a Whitman defender tried to rush the puck from his defensive zone up ice. Once in the neutral zone, Hassett poke checked the puck free. With all Whitman skaters moving up ice, he cut to the left at the offensive blue line. Hassett was able to easily get around the last Whitman defender attempting to get back into the play. Coming down the slot in line with the left goal post, Hassett finished to the opposite side over Graf’s glove just inside the right post.

Whitman would recover on the very next shift and the Vikings got on the scoreboard for the first time in the game. The puck was dug free along the left wing boards in the neutral zone by Whitman defender Morrison Cohen. The puck came to Vikings forward Jacob Lerman, and he took the puck across the ice in the neutral zone. He entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone along the right wing. From the top of the right faceoff circle he shot back across the grain. A low release slap shot seemed to catch Bernard off guard and off of his angle. Lerman’s shot from long range eluded the Lightning netminder far side high over his blocker. Upper Montgomery was not rattled by the goal and returned to its stalwart defense. The Lightning finished the period strong. At the end of two periods of play, Upper Montgomery held a 3-1 lead.

The third period was evenly contested. Although the Upper Montgomery skaters were tiring, the coaching staff did a nice job of inserting depth skaters into the game to provide rest for the top two forward lines and the team’s top three defenders. The game trudged along as it did during the first period. Lots of Upper Montgomery defending while Whitman was forcing play up the ice. Viking defenders joined in almost every offensive thrust searching for a way to generate qualify offensive chances. This gave Upper Montgomery some counter attack opportunities. Both goaltenders played well during the period to keep each team off the scoreboard.

With just under five minutes remaining in the game, Whitman defender Rowan Miller took a tripping penalty behind his own net. With a two goal lead late in the game, the Upper Montgomery powerplay zero for the season, and missing two of the five members of the powerplay unit, forward Ryan Jacobson (injured) and senior co-captain defender Hunter Cameron (missing the game out-of-town with his external travel team), the coaching staff decided to play it safe. The Lightning continued to play defensive first hockey to prevent any Whitman shorthanded opportunities from developing. Miller’s penalty expired and there were less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Upper Montgomery fought and clawed to get to pucks in the defensive corners and along the boards. The only objective of each skater was simply to get the puck over the defensive blue line and make Whitman again try and enter the offensive zone. Whitman had difficulty gaining the offensive zone and could not easily get Graf pulled for the extra skater. The plan was working extremely well until thirty seconds remained in the game. Upper Montgomery defender Brady Berkhammer had possession of the puck behind his own net. The puck was cleared up the left wing boards. With the Vikings extra skater now on the ice, the puck was cut off along the side boards. The puck volleyed to the middle of the ice where it was kept in the zone by Whitman high scoring forward Andrew Fou. Fou’s pass to the front of the net was pushed aside by Bernard. The puck went to Cohen in the left faceoff circle. Cohen passed across the ice to Whitman forward Samuel Van Leeuwen. Van Leeuwen had beaten the Upper Montgomery defense to the right goal post where he easily tapped in Cohen’s pass to make the score 3-2 with 23 seconds remaining.

One final save by Bernard at the buzzer slammed the door on Whitman. The exhausted but joyous Lightning skaters streamed off the bench to congratulate their netminder on a very fine performance. The win over Whitman could very well do a lot for the team. Bernard seemed to have found his game after stretches of inconsistent play. The Lightning have now won three of their past four games and are beginning to play much better team hockey. The full roster contributed to the win with the depth skaters showing that the could compete and do the job when called upon. Let’s hope that the growing momentum continues after the winter break as the Lightning continue to climb up the league standings and rankings.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Whitman 32-19. Upper Montgomery registered only one shot on goal in the first period.
• Lightning forward Ryan Jacobson suffered a season ending lower body injury while playing with his external travel team. Jacobson will be dearly missed as Upper Montgomery attempts to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time in program history.
• Upper Montgomery’s futility on the powerplay continued. The team has now stared the season 0-21 on traditional powerplays, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try to build upon their better play of late when the team returns from winter break. The Lightning will travel to Reston, Virginia to play the DC Stars at SkateQuest. Game time is 9:40 pm on Friday, January 5th.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Landon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 30 Saves, .938 Save Percentage
Second Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—Game Winning Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals

After a lackluster first period, the Upper Montgomery Lightning turned it on over the final two periods of play against Churchill 2. The team finally looked like what the coaching staff and program supports envisioned the team would be this season. The convincing 9-1 victory over the last place and winless Churchill 2 Bulldogs increased the Lightning’s record to 2-7 on the season. The first half of the Lightning’s schedule was loaded with both private school opponents and public school opponents ranked in the top twenty in the state. How far the team goes this year in the postseason will be determined over the second half of the schedule where the Lightning will be favored in most of their remaining games.

Upper Montgomery forward Philip Shkeda got the Lightning on the board three and a half minutes into the game. Lightning defender Owen Robbins broke up play in his defensive zone along the right wing boards. Robbins knocked the puck up ice to Lightning forward Nathan Cassel on the side wall. Cassel passed the puck over to Upper Montgomery senior co-captain Chris Hassett exiting the defensive zone. Hassett went around a pinching Bulldog defender and raced up the ice with Shkeda on a two on one rush. As he was entering the offensive zone, Hassett sent the puck to Shkeda in the high slot. Shkeda sent a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left faceoff circle high glove side where there was lots of open net. The puck eluded Bulldogs netminder Nicholas Nelson to open the scoring. With the assist, Hassett reached fifty career assists. The milestone assist automatically qualified the senior pivot for induction in the Maryland Student Hockey High School Hall of Fame.

Halfway through the first period, Hassett would score what would ultimately become the game winning goal. Hassett collected the puck in his defensive zone and flipped the puck into the neutral zone along the left wing boards. Shkeda skated into the puck and entered the offensive zone where he sent the puck to the high slot area. The pass was intercepted by the Churchill 2 defense. While attempting to leave the defensive zone, the puck squirted away from the Bulldogs defender. Hassett jumped on the puck and rifled a wrist shot high blocker side into the top corner of the net for an unassisted goal.

With just under four minutes remaining in the period, Churchill 2 would get on the board. From behind his own net, Churchill 2 defender Auryan Abyaneh ramped the puck to his left along the left wing side boards. Before the puck reached center ice, Churchill 2 forward Tye Glazer controlled the puck. He sent a pass across the ice to Churchill 2 forward Cash Levenberg who was along the right wing board in the neutral zone. Levenberg cut in between the two Lightning defenders outside the blue line. As he entered the offensive zone, Levenberg shot low along the ice from distance and beat Shterenberg five hole. It was a weak goal to have given up.

At the end of the period, the Lightning heard from a displeased and animated coaching staff. The intermission talk seemed to fire up the Lightning who appeared to be much more engaged in the game to begin the second period. About three and a half minutes into the period the top line scored for the third time in the game. A Churchill 2 defender was skating the puck to exit his defensive zone. A devastating hit by Hassett forced a turnover with the puck heading straight to Cassel. The other Churchill 2 defender fell allowing Cassel to go in alone on a breakaway. Cassel shot past Nelson’s glove side low for an easy goal.

On the same shift, the first line increased the lead further to 4-1. From deep in his defensive zone Robbins once again pushed the puck to Cassel, this time on the left wing boards. Cassel sent an outlet pass to Hassett in the neutral zone. Hassett then dumped the puck into the Churchill 2 defensive zone as he reached the center red line. Hassett stepped around the nearest Churchill 2 defender and outraced him to the puck in the right corner. He turned and passed out in front of the net to Shkeda who fired a forehand shot just inside the near post past Nelson’s glove.

Just over halfway through the period, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff lifted Shterenberg and replaced him with senior netminder Landon Bernard. It was a change made to give the struggling starting netminder some work in a game in which Upper Montgomery had now taken control. Just ten seconds after the goalie change, Upper Montgomery extended its lead to 5-1. From a faceoff at center ice, Lightning senior co-captain Hunter Cameron won the faceoff back to Lightning 9th grade defender Miles Wendland. From his left defensive position at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line, Wendland dumped the puck down the left wing boards into the Churchill 2 defensive zone. Cameron, who was playing center in this game, retrieved the puck and skated around the Churchill 2 right defender. From in close he sent a backhander past Nelson’s glove hand low along the ice.

As the period wound down, Upper Montgomery continued the pressure. A make shift forward line of Brandon Bernard centering Olivia Robbins and Adam Levine had control of play for almost two minutes in the Churchill 2 defensive zone. The three seniors rarely play together. Simply to relieve the pressure, the Churchill 2 defense cleared the zone sending the puck to center ice. Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer hit the puck over to Bernard on the left wing as Robbins and Levine scrambled to exit the offensive zone. Bernard raced into the zone along the left wing. At the top of the left faceoff circle he pulled up and fired a wrist shot far side past Nelson’s glove hand just before the buzzer went off. It was the second consecutive game for the Lightning in which a goal was scored in the final second of a period, and the third time this season.

Three minutes into the third period Lightning center Bradley Cupples took an unnecessary roughing penalty along the boards on the other side of the ice from the play. Upper Montgomery was able to eliminate all threats on the Churchill 2 powerplay to keep the score at 6-1. With the Lightning in total control skaters began cherry picking up the ice and taking excessively long shifts. This was a major departure from the way in which Upper Montgomery wants to play and will surely be addressed by the coaching staff prior to next week’s game.

Halfway through the third period, Cameron would score his second goal of the game to reach a six goal spread and put the game into running clock the rest of the game. Olivia Robbins had the puck in the right faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone. She sent an outlet pass to Cameron in the neutral zone. Cameron stormed into the Churchill 2 defensive zone and down into the right corner where he pulled up. He flipped a pass back to Cupples along the right wing boards. Cupples returned the puck to Cameron on a give and go passing play. Cameron shot from the low right faceoff circle past Churchill 2 backup netminder Lucas Petrosyan who had entered the game at the beginning of the third period.

With under five minutes to play, Upper Montgomery would tally once more. Berkhammer carried the puck into the Churchill 2 defensive zone down the left wing. He went around the net and passed to Cassel who was covering at the left point. Cassel’s shot went short side and the puck just missed hitting the goal post. Cassel followed the play and chased down the puck in the corner. He sent a spinning backhand pass through the slot to Lightning senior defender Jake Roth at the right point. Roth passed to the left along the blue line to Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer’s shot was blocked into the corner. The puck was dug free by Brandon Bernard who shot wide behind the net. Shkeda retrieved the puck and passed over to Cassel in the low slot. Cassel’s backhand shot beat Petrosyan five hole.

A minute later Upper Montgomery’s ninth tally would be Cassel’s hat-trick goal. Shkeda checked a Churchill 2 defender off the puck in the left faceoff circle. Hassett picked up the loose puck in the slot and fed Cassel near the right post for a tap in goal to finish off the scoring.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery badly outshot Churchill 2 by a 40-14 margin, including a combined 28-7 over the second and third periods.
• Top Lightning defender Andrew Botti made his season debut after returning from an upper body injury suffered just before the start of the season.
• Ilan Shterenberg started his fourth consecutive game in goal for the Lightning and picked up his second career varsity victory.
• Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay in the game which was fortuitous as the team remained 0-20 on traditional powerplays for the season, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try to build upon the victory over Churchill 2 when the team returns to action next Friday, December 15th in a rematch of the season opener against the Whitman Vikings. Game time is 8:20 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—1 Goal, 3 Assists
Second Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—3 Goals, 2 Assists
Third Star—Hunter Cameron—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning were simply outclassed by the top ranked Churchill Bulldogs on Monday evening at Cabin John Ice Rink. The final score was 8-0. It was clear from the outset of the game that the Bulldogs had not forgotten last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff matchup between the programs. As heavy underdogs, the Lightning took the eight time Maryland Student Hockey League state champions to a shootout after playing to a one all tie through regulation and overtime. Upper Montgomery eventually succumbed by a single penalty shot goal in a five round shootout skills competition.

The first period of the game was actually pretty competitive even through Churchill had the greater percentage of possession time. Both teams fired six shots on goal during the opening period of play. Unfortunately for Upper Montgomery, a fifteen second span four minutes into the game spelled doom. With the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the puck was swept behind the net and was collected by Churchill forward Alex Zhang. He skated toward the left point and passed the puck to his forward partner Asher Wang. Wang skated high in the offensive zone near the mid-point of the blue line. His wrist shot was several feet far wide of the net near side. The puck bounced off the boards and into the back of Lightning 9th grade goalie Ilan Shterenberg’s legs and then caromed back into the net. The unfortunate ricochet put Churchill in front on a play where if the shot was closer to the net it would have been saved by Shterenberg, or Shterenberg would have remained in his crease and the the puck would have caromed into the slot instead of off of the young netminder.

On the same shift fifteen seconds later, the score would grow to 2-0 Churchill. With an Upper Montgomery defender skating with the puck behind their own goal, the puck bounced off the skates of Churchill forward Aiden Pham in the right corner. Pham had entered the offensive zone heavy on the forecheck. Churchill center Daniel McNelis picked up the loose puck and cut hard to the net. While on his backhand he stuffed the puck through Shterenberg’s five hole. It was a second broken play goal in a very short amount of time. At the six minute mark of the first period Upper Montgomery went to the powerplay when Churchill goalie Mac Glazer was called for a delay of game penalty. The Upper Montgomery powerplay struggled to control possession of the puck and yet another skater advantage went to waste for the Lightning who have failed to score on the powerplay all season long.

A minute into the second period Lightning forward Henry Honacki was called for checking from behind. Upper Montgomery went to the penalty kill but would not have Honacki available for twelve minutes as the checking from behind penalty also comes with an automatic ten minute misconduct penalty. Upper Montgomery was fortunate to make it through the two minute disadvantage as Churchill continually fired pucks at Shterenberg.

Four minutes into the second period, the onslaught commenced. Wang scored again to make the game 3-0 and effectively ended the competitive portion of the contest. Churchill had possession of the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The puck was poke checked to Wang and he skated around the outside of the right faceoff circle. He continued around the circle and cut towards the net while firing a wrist shot from a bad angle along the goal line short side high over Shterenberg’s left shoulder.

A minute and a half later, McNelis tallied his second goal of the game. Churchill defender Matthew Kim had control of the puck on the left wing of his defensive zone. He passed the puck up the left wing to Churchill forward Qin Lai in the neutral zone. Lai skated into the Lightning defensive zone where he was met by Lightning forward Bradley Cupples. Cupples knocked Lai off the puck and sent the puck to the left side of the defensive zone. McNelis reached the puck first and skated back through the slot to the right faceoff circle. McNelis fired the puck back across the grain far side past Shterenberg’s stick and into the net.

The score remained 4-0 for the next nine minutes even though Churchill continued to press and wound up badly outshooting Upper Montgomery seventeen to four in the second period. In the final twenty two seconds of the middle period, the Churchill lead would explode. First, Churchill high scoring forward Zachary Silver scored to make it 5-0. In the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, Wong passed the puck across the zone to the left faceoff circle. Silver’s one time slap shot from the left faceoff circle was saved by Shterenberg. Behind the net, the rebound was collected by Wang. The puck bounced in front past Lightning forward Brandon Bernard. Silver immediately fired once again from the bottom of the left faceoff circle and beat Shterenberg short side on his second chance.

In an effort to preserve the young goaltender, the Lightning coaching staff inserted senior netminder Landon Bernard into the game. Without time to properly warm up, Bernard was pierced on his first shot attempt. McNelis beat the buzzer and extended the Churchill lead to 6-0 as the horn sounded. Deep in his defensive zone, Churchill defender William Standish reversed the puck behind his net to his defensive partner Alexander Bazyluk in the left corner. Bazyluk sent the puck up ice to Lai in the neutral zone. Lai passed the puck down the left wing to McNelis who was streaking into the Lightning defensive zone. McNelis shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle past Bernard short side low. For McNelis it was his hat-trick goal.

The third period was played with much less intensity than the opening two periods of the game. The McNelis goal with one second remaining in the second period pushed the game into running clock for the entirety of the third period. Five minutes into the third period Wang scored his hat-trick goal. Glazer stopped the puck behind his net and passed the puck into the left corner to Kim. Kim nudged the puck further up the left wing boards to Wong. Facing the boards, Wong made a nifty between the legs breakout pass to Silver firing out of the defensive zone. Silver went past a pinching Lightning defender at the point and skated all the way into the Lightning defensive zone. On a two on one break with Wang, Silver fed Wang in the slot. Wang’s shot went into the far side of the net past Bernard.

A minute later McNelis was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for complaining to the referees in a 7-0 game. Upper Montgomery again failed to score on the powerplay, but the extra skater advantage was not without excitement. While shorthanded, Wong was hooked from behind on a clear breakaway by Lightning forward Nathan Cassel. Wong was awarded a penalty shot. He came down the left side of the ice and weaved through the slot before heading back to the left hand side of the ice. His forehand wrister high to the stick side was shoved away by Bernard’s blocker.

As the game was winding down, with just over a minute remaining, Churchill would score their final goal of the night. At center ice, Upper Montgomery’s defense attempted to dump the puck into the Churchill defensive zone. The puck hit Zhang and careened forward sending him down the left wing alone on a breakaway. He cut to the center of the ice, faked a forehand, and wrapped the puck around Bernard’s left leg pad.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Churchill 32-18, including 17-4 in the second period.
• Philip Shkeda’s four game goal scoring streak ended.
• The Lightning’s futility on the powerplay continued. Upper Montgomery is now 0-20 on traditional powerplays on the season, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try to get back on the winning track when the team meets the Churchill 2 Bulldogs on Friday, December 8th. Game time is 10:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Daniel McNelis—Churchill Center—3 Goals
Second Star—Asher Wang—Churchill Forward—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Joshua Wong—Churchill Forward—2 Assists

The Upper Montgomery Lightning upset the second ranked Walter Johnson Wildcats prevailing 8-7 in a wild game Tuesday afternoon at Rockville Ice Arena. The game had just about everything; fake goals, blown leads, lots of complaining about poor referring, and through all of the action, at the final buzzer Upper Montgomery was able to hold on and earn its first win of the season. The 1-6 Lightning have one more supremely difficult game on the schedule against top ranked Churchill before the strength of the opponents weakens over the second half of the season.

Upper Montgomery exploded right from the opening faceoff against Walter Johnson and inexperienced goalie Isaac Russ. The Lightning lit up Russ for three goals in the opening two and a half minutes of the game. Upper Montgomery center Ryan Jacobson started the scoring off of a two on one rush. From the left faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone, Jacobson won the faceoff behind his own net. Lightning defender Owen Robbins pushed the puck from the right corner to the right wing boards over to Lightning forward Brandon Bernard. Bernard avoided the pinching Wildcat defender at the blue line and sent the puck up ice to Upper Montgomery forward Henry Honacki in the neutral zone. With the Wildcat defender now out of position, Honacki and Jacobson skated up ice on a two on one rush. Honacki sent the puck across to Jacobson at the top of the slot. Jacobson chopped at the puck and sent a wobbling puck over the stick side shoulder of Russ to put the Lightning in front less than a minute and a half into the game.

On the next shift, before the game was two minutes old, Upper Montgomery cashed in once again. Rewinding at center ice, Upper Montgomery defender and senior co-captain Hunter Cameron sent the puck up ice from just inside his own blue line. He pass was intended for Upper Montgomery center and senior co-captain Chris Hassett. Hassett missed the pass but was able to chase down the puck in the right corner. He carried the puck around the net from right to left and found Lightning forward Bradley Cupples alone in the low slot. From the crease, Cupples stuffed the puck far side into the empty net as Russ overplayed to his right anticipating a shot coming from Hassett as he curled around the net. Cupples’ first goal of the season extended the Lightning lead to 2-0.

Twenty five seconds later on the same shift, Cupples scored once again to pad the Lightning lead. From behind his own net, Cameron sent an outlet pass up the right side of the ice to Hassett. Hassett made a nifty catch of the puck out of mid-air with his stick and immediately sent the puck wide to Cupples ahead of the left Wildcat defender. Cupples skated into the Walter Johnson defensive zone on the right wing. From inside the right faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot across to the top left corner of the net, beating Russ above his blocker and right shoulder. Inexplicably poor play by Walter Johnson had allowed Upper Montgomery to jump out to a 3-0 lead less than two and a half minutes into the game against the heavily favored Wildcats.

With eight and a half minutes remaining in the first period, Hassett would score as the lead swelled to 4-0. With the puck in the left corner of the Walter Johnson defensive zone, Hassett nudged the puck to Lightning forward Nathan Cassel. Cassel sent a pass toward the slot for fellow forward Philip Shkeda. The puck went through Shkeda back to Cameron at the center point of the blue line. Cameron’s slap shot was deflected by Hassett right as the puck was about to hit Russ’ glove hand. The puck caromed off of Russ’ helmet and bounded up in the air before landing on the ice behind the netminder, and then trickling just over the goal line.

A minute after Hassett’s goal had extended Upper Montgomery’s lead to 4-0, Walter Johnson got one back. Jacobson had the puck in the neutral zone where he was checked off the puck. Walter Johnson defender Patrick Murphy picked up the puck at center ice. He skated into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone and went past three Lightning skaters in defensive position. From the right side of the ice, Murphy fired a wrist shot far side just over Lightning 9th grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg’s right leg pad.

The rest of the first period was a series of Walter Johnson meltdowns. First, Walter Johnson forward Ruslan Titov was called for a checking from behind penalty. The call took the highly talented forward off the ice for two minutes and then the automatic ten minute misconduct penalty. Next, after Lightning defender Owen Robbins was called for holding, while with possession on the delayed penalty being called, Walter Johnson was deemed to have had too many skaters on the ice when the extra attacker joined the play prior to Russ reaching the bench area. This was not the case and inflamed the Walter Johnson coaching staff. The too many skaters on the ice penalty negated what would have been a Wildcat powerplay. Then, with a minute and a half left in the period, Wildcat forward Jaden Luskin was called for a phantom high sticking penalty. All three Wildcat penalties were called by the same referee who is well known to be a subpar official. The first period came to a close with Upper Montgomery ahead 4-1 while outshooting the Wildcats nine to seven.

Upper Montgomery began the second period on the tail end of what would become their second unsuccessful powerplay of the game. As the powerplay was ending, top Wildcat defender Jonathan Corwin was also called for high sticking. He argued the penalty and was assessed a ten minute misconduct penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. So, the Wildcats had both a top scoring forward, Titov, and their best defender in the penalty box for extended game action. Unfortunately, the Lightning could not take advantage of the ensuing powerplay and the score remained 4-1. Just after the minor penalty to Jonathan Corwin expired, his brother Matthew was whistled for tripping. Powerplay number four for Upper Montgomery turned out to be a disaster and jump started the Wildcat comeback.

With Upper Montgomery on the powerplay five minutes into the second period, Wildcat forward Henry Horwell stole the puck at the right point. He skated up ice diagonally from his left to his right and then into the Lightning defensive zone. Facing back pressure, Horwell fired from the right faceoff circle. Shterenberg made the save. The rebound went directly back to Horwell in stride as he continued toward the net. His second shot beat Shterenberg short side along the ice for the unassisted shorthanded goal. Instead of increasing their lead while on the powerplay, Walter Johnson was now back in the game trailing only 4-2 with still more than half of regulation game time remaining.

As the game reached the halfway mark, Walter Johnson closed the margin even further. From a skirmish behind the Upper Montgomery net, the puck was stolen from Upper Montgomery defender Brady Berkhammer. Titov kicked the puck free to the side of the net where Wildcat forward Adam Pyott lifted the puck over the right shoulder of Sheterenberg. As the second period wound down, the Lightning had to kill off a rouging penalty to Robbins to maintain the slim lead. The second period ended with Upper Montgomery clinging to a one goal lead and setting the stage for a wild and chaotic final fifteen minutes of action.

The third period erupted in a way that no one could have anticipated. Eleven seconds into the period Upper Montgomery again reclaimed a two goal lead. Off the center ice faceoff to open the period, Hassett won the draw back to Cameron at his right defensive position. Cameron returned the puck to Hassett in the middle of the ice. Hassett immediately swung the puck wide to Cassel down the right wing. Cassel entered the offensive zone and returned the puck to Hassett as he was cutting down the slot. As Hassett converged on Russ, he passed the puck to his left to Shkeda alone at the left post. With Russ playing Hassett to shoot, Shkeda easily dunked the puck to the back of the net. Upper Montgomery five, Walter Johnson three.

On the same shift thirty seconds later, Hassett stole the puck behind his own net. He headed up ice along the left wing boards. Hassett sent a pass to Cassel at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. Cassel held the puck before he sent it back to Hassett in the neutral zone. Hassett split the Walter Johnson defenders as he cruised into the slot. From in front of the crease he fired a forehand shot high glove side past Russ. Upper Montgomery six, Walter Johnson three with fourteen minutes remaining.

As with their early first period lead, Upper Montgomery could not close down the game. Wildcat defender Lucas Chang raced to keep the puck in at the right point of the blue line. Three Upper Montgomery skaters attacked the point in an attempt to get the puck cleared to center ice. Instead, Chang dumped the puck down low to Sam Mayster. Mayster returned the puck to Chang on a give and go play as Chang cut to the right faceoff circle. Chang fired a wrist shot low short side past Shterenberg to make the score Upper Montgomery six, Walter Johnson four with twelve and a half minutes remaining.

Thirty seconds later, Pyott would add his second goal of the game. Walter Johnson had possession of the puck in the left corner. Once again a defensive breakdown occurred as three Upper Montgomery defenders went with the puck carrier. Shterenberg made a save with the puck rebounding into the corner to Pyott. As Upper Montgomery recovered its defensive positioning, Pyott centered the puck in front. The puck bounded off Titov to the slot where Horwell fired quickly at Shterenberg. The shot was blocked but fell at the side of the net directly at Pyott’s feet. Pyott tapped the puck past Shterenberg. The score was now Upper Montgomery six, Walter Johnson five with twelve minutes remaining. Four goals in four minutes and Upper Montgomery’s three goal lead was back down to the slimmest of margins.

With just under ten minutes remaining, Upper Montgomery went back on the powerplay after a roughing penalty called on Wildcat defender Jonathan Corwin. Continuing its season long string of powerplay ineptitude, Upper Montgomery failed to capitalize yet again on the extra skater advantage. However, ten seconds after the Wildcats returned to even strength, Upper Montgomery would score to provide a bit of breathing room.

Deep in his own zone, Berkhammer skated around the net from left to right. He found fellow defensive partner Robbins with a short pass. Robbins passed the puck to Jacobson up the right wing. At the red line, Jacobson backhanded the puck down the boards into the offensive zone. Robbins, who had trailed the play up the ice, raced in and was first to the puck. His centering pass to the slot hit off of a skate and went instead to the front of the net. Honacki sent a backhand shot from the left post across the crease and past Russ’ right skate into the net. Upper Montgomery seven, Walter Johnson five with seven and a half minutes remaining.

Fifteen seconds later Upper Montgomery would again grow the lead back to a three goal differential. Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, Walter Johnson dumped the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. An Upper Montgomery outlet pass was broken up by the Walter Johnson defense but Cassel was able to control the puck in the neutral zone. He passed to Hassett just inside the offensive blue line. Hassett took the puck down into the corner and around the net from right to left. Emerging over the goal line, Hassett found Shkeda alone in the crease with Russ way out of position. Once again, Russ had been focusing on Hassett carrying the puck. With Russ spinning unsuccessfully to get back into the play, Shkeda had his second easy tap in goal of the game.

A minute later Wildcat forward Gianluca Megna took a holding penalty putting the Lightning back on the power play, their sixth of the game. With six and a half minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery had an opportunity to ice the game. With a three goal lead and the extra skater all Upper Montgomery needed to do was stay out of trouble for the next two minutes. And, this is where the drama began.

Yet another uneventful Upper Montgomery powerplay was going to waste. Walter Johnson was pressuring and had the better of puck possession. As Upper Montgomery was trying to keep the puck in at the point, the puck glanced off the glove of Wildcat defender Matthew Corwin. The puck was picked up by Wildcat forward Oliver Curtis. Curtis skated up ice down the left wing into the Lightning defensive zone. He fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that clanged off the cross bar and up ice. With the referee way out of position, he could not tell which bar the puck ricocheted off of and awarded Walter Johnson a shorthanded goal, their second shorthanded goal of the game. The referee made a horrible call / bad mistake. There is no video replay review in high school hockey so the Upper Montgomery coaching staff had no recourse. And, off course video review after the game confirmed that the puck hit the cross bar and never went into the net.

With under five minutes to play, Walter Johnson was gifted a goal they did not earn and the momentum had clearly swung in the Wildcats direction. A minute later Titov scored to close the margin to 8-7 Upper Montgomery with three and a half minutes remaining in the game. A shot from the right point by Jonathan Corwin went wide far side of the net. The puck circled around back to the left point to Murphy. Murphy’s shot was deflected by Titov wide of the net. The puck was picked up by Matthew Corwin in the right faceoff circle. He centered to Titov who got off a quick shot that went far side past Sheterenberg’s stick side.

The final minutes of the game were tense. Cameron was called for a high sticking penalty with just under three minutes to play. Upper Montgomery had a big penalty kill upcoming. After controlling play in the Lightning defensive zone, Walter Johnson pulled Russ leading to a six on four skater advantage. Several blocked shots, several missed shots, and several timely saves by Shterenberg got the Lightning through the penalty kill. After Cameron returned from the penalty box, Upper Montgomery was able to keep the Wildcats off the board over the final minute of action to hang on and escape with a huge win.

Game Notes:

• The win was goaltender Ilan Shterenberg’s first career varsity victory.
• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Walter Johnson 37-30.
• Chris Hassett’s six points, two goals and four assists, were a career high for points and assists in a game.
• Philip Shkeda has now scored in four consecutive games.
• Henry Honacki scored for the third time in four games.
• Beating the 2nd ranked Wildcats equaled the program’s most impressive victory in program history. Upper Montgomery also beat 2nd ranked Quince Orchard last season.
• The Lightning’s futility on the powerplay continued. Upper Montgomery is now 0-18 on traditional powerplays on the season, excluding Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try to make it two major upsets in a row when the team returns to action after the Thanksgiving break. The top ranked Churchill Bulldogs await on Monday, December 4th. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Chris Hassett—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 4 Assists
Second Star—Bradley Cupples—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning competed hard and very well on Wednesday afternoon against highly rated Mount St. Joseph before falling to one of the top ranked private school programs in the region. In the losing effort the Lightning program received many accolades for how well the team played. Looking to spark the team, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff started 9th grade goaltender Ilan Shterenberg in net. Shterenberg continues to be undefeated at the junior varsity level having begun his high school career with four straight victories, two shutouts, and having given up only four goals in those four games. The change in net seemed to energize the team as the Lightning carried play early on in the game.

Mount St. Joseph looked to intimidate the Lightning directly from the drop of the opening faceoff. The Gaels’ skaters began running around trying to check Upper Montgomery skaters all over the ice. The tactic backfired as the Gaels often found their skaters out of position and needing to hook and impede Upper Montgomery’s attack through the neutral zone. The undisciplined play led to a boatload of penalties beginning with a hooking penalty to forward Timothy Trimble on the backcheck. Upper Montgomery had some effective zone time on the first powerplay of the game but could not convert in what would become a common theme for the Lightning. However, two minutes after Trimble’s penalty expired the Lightning would strike for the first goal of the game.

Off of a faceoff in the right circle in the offensive zone, Upper Montgomery controlled possession of the puck. Lightning center Ryan Jacobson tool possession of the puck and skated down below the goal line. As he was cutting back to the right faceoff circle he passed over to his right winger, forward Nathan Cassel. Cassel reversed the flow and skated down into the right corner once again before approaching the slot. He shoveled a backhander toward the net. Jacobson whacked at the puck as it went by, pushing the puck under the leg pads of Gaels goalie Nate Carr. Lightning forward Philip Shkeda was camped out at the side of the net and he also jabbed at the puck, finally pushing the puck over the goal line short side low along the ice.

The Gaels undisciplined play continued with defender Henry Boarman called for interference. Continuing their streak of futility on the powerplay, the Lightning failed to extend the lead. Upper Montgomery did not score on any of the team’s first eight powerplays of the season. But, with four minutes left in the period, Upper Montgomery would score its first ‘powerplay’ goal of the season, kind of. As he was skating up ice in the clear, Cassel was hooked from behind at the offensive blue line by Mount St. Joseph forward Liam Nilan. The hook sent the puck into the corner preventing Cassel from any offensive opportunity and earned the talented forward a penalty shot. With just himself and the goaltender involved in the penalty shot sequence, Cassel started down the left wing side of the ice. From the left faceoff circle, Cassel cut over to the slot area on his forehand. As he shifted to make a move on Carr, going from backhand to forehand, Cassel lost control of the puck. The puck slid away from him toward the net with Cassel continuing his move. The puck beat Carr five hole just inside the right post as he was moving over to make what he thought would be a save on Cassel’s impending forehand shot attempt.

With their two goal lead, Upper Montgomery began to play with some confidence, something that had not been present for much of the season to date. As the first period ticked under a minute remaining, Mount St. Joseph would get on the board. Off of a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in their defensive zone, the puck was pushed behind Shterenberg’s net. A Mount St. Joseph forward gained possession of the puck and sent a pass along the boards back to the left point. The Gaels defender sent the puck back down the boards where Lightning forward Henry Honacki attempted to get the puck out of his defensive zone. The puck was kept in at the left point and fired at the net by Gaels forward Ryan Joyce. The puck was deflected on the way toward Shterenberg by Gaels forward Aiden McIntyre. Shterenberg made the initial save but during the ensuing scramble in front, McIntyre fought off the Lightning defense and stuffed the puck home. Just before the buzzer sounded to end the first period, Lightning forward Brandon Bernard was called for a tripping penalty on a lazy backcheck. A very fast paced and action filled period ended with Upper Montgomery in the lead 2-1, and having outshot Mount St. Joseph thirteen to ten.

It was clear from the tongue lashing provided to the Gaels bench during intermission that their coaching staff was not pleased with the effort displayed during the initial fifteen minutes of action. The white and purple jersey contingent responded immediately capitalizing on their powerplay with a minute and a half gone in the middle period. After a legal Upper Montgomery icing while on the penalty kill, Mount St. Joseph’s forward Trimble, playing defense on the powerplay, retrieved the puck deep in his own end. He began the scoring play by heading up the right wing boards. Using some tick tack passing with fellow forward Emory Mager, Mager avoided the Lightning penalty killers. He curled toward the net where his shot was saved by Shterenberg. As the puck laid behind the young netminder, Gaels forward Ryan Currie slammed home the loose puck before the puck could be cleared from harm by the Upper Montgomery defense.

Back to back penalties on Gaels’ little used forward Jackson Powell for roughing and then on Nilan for interference away from the play gave the Lightning an opportune time to convert on the powerplay. Unfortunately, the anemic Lightning powerplay fizzled yet again failing to score with the two skater advantage. At the nine minute mark of the second period, the Lightning coaching staff put in starting netminder, senior Landon Bernard to play the second half of the game. Shterenberg was very solid in net saving sixteen of the eighteen shots he faced. Just after the goalie switch, Lightning forward Olivia Robbins was called for a slashing penalty.

And, as circumstances usually go, the Lightning failed to score on a long two skater advantage…the Gaels scored on the powerplay for the second consecutive time to jump into the lead. Joyce retrieved the puck in the neutral zone and carried the puck down the left wing as he entered the offensive zone. He passed the puck to Trimble near the left point. Trimble’s shot was saved by Bernard with the rebound caroming into the left faceoff circle. Currie got to the puck first and curled around the faceoff circle toward the center point where he passed off to Boarman. Boarman’s slap shot was blocked in front by traffic, hitting Mager stationed in front of the net in the back of the pants. The puck changed direction and dropped right in front of Currie for a tap in shot at the far side of the net that easily went past Bernard’s glove.

Taking the lead did not stop Mount St. Joseph from continuing its undisciplined play. With three minutes left in the second period, another of the Gaels’ little used forwards, Aidan Folmer was called for hooking. Joyce, unhappy with the penalty call, mouthed off to the officials and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. With a full two minutes of five on three powerplay time, Upper Montgomery had extensive zone time, but could not get the puck past Carr to tie up the game. Failing to score on either of their two long five on three powerplays doomed Upper Montgomery.

And, once again as circumstances usually go, fifteen seconds after returning to even strength, Mount St. Joseph increased their lead to 4-2. Off of a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer was stripped of the puck along the blue line. Gaels forward Matt McQueeney pushed the puck into the neutral zone coming in on a two on one rush with Gaels forward Aaron Werner. From the bottom of the right faceoff circle McQueeney fired a shot on Bernard. Bernard made the save with the puck deposited behind the net. McQueeney gained possession of the puck as he was circling the net. He passed out in front to Werner who had stopped in the low slot. Uncovered, Werner fired a high shot near side that beat Bernard’s blocker. The Gaels had started to tilt play when not in the penalty box scoring four straight goals to erase Upper Montgomery’s 2-0 lead. Mount St. Joseph had outshot Upper Montgomery sixteen to five in the second period. Upper Montgomery mustered only five shots on goal with the two long five on three powerplay opportunities.

The third period was another action packed back and forth frame. Each time it looked like Mount St. Joseph would pull away, the Lightning would fight back and close the gap. Three and a half minutes into the period McIntyre would score his second goal of the game to extend the Gaels lead to 5-2. A faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone was won by Currie. The puck went back to the top of the circle where Mager fired a wrist shot on net that was saved by Bernard’s leg pads. McIntyre got behind the Lightning defense to grab control of the puck. He made a backhand to forehand deke before tucking the puck around Bernard’s right leg.

On the next shift, a minute later, the Lightning would score to close the margin to just two goals. Upper Montgomery took possession in their defensive zone. Senior defender Jacob Roth bumped the puck forward to Cassel in the high slot of the defensive zone. Cassel sent an outlet pass to Shkeda on the left wing as he exited the defensive zone. Shkeda returned the puck to Cassel cross ice along the right wing boards in neutral ice. Cassel took the puck all the way into the Mount St. Joseph defensive zone where he circled the net. Coming out the left side of the net, he curled around and fired a high wrist shot short side that beat Carr over his blocker.

With six and a half minutes remaining in the game, Mount St. Joseph’s would be back up by three goals. A dump in behind the Upper Montgomery net was controlled by the Lightning’s defense. The puck was stolen by Mager who immediately wrapped the puck around the front of the net past an unprepared Bernard. Mager had snuck the puck past Bernard’s feet using his backhand going short side just inside the near post.

Six seconds after Mager’s goal, Jacobson cut the lead back to 6-4. From center ice off the faceoff, Jacobson controlled the puck in the neutral zone. He exploded into the offensive zone down the left wing past the Gaels defense. From the left faceoff circle, Jacobson fired a wrist shot far side just under Carr’s outstretched leg pad. It was two consecutive unassisted goals in six seconds, one for each team.

With five minutes to play, Mount St. Joseph would score its final goal to extend the margin once again. A puck battle behind the Upper Montgomery net resulted in a clearing of the puck around the boards to the left point. As the puck approached, Boarman took an innocent slap at the puck firing it at the net from distance. Seeming to loose track of the puck, it sailed high past Bernard’s blocker. It was a very soft goal to allow and ended any real chance for the Lightning of fighting back to tie the game.

A minute and a half later Upper Montgomery would tally once more to close the score back to 7-5, and show how important the last Gaels goal would prove to be. Lightning senior center and co-captain, Chris Hassett picked up the puck in the slot area of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone while on the backcheck. He skated up ice through the neutral zone on a wide offensive zone entry down the left wing. From a bad angle at the bottom of the left faceoff circle, Hassett dished in front with his backhand to Honacki charging toward the front of the net. Honacki got his backhand on the pass and swiped the puck into the far side of the empty net to close out the scoring.

Game Notes:

• The start in net was Ilan Shterenberg’s first career varsity appearance.
• Jacob Roth’s assist was his first career varsity point.
• Henry Honacki scored for the second time in three games.
• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Mount St. Joseph’s 38-25, getting dominated over the final two periods of play, 28-12.
• Nathan Cassel’s penalty shot goal was the Lightning’s first penalty shot in at least four seasons.
• The Lightning are now zero for twelve on traditional powerplays for the season excluding Cassel’s penalty shot goal which technically counts as a powerplay marker.
• Upper Montgomery will try again to secure its first victory of the season when the team returns to action after a two week break on Tuesday afternoon, November 21st, taking on the 2nd ranked Walter Johnson Wildcats. Game time is 3:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Emory Mager—Mount St. Joseph’s Forward—1 Goal, 3 Assists
Second Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Ryan Currie—Mount St. Joseph’s Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist

Friday evening’s game against BCC was the start of a tough four game stretch for the Upper Montgomery Lightning. Judging by the result, a convincing 7-2 BCC victory in which the Barons were in control from the beginning of the contest, the next three games may be similarly difficult if the Upper Montgomery defense and goaltending does not quickly improve. The loss continues the Lightning’s winless start to the season, now at 0-5, and which could easily grow with Mount St. Joseph’s, second ranked Walter Johnson, and top ranked Churchill upcoming over the next three games.

The Lightning coaches knew that this game was going to be difficult. In addition to the highly talented opponent, Upper Montgomery was going to be missing leading scorer Chris Hassett, super talented defender Andrew Botti who is still out with an upper body injury, and the squad would also be missing Ryan Jacobson. Both Hassett and Jacobson separately would be missing the game traveling with their external travel team being out-of-town.

The shorthanded Lightning put forth a decent effort to start the game. The team packed in tight defensively and made it difficult for the Barons to get many quality looks on Upper Montgomery’s netminder, Landon Bernard. The effect of the packed in defensive style was that the team barely mustered quality scoring chances of their own. The Lightning registered just four shots on goal in the first period with none of the shots on net threatening to beat BCC goalie Vivienne Boyle.

BCC would jump to an early 1-0 lead off of an unfortunate bounce. An Upper Montgomery turnover on the side wall went to BCC forward Aleksander Talty. Talty fired from the left faceoff circle. His shot was blocked by the Upper Montgomery defense and the puck ricocheted through the slot right onto the stick of BCC forward Evan Williams. Bernard went down too early and from the bottom of the right faceoff circle Williams flipped the puck over the prone goaltender.

Midway through the first period, Upper Montgomery went on the powerplay for the first time when Barons’ defender Danny Loughlin was called for roughing. As has been the case the entire season, the Lightning failed to convert with the extra skater, and on this opportunity they failed to generate any offensive threat. But, with Upper Montgomery focusing almost entirely on defense, the score was still very competitive with BCC only leading by one goal with two minutes remaining in the first period.

However, with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Loughlin sent the puck down the boards into the left corner. Upper Montgomery’s defense sent the puck around the net from defender to defender. The upcoming outlet pass to breakout of the defensive zone was deflected back toward the Lightning goal directly onto the stick of Williams once again. Williams curled into the right circle and fired high far side past an unsuspecting Bernard. Even though the Lightning had been outplayed, it was two bad deflections that led directly to both Barons’ goals.

Early in the second period BCC would end the competitive portion of the game. Barons’ defender Collin Eccles while spinning and falling in the neutral zone pushed the puck to Barons’ forward Peter Lanpher. Lanpher traveled down the left wing into the Lightning defensive zone. He then left a drop pass for Eccles’ defensive partner Grady Jiggens. From between the top of the left faceoff circle and the blue line, Jiggens let loose with a wrist shot high glove side that bounced out of Bernard’s glove over his body and into the net. It was a deflating goal that sucked the energy out of the Lightning bench. The remainder of the game took on the feel of a scrimmage lacking in intensity, with Upper Montgomery running around all over the ice just trying to get the puck outside of their defensive zone.

Showing how dominant BCC was in the period, the shots on goal were tilted in favor of the Barons eighteen to five. Upper Montgomery was under siege while killing a tripping penalty assessed to Henry Honacki. With under four minutes to go in the middle frame, Barons center Matthew Duffy would score an unassisted goal to enlarge the Barons lead to 4-0. BCC dumped the puck into the Lightning defensive zone. Lightning defender, senior co-captain Hunter Cameron cleared the puck back out to center ice. Duffy picked up the puck and came back into the Lightning defensive zone. He faked around an Upper Montgomery defender and lifted a backhander over Bernard’s blocker and right shoulder short side high. As the period mercifully neared its conclusion, high scoring Lightning forward Nathan Cassel was given a ten minute misconduct penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Fifteen seconds into the third period Duffy struck again. He won the opening faceoff back and over to Eccles on the left wing side of the ice. Eccles playing this shift at forward passed the puck along the blue line over to Sebastian Harrison on the right side of the ice. Harrison sent the puck back to left along the blue line to Jiggens. Jiggens hit Eccles in the center of the neutral zone with a pass. Eccles skated down the left wing and left a drop pass for Duffy in the left faceoff circle. Duffy ripped a wicked wrist shot just under the crossbar high blocker side past Bernard who had little chance on the play.

Thirty seconds later BCC went up 6-0. The Barons exited their defensive zone along the right wing. Lanpher passed the puck up to Harrison who sent it back to Lanpher. Lanpher skated through the neutral zone and into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Lanpher found Eccles all alone in the slot after a missed Lightning defensive assignment. Eccles had a clean look at the net and beat Bernard far side past his stick and blocker.

Halfway through the final stanza, Upper Montgomery took back to back penalties. First Cameron was called for tripping and then Lightning forward Philip Shkeda was called for roughing. Just prior to Cameron’s penalty expiring, BCC scored a five on three goal powerplay goal. Duffy won a faceoff in the left circle back to the Eccles at the mid point along the blue line. Skating to the right faceoff circle, Eccles unloaded a shot that was saved by Bernard’s leg pads. Talty retrieved the puck along the left wing boards and sent it up to Duffy who was now stationed at the center mid point along the blue line. Duffy’s low wrist shot through traffic went in along the ice stick side to the far corner of the net for his hat trick goal.

With four and a half minutes left in the game, Upper Montgomery would spoil Boyle’s shutout bid. Shkeda collected a rebound of a BCC shot in his right defensive corner. He skated the length of the ice up the left wing boards deep into the offensive zone. He fired a wrist shot from a bad angle that was saved by Boyle. The rebound was pushed behind the net. A bad BCC clearing attempt was kept in at the left point by Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer. Berkhammer passed the puck to Shkeda in the slot. Shkeda skated to his right into the right faceoff circle where he lifted a backhander toward the net which was deflected by a backchecking BCC forward up over Boyle’s glove into the top right corner of the net.

The Lightning would close out the scoring with just over a minute left in the game. Berkhammer blocked a BCC shot and swatted the puck over to Lightning forward Bradley Cupples. Cupples exited the Lightning defensive zone and skated down the left wing into the offensive zone. Cupples’ attempted pass back over to Berkhammer at the right point hit a leg and laid in the high slot. Lightning senior Olivia Robbins was trailing the play and she collected the loose puck. Robbins patiently waited for a screen to develop in front of the net before shooting. Her low shot stick side beat Boyle for her first goal of the season.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery gave up three more goals in the third period. The team now has a minus thirteen goal differential in the third period over the first five games of the season.
• Upper Montgomery was badly outshot by BCC 43-14, getting dominated over the final two periods of play, 33-10.
• Since getting its first ever points in a tie against BCC last season, the Barons have won the next two games by scores of 8-2 and 7-2.
• Upper Montgomery again looks to secure its first win of the season when the team returns to action on Wednesday afternoon, taking on private school powerhouse Mount St. Joseph’s. Game time is 4:00 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens. This will be the first ever meeting between the programs.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Matthew Duffy—BCC Center—3 Goals
Second Star—Evan Williams—BCC Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—Collin Eccles—BCC Defense—1 Goal, 3 Assists

For the first half of Tuesday evening’s game, it looked like the Upper Montgomery Lightning would secure their initial victory of the 2023-2024 season. Then, the Sherwood Warriors stormed back and made it a haunted Halloween evening for the green and gold. The loss dropped the Lightning’s record on the season to 0-4, with defensive miscues, late game collapses, and shaky goaltending continuing to impact the team’s performance. A very tough stretch of games is upcoming with BCC, Mount St. Joseph’s, Walter Johnson, and Churchill looming on the schedule over the next month of action.

The Lightning controlled play from the opening faceoff attacking and firing shots on Sherwood’s backup netminder Alexander Crotzer-Scartascini who drew the starting assignment against Upper Montgomery. In the opening minutes of the game, Lightning senior center and co-captain, Chris Hassett had a semi-breakaway that was stopped by Crotzer-Scartascini’s leg pads. However, six minutes into the game Hassett would get redemption putting Upper Montgomery ahead to start the scoring. Lightning forward Nathan Cassel intercepted a Sherwood clearing attempt along the right wing boards in the offensive zone. He cut toward the middle of the ice and was hooked from behind. While spinning to the ice he sent a backhand twirl pass over to Hassett standing at the left post. Hassett spun a backhand shot through Crotzer-Scartascini’s five hole from a forty-five degree angle to put Upper Montgomery ahead.

Two minutes later Upper Montgomery would increase its lead with the same forwards once again combining on the scoring play. This time it was Hassett who set up Cassel for the tally. A bouncing puck was batted around in the neutral zone. A Sherwood defender shot the puck off of Hassett’s skates with the puck deflecting to Cassel. Cassel cut into the offensive zone down the left wing where he lost possession of the puck while going around the Sherwood defense. He kicked the puck back onto his stick before he too went five hole, finishing on his forehand.

A minute later the barrage continued. Upper Montgomery 9th grade defender, Miles Wendland bumped a Sherwood forward off the puck in the slot in front of Lightning netminder Landon Bernard. Wendland’s poke check separated the Sherwood skater from the puck. The puck laid in the slot until Upper Montgomery forward Henry Honacki bumped the puck forward to Lightning senior Brandon Bernard who headed up ice into the neutral zone. Bernard skated down the right wing with his speed enabling him to beat the Warriors’ defender wide. Bernard cut to the front of the net and scored on the forehand, again going five hole. With six minutes left in the first period, the Lightning led 3-0 and Crotzer-Scartascini’s night was over having been replaced in net by Sherwood’s starting goalie, Samuel Hutt. Shots on goal in the first period were even with Bernard making saves on all nine Sherwood shots and the Warriors’ goalies facing ten total shots.

The start of the second period brought with it the beginning of an ominous final two periods of play for the Lightning. A little over a minute into the frame, Sherwood forward Cameron Colandro would get the Warriors on the scoreboard. Off the rush, Upper Montgomery turned the puck over just inside of the Sherwood blue line. Colandro sent a pass up ice to Sherwood center Aiden Cook. Cook skated through the middle of the neutral zone but fumbled the puck into the right corner. He retrieved the puck and sent a pass up to Colandro along the side boards. Colanrdo sent a return pass to Cook who then sent a backhand shot wide of the net. Colandro recovered the puck and lifted a backhander of his own over Bernard’s left leg pad.

Upper Montgomery was not deflated by the initial Sherwood goal. A minute and a half later the lead was back to three goals. Cassel rewound in the neutral zone and passed cross ice to Hassett at the left wing boards. Hassett entered the offensive zone under control and sent a cross ice feed into the empty right corner. Cassel retrieved the puck and fed Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer at the right point. Berkhammer’s near side snap shot was deflected by Hassett up over Hutt’s pads and into the net.

As the clocked moved under ten minutes remaining in the second period, Berkhammer was called for hooking. Upper Montgomery was within ten seconds of killing off the penalty when Sherwood again closed to within two goals. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck down the ice behind Hutt’s goal. Hutt handed the puck off to Sherwood’s leading scorer and extremely talented forward Grayson Winckler. Winckler sent a pass to Sherwood’s other dynamic skater, center Noi Jonasson who rocketed through the neutral zone down the right wing and around the Lightning defense. Jonasson cut in on Bernard who made the initial save. Jonasson was able to gain control of the puck and rewind for another drive toward the net this time from the left side of the ice. Bernard again made the save on Jonasson’s shot, with the puck rebounding into the slot where Oz Sacks fired to the roof of the net over Bernard’s glove hand.

Two minutes later the Upper Montgomery lead would shrink further. Off of a misplay in the neutral zone by the Lightning defense, Winckler sped around the Lightning defenders and into the offensive zone. He pulled up at the right faceoff circle and fired past Bernard stick side. A minute later the score was tied as Winckler had his second goal of the same shift. Sherwood defender Tyler Payson cleared the puck around his own net to Winckler on the right wing. Winckler skated through the middle of the neutral zone and split the Lighting defense with some nifty stickhandling. In alone on Bernard, he lifted a backhander up over Bernard’s blocker and stick. Sherwood’s three goals in three minutes evened the score at four with five minutes left in the second period.

With two minutes remaining in the second period, Sherwood would take its first lead of the game. Payson cleared the puck from in front of his own net to a streaking Jonasson charging up ice along with Winckler. The outlet pass sprung both of Sherwood’s most talented skaters in on a two on one rush. Jonasson passed the puck wide to Winckler on the right wing heading into the offensive zone. Winckler unleashed a slap shot on Bernard which the netminder saved using his right leg pad. The rebound squirted out in front and was kicked into the net by Jonasson at the far post. High school hockey does not employ replay and there are no coaches challenges so the goal was allowed to stand.

Upper Montgomery would respond on the very next shift a mere thirty seconds later. In the offensive zone, the Sherwood defense turned the puck over again. Honacki fanned on his shot attempt with the puck going directly to Brandon Bernard. Bernard’s shot from the right faceoff circle was saved by Hutt. Honacki had crashed the net and poked the loose puck under Hutt’s leg pads to even the score. A wild second period saw Sherwood score five times, including four consecutive goals, and Upper Montgomery tally twice turning a comfortable Lightning lead into a one period slugfest to determine the victor.

Playing with a short bench for much of the opening portion of the season, the Lightning have had difficulty finishing games. Their play in the third periods of games has looked ragged and sloppy. The final fifteen minutes against Sherwood was no different. Thirty seconds into the third period, Sherwood had regained the lead. Jonasson sent an outlet pass to a streaking Winckler down the right wing entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Winckler skated around the Upper Montgomery defense and into the slot. He faked backhand to forehand and went high over Bernard’s glove.

With Upper Montgomery trying to claw back even, Sherwood would increase their lead to two goals with just under nine minutes to play. From his defensive right corner, Sherwood defender Roman Khrizman sent the puck up the left wing boards to his defensive partner Payson. Payson cruised diagonally through the neutral zone, into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, and pulled up at the top of the right faceoff circle. He dished the puck to Warriors’ forward Ryan Green. Green’s shot from far outside the right circle along the right wing boards deflected off Lightning defender, senior co-captain Hunter Cameron stationed in front of the goal and past Bernard.

Two minutes later, Sherwood’s lead would increase to 8-5. Payson stopped the puck at his own blue line and advanced the puck to Winckler headed up ice. Tired Upper Montgomery skaters were changing behind the play. The poor line change provided Winckler and his running mate Jonasson another two on one rush. Winckler stick handled into the slot and pushed the puck over to Jonasson. Jonasson stick handled back into the slot from the bottom of the right circle and slid a backhanded shot past Bernard stick side.

Upper Montgomery would not quit. Ten seconds after Jonasson’s goal, the Lightning would be right back in the game. Off of the ensuing faceoff at neutral ice, Hassett won the draw by kicking the puck left over to Cassel. Cassel motored up ice and cut to his right entering the offensive zone. He went wide. At the bottom of the right faceoff circle Cassel sent a pass across the net to Lightning forward Philip Shkeda. From in front, Shkeda’s first shot was saved by Hutt, but he stayed with the play and banged in the rebound.

A little over a minute later, the game was back to a one goal game. Cameron fought for the puck in the corner and cleared the puck up the boards. The puck took a funny bounce and was collected by Hassett. Hassett skated the puck into the Sherwood defensive zone. From the outer edge of the right circle he sent a pass to Honacki. Honacki cut to the slot and shot at Hutt. Hutt made the save with the puck rebounding to the side of the net where it was knocked home by Cassel at the left post.

With six minutes left, Sherwood now led 8-7. Unfortunately for the Lightning faithful, that would be as close as Upper Montgomery would get. Closing to within one goal seemed to take all of the energy out of the team with Sherwood controlling most of the play in the waning minutes of action. Upper Montgomery had difficulty establishing in the offensive zone, and could not get Bernard out of the net for an extra attacker until there were 45 seconds remaining in the game. Then, once Bernard had been pulled for the extra skater, Payson was able to get to a loose puck in his defensive zone. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle, he turned and fired down ice into the empty net sealing the come from behind victory for the Warriors.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery gave up four more goals in the third period. The team now has a minus twelve goal differential in the third period over the first four games of the season.
• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Sherwood 34-26, getting dominated over the final two periods of play, 25-16.
• Upper Montgomery blew a three goal lead in the first period and again after regaining their three goal lead halfway through the game.
• Wendland’s assist was his first career high school point.
• Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay for the second consecutive game.
• Upper Montgomery looks to secure the first win of the season when the team returns to action on Friday evening, taking on the BCC Barons. Game time is 8:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Grayson Winckler—Sherwood Forward—3 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 3 Assists
Third Star—Noi Jonasson—Sherwood Center—2 Goals, 2 Assists