Category: Game Recaps

When the Upper Montgomery Lightning faceoff against the Rockville / Magruder Rams it is a contest between the two teams most evenly matched in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The last three meetings between the programs have ended in a tie, an Upper Montgomery win in overtime, and the Rams prevailing courtesy of a last minute goal. Friday night’s game was no different until two empty net goals scored in the final minute extended the Rockville / Magruder winning margin to 7-4. The game was much closer than the final score would indicate as the Lightning held a 3-2 lead entering the third period. On a night where the Lightning were looking to clinch the sixth seed in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoffs, it was the Rams who turned the tables and now have the inside track on the coveted sixth seed.

The Rams started fast right from the game’s opening faceoff. Rockville / Magruder pressured throughout the period and made Lightning sophomore goaltender Ilan Shterenberg work hard during the first fifteen minutes of action by firing sixteen shots on goal. In response, Upper Montgomery only put six shots on goal for Rams senior goalie Sean Connelly to handle. Upper Montgomery was back on their heels for most of the period even with Rockville / Magruder missing senior 18U AAA phenom defender Drew Pfeufer. Pfeufer missed the game with a travel team conflict.

At the four and a half minute mark of the opening period, the Rams jumped out in front. The Lightning sent a centering pass in their offensive zone through the slot where it was collected by Rams ninth grade forward Cameron Gifford on the left wing side wall. Gifford made an outlet pass to Rams senior center Brendyn Iliff exiting the defensive zone through the center of the ice. Iliff carried the puck all the way into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. From the top of the slot he made a backhand pass on a two on one rush with Rockville / Magruder junior forward Toyin Okunseinde. Okunseinde faked a shot and slid the puck back to Iliff now on the left side of an open net. All Iliff had to do was direct the puck into the yawning empty net for his sixth goal of the season.

Three minutes later Upper Montgomery struck back. The Lightning’s leading goal scorer, senior center Henry Honacki found the back of the net for the fifth straight game. Off of a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Honacki won the drawn cleanly but back outside the offensive zone past the right point. Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins retrieved the puck at the red line. She sent the puck up the right wing boards to Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel. Cassel turned back into the neutral zone where he curled to generate speed before sending a pass to the left wing to Lightning junior forward Philip Shkeda. Shkeda advanced the puck into the offensive zone. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle he sent the puck through the crease to Honacki positioned alone in front of the goal. Honacki wasted no time and buried the puck far side into the back of the net past Connelly for his team leading twelfth goal of the season.

Directly after tying up the game, the Lightning took a too many skaters on the ice penalty. While on the powerplay, the Rams continued to pressure inside the offensive zone. Some impressive saves by Shterenberg kept Rockville / Magruder at bay until the Lightning returned to even strength. The last several minutes of the period saw a bit more back and forth action with each team missing the net on good looks. As the buzzer sounded to end the opening period of play, the Lightning were thrilled to be tied at one having been outplayed in the first period.

The second period started out very similar to the first period. Just over three minutes into the middle frame, Rockville / Magruder would score on a delayed penalty call. Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer’s shot from the left point was blocked by Iliff. The puck bounced forward to Gifford just inside his defensive blue line. Gifford skated around Berkhammer who tried to recover his position and prevent Gifford from storming down ice on a breakaway. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle Gifford unleashed a wrist shot that went between Shterenberg’s legs five hole to the back of the net. Berkhammer was called for cross checking Gifford as he scrambled back on defense but the delayed penalty was wiped out by Gifford’s tenth goal of the season.

Two minutes later Upper Montgomery found itself on the powerplay as Rams defender Lincoln Herrick was called for a tripping penalty. It took less than a minute for the Lightning to knot up the score at two. The Rams cleared their defensive zone sending the puck all the way down the ice. Shterenberg stopped the puck behind the goal and swept the puck over to Berkhammer in the right faceoff circle. Berkhammer fired a long stretch pass up ice to Cassel entering the offensive zone down the right wing side of the ice. At the right faceoff circle he skated around a Rams forward to the mid-slot. He sent a wrist shot to the left side of the net beating Connelly stick side. For Cassel it was his second goal in as many games since returning from being on long term injured reserve with an upper body injury. In total, it was his fifth goal of the season. Shterenberg’s assist was the goalie’s first career varsity point.

Fifteen seconds after his powerplay goal, Cassel was sent to the sin bin after hooking a Rams skater from behind along the left wing boards. Similar to their first powerplay, Rockville / Magruder worked the puck around the offensive zone and found seams in the Lightning penalty kill. More good saves from Shterenberg kept the game tied. Once Cassel returned to the ice and the Lightning were again at even strength, Upper Montgomery finally started to put some pressure on the Rams defense. A few turnovers in the defensive zone by Rockville / Magruder provided several prime scoring chances for the Lightning to take their first lead of the game. Instead, Gifford was called for a charging penalty with less than two minutes remaining in the period. As important as the upcoming powerplay was for Upper Montgomery, having Gifford off the ice for a minimum of ten minutes and possibly up to twelve minutes was enormously beneficial for the Lightning. Charging minor penalties automatically come with an accompanying ten minute misconduct penalty in high school hockey.

Upper Montgomery wasted no time on this powerplay taking its first lead of the game seventeen seconds later. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, the Rams won the draw back to their left defensive corner. Puck pressure on the Rams defense forced a quick turnover with Shkeda winding up with the puck in the right corner. Shkeda fought through a body check and brought the puck back behind the net from right to left. As he cleared the left goal post he centered the puck to Honacki. Honacki’s shot to the near post was just wide and hit the skirt of the net. The Rams cleared the puck up the left wing boards where the puck was kept in the offensive zone by Berkhammer at the right point. Berkhammer skated to the center of the ice and found Shkeda open on the left side of the ice. From the left faceoff circle, Shkeda slung a wrist shot at the net that went far side beating Connelly over his left shoulder for his fifth goal of the season..

Upper Montgomery had scored the last two goals of the second period while on the powerplay and took a 3-2 lead into the third period. The shots on goal in the second period were much more even with Upper Montgomery credited with sixteen and Shterenberg saving thirteen of the fourteen shot put on him by Rockville / Magruder. The Rams were going to be without Gifford for the first eight and a half minutes of the third period. All the Lightning needed to do was play sound positional defense to grind out an important victory. Unfortunately, everything fell apart for Upper Montgomery in the third period.

Just over three minutes into the period Rockville / Magruder senior defender Aiden Ward tied up the game. An Upper Montgomery offensive rush up the ice was thwarted by Ward at center ice. He dangled the puck around an onrushing Upper Montgomery forward and attacked the offensive zone. He went past a Lightning defender who turned too late shifting the puck forehand to backhand. The deke forced Shterenberg to hesitate, allowing Ward to be able to put the puck past the outstretched right leg pad of the Lightning’s netminder for an unassisted goal, his sixth goal of the season.

Just after Ward’s goal tied the game at three, Lightning senior forward Josh Nadler was whistled for a holding penalty. With two seconds left shorthanded and Nadler standing up at the penalty box door ready to return to the ice, the Rams capitalized and jumped out front 4-3. While shorthanded, Upper Montgomery cleared the defensive zone. Rockville / Magruder ninth grade forward, Alexander Johnston made an outlet pass to defender Ari Solomon skating up ice between his defensive blue line and the center red line. Headed down the left wing boards Solomon brought the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He skated around the net from left to right where he sent a pass to Ward standing at the right point. While falling away from the net, Ward sent a wrist shot toward Shterenberg. His shot was intercepted by Rams forward Ryan Hurley on its way to the net. Hurley sent a backhand shot short side past Shterenberg’s glove and right leg pad.

Now trailing, Upper Montgomery began pressing ahead haphazardly. That led to misfortune when Gifford ripped off a Lightning pass at center ice along the left wing. He turned and headed up ice into the Rams offensive zone. From the the inside edge of the right faceoff circle around the middle of the high slot Gifford sent a thundering left handed wrist shot low to Shterenberg’s stick side. The puck flew past the Upper Montgomery netminder into the net for Gifford’s second goal of the game. The goal gave Rockville / Magruder a two goal lead at 5-3 with five minutes remaining in the contest.

Similar to the team’s first game earlier in the season when Upper Montgomery was in front 5-3 with five minutes remaining, the trailing team tallied quickly to close the margin. This time it would be the Lightning making things interesting. Berkhammer brought the puck into the offensive zone on the right wing. When he reached the the mid-point of the offensive zone he curled up and then proceeded to dance with the puck down into the right corner where he was checked by the Rams defense. The puck was cleared up the boards where it was kept in at the right point by Robbins. She pushed the puck back down into the right corner for Shkeda. Shkeda cycled the puck behind the net to Honacki. Honacki reversed the flow back to Shkeda in the right corner. Shkeda tried a near post stuff attempt at the right goal post which was shut down by Connelly. A Rams forward took the puck down into the right corner for some reason rather than just clearing the defensive zone. Shkeda applied pressure which allowed Honacki to dig the puck free. Honacki approached the front of the net where he fired a backhand shot. The puck missed the mark wide, going past Connelly to the back left post. Berkhammer was well positioned on the backside of the play to poke the puck into the open side of the net. It was the junior defender’s career high fourth goal of the season.

With just over two minutes remaining, Rockville / Magruder clung to a 5-4 lead. Upper Montgomery called timeout to rest its top line and coordinate the upcoming likely pulling of Shterenberg for the extra attacker. Upper Montgomery won a faceoff in their offensive zone but Johnston won the race to the puck. Cassel was able to chase down Johnston and take the puck to the left wing boards. Johnston then pick pocketed Cassel to gain possession of the puck. He passed to Gifford just inside the Rams defensive blue line. Gifford pitch forked a backhand high into the air all the way down the ice. The puck landed in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone and rolled just inside the left post with 59 seconds remaining in the game. It was a hat-trick goal for Gifford, his second hat-trick of the season against the Lightning.

With nothing to lose and down two goals Upper Montgomery quickly pulled Shterenberg once again. Gifford closed out the scoring with his second empty net goal giving him thirteen tallies on the season. He collected the puck in the right corner of his defensive zone and skated the puck by himself up ice. He blasted a slap shot into the empty cage from between the offensive blue line and the center red line to cap an important win for the Rams. The victory likely sewing up the all important sixth seed in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament for Rockville / Magruder.

Upper Montgomery now faces a challenging conclusion to the regular season. The Lightning finish the 2024 -2025 campaign against three perennial powerhouse programs; Churchill, Whitman, and Oakdale before their opening round playoff tilt. Even if the squad drops its remaining games, Upper Montgomery will finish with its best mark in conference play since the 2018 – 2019 season when the team only played the other teams in the lower division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. One win against highly regarded Churchill or Whitman would vault the Lightning over the Rams and back into the sixth spot in the rankings. Finishing sixth would tie last season’s best ever regular season finish in program history.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery was outshot by Rockville / Magruder 45-30 including 15-8 in the decisive third period.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored in his fifth straight game. He has eight goals during his consecutive game goal scoring streak.
• In two games against the Lightning, Rams ninth grade forward Cameron Gifford scored seven goals and added an assist.
• The loss ended the Lightning’s three game winning streak and dropped Upper Montgomery’s overall record to 6-4-1, and 6-3-1 in conference play.
• With his assist on Shkeda goal, Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer tied his career high for assists in a season with twelve. Adding in his personal career high four goals this season, Berkhammer has set new offensive personal bests. He had three points in a game for the second consecutive outing.
• The Lightning scored on both of their powerplay opportunities and increased their powerplay success rate to 40.9% (9 for 22). Last year, the team was incredibly inept with the extra skater going zero for the team’s first 43 powerplay opportunities.
• Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg’s assist was his first career varsity point.
• Upper Montgomery has a critical matchup on Tuesday evening when the Lightning tries to defeat the Churchill Bulldogs for the first time in team history. Churchill is not as talented this year as they have been in their incredibly successful history. Faceoff is at 5:50 pm on on Tuesday, January 14th at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Cameron Gifford—Rockville / Magruder Forward —4 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—Aiden Ward—Rockville / Magruder Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist

On a night when the Lightning’s seven seniors were celebrated for all they have contributed to the program over the past four seasons, the celebratory mood was almost spoiled by last place Northwest / Quince Orchard. A frenetic final five minutes of action saw a comfortable Upper Montgomery lead evaporate into a nail biting, heart pounding final two minutes of play. A couple of signature plays by Upper Montgomery’s senior leadership saved the day. The Lightning are now assured of finishing the regular season with a winning record in conference play. It was a win that leaves a lot of room for improvement heading into the final three regular season conference games which will be played against much tougher competition.

Upper Montgomery started the game with a bang. Sophomore center Jake Hudson scored his first career high school goal less than two minutes into the opening period. Hudson started the scoring sequence with a clean win of a faceoff to the right of Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goaltender Joseph Dean. The win of the draw was so clean that the puck shot back into the neutral zone where Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer took possession of the puck. From his defensive blue line Berkhammer sent a diagonal pass cross ice to Lightning forward Philip Shkeda on the left wing entering the offensive zone. Shkeda sent a pass back across the ice to sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. From the left side of the ice, Zheng skated the puck to the middle of the high slot where he passed the puck over to Berkhammer in the right faceoff circle. Berkhammer fired a bad angle shot from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Dean. The puck rebounded back directly to Berkhammer. He then proceeded to take the puck around the net from right to left before passing the puck to Hudson in the left faceoff circle. Hudson took two strides to his right toward the slot where he unleashed a wicked wrist shot high over Dean’s glove hand to the back of the net.

Upper Montgomery played with its 1-0 lead for twelve minutes. The Lightning began looking to make perfect plays rather than just getting pucks toward the net. The lack of aggression kept the Jaguars in the game. With just over a minute left in the opening period, Northwest / Quince Orchard wound up tying the game on a goal that never should have happened. A faceoff outside the Upper Montgomery defensive zone was won by Upper Montgomery with the puck brought back into the Lightning’s defensive zone by an Upper Montgomery forward. A turnover occurred just inside the defensive blue line and Northwest / Quince Orchard forward Gabriel Carlos sent a weak long range shot toward the goal. Lightning sophomore netminder Ilan Shterenberg placed his catching glove over the puck which should have resulted in a whistle and a stoppage in play. The out-of-position referees did not see Shterenberg clamp down on the puck. The Jaguars’ most dangerous skater, center Ethan Custudio charged the net and pushed his stick under Shterenberg’s glove shoving the puck loose and over the goal line to tie the game.

The Lightning finished the period on the powerplay when Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Drew Blurton was called for tripping with less than a minute remaining in the period. Upper Montgomery was unable to cash in on either the portion of the powerplay that ended the first period or the carry over powerplay time which began the second period. The first period concluded with the score tied at one apiece and Upper Montgomery having nearly doubled up the Jaguars in shots on net eleven to six.

Upper Montgomery’s coaching staff expressed great displeasure at the lack of urgency shown by the team in the first period. The Lightning seemed to take notice because the team came out much sharper in the middle period outshooting the Jaguars by a huge 21 to six margin. Three and a half minutes into the second period, the Lightning jumped back out in front. With extended pressure in the Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone the puck was dumped up the boards to Berkhammer at the right point. He skated around an onrushing Jaguars forward and down the boards. While on the move, Berkhammer sent a cross ice ice pass from outside the right faceoff circle to Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel in the left faceoff circle. Cassel whipped a feed to the front of the net looking for Lightning senior center Henry Honacki. Honacki’s tap in shot was saved by Dean’s left leg pad. The rebound shot out into the slot where Berkhammer placed a left handed wrist shot past Dean’s glove close in by his body.

Having the lead once again further energized the Lightning. Five minutes later Upper Montgomery’s lead grew to 3-1 after Hudson scored his second goal of the evening. Hudson won the draw from the right faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. Lightning forward Siddy Bhasin pushed the puck back to the right point to senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton’s snap shot toward the net hit Hudson’s skates. Hudson collected the puck and sent it into the right faceoff circle to Bhasin. Bhasin returned the puck to Hudson who was now standing at the inner edge of the right faceoff circle. Hudson’s turnaround push shot deflected off of a Northwest / Quince Orchard defender’s skate and caromed past Dean low blocker side along the ice.

Upper Montgomery kept up the pressure. Two and a half minutes later Honacki scored his team leading tenth goal of the season to put Upper Montgomery ahead by three goals. Off of a faceoff from the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, the Jaguars won the faceoff back to the left corner. Shkeda sped in and got to the puck first. He sent the puck lower into the left corner to Honacki. Fighting through a body check, Honacki cycled to the lower portion of the left faceoff circle where he dropped the puck down to Cassel. Cassel skated the puck to the top of the left faceoff circle near the left wing boards where he threw the puck to open ice in the right corner. Once again, Shkeda was first to the puck. He sent the puck back across the ice to Cassel who was standing alone in the left faceoff circle. Cassel found Honacki cutting down the slot toward the crease with a deft pass. All Honacki had to do was pound the puck home from a few feet out in front.

Just before the period ended, Northwest / Quince Orchard forward Omar Ben Younes took a tripping penalty. Upper Montgomery had a great opportunity up three goals entering the third period to put a stranglehold on the game by scoring a powerplay goal. Instead, the Lightning began looking for perfect highlight real chances rather than pressuring the net and swarming the crease area. After not converting on the powerplay, Upper Montgomery went on the penalty kill when Cassel was called for a cross checking penalty. The Lightning penalty killers and Shterenberg faced pressure while shorthanded with Upper Montgomery’s goalie coming through with several key saves to keep the Lightning in front by three.

With just over six minutes left in the third period, Lightning senior forward Josh Nadler took an unnecessary cross checking penalty behind the play. Northwest / Quince Orchard took advantage and scored on the resulting powerplay to close the score to 4-2 with just under five minutes to play. Off of a faceoff outside the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, there was a tie up off the draw. Custudio took possession of the puck and went into the offensive zone wide along the right wing. Getting around the Upper Montgomery defender, he ripped a forehand snapshot from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle. Shterenberg took the puck off his chest protector with the puck bounding off of him to the backside of the crease. Carlos outhustled the Upper Montgomery weak side defender and pushed the puck home into the wide open left side of the net.

A minute and twenty seconds later the Lightning answered back to reclaim their three goal lead. Upper Montgomery dumped the puck out of their defensive zone to neutral ice. Having to create offense, the Jaguars turned the play back towards the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Standing up just inside the blue line, senior defender Patrick Sell deflected the puck breaking up the Jaguars offensive zone entry. The puck deflected over to Cassel at the red line. Cassel circled back into the Lightning defensive zone and fired up the ice to the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. He cut to his right and brought the puck down the right wing side of the ice. Sensing the Jaguars defenders converging, he stickhandled to the inside at the right faceoff circle. His move evaded the left Northwest / Quince Orchard defender. When the right Northwest / Quince Orchard defender came across the ice to assist and support the play, Cassel slid the puck to his left past both defenders and right on the stick of Zheng. From inside the crease, Zheng punched the puck past Dean’s blocker and goalie stick along the ice at the far side of the net.

Being up 5-2 with three and a half minutes left should have sewn up the game. Maybe that is what the Lightning student athletes thought as well because they stopped competing. Shterenberg made multiple close in saves in rapid succession, first the initial shot, then the second chance, and even a third rebound jam shot. His number of saves shot up dramatically. Then, with under two minutes to play, Carlos scored again to make the score 5-3. With the puck and control in the offensive zone Shkeda collided with Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins. The puck was scooped up by Blurton along the left wing boards in his defensive zone. He sent an outlet pass into neutral ice to Custudio sending the speedy center in on a breakaway with Lightning sophomore defender Miles Wendland applying back pressure. Shterenberg made a save with his leg pads when Custudio attempted to beat him five hole. The rebound popped out into the slot where Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Andrew Isaacson fired. Shterenberg made a blocker save on the rebound attempt with the puck sliding over to the side of the net. Carlos sent a backhanded chip shot toward the net. His short side shot was just out of the reach of Shterenberg as he lunged over to the other goal post attempting to make a third excellent save in succession.

Off the center ice faceoff, all of the Lightning skaters fell asleep. Cassel turned the puck over in the neutral zone after a face off win by Honacki. At the faceoff dot outside the Lightning defensive zone Isaacson had the puck on the left wing. He moved over the blue line into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. From the outside edge of the left faceoff circle, his wrist shot went to the far side of the net, past Shterenberg’s glove hand into the top right corner of the net.

While the Jaguars were still celebrating cutting the Lightning’s lead to 5-4 with 1:35 remaining in the game, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff had already called for a timeout. In a strategic move, Lightning junior center Owen Robbins was moved back to defense to provide a bigger body for the anticipated Northwest / Quince Orchard six on five pulled goalie attack.

Fortunately, Upper Montgomery kept the puck out of the Jaguars possession. After a Northwest / Quince Orchard dump in to their offensive zone Berkhammer settled the play behind his own net. Berkhammer then sent a defensive zone breakout pass to Shkeda up the left wing boards. Shkeda sent the puck high off the defensive zone glass up the boards and out of the defensive zone. The puck sailed over the head of Northwest / Quince Orchard senior defender Roman Martin who jumped up in an attempt to catch the puck. The puck deflected off of Martin’s glove hand negating any potential icing call. Honacki raced down the ice and beat the weak side Jaguars defender to the puck in the left wing of the Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone. Breaking free, Honacki cut toward the net as he was in all alone. He shot towards the left side of the goal, back from where he had just skated. The puck whizzed past the right arm and body of Dean going past him seven hole into the back of the net. The score provided a brief respite as Upper Montgomery was now ahead 6-4 with 56 seconds remaining in the game.

The same five Lightning skaters lined up at center ice for the ensuing faceoff as the team continued to defend the last minute of the game. Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, the Lightning dumped the puck into the Northwest / Quince Orchard end of the ice. Using his speed, Shkeda raced in to gain possession of the puck on the half wall on the left wing side of the ice. He was instantly converged on by two Jaguars defensive skaters. From the top of the left faceoff circle, Shkeda managed to get the puck over to Honakci in the slot. Honacki backhanded the puck wide of the net and into the left defensive corner. Cassel arrived on the puck first and took the puck deeper along the curve of the corner sending a pass to Shkeda almost behind the net. Shkeda sent a short return pass to Cassel who had turned into the left faceoff circle. Cassel fired a short side wrist shot past Dean’s blocker to salt away the game with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.

While fighting off the spirited Jaguars upset bid, the Lightning know that they will need to play much, much better to stay competitive with the three remaining teams on their conference schedule; Rockville / Magruder, Churchill, and Whitman. The seniors were able to celebrate a win on senior night, but the game was anything but easy against last place Northwest / Quince Orchard. The Lightning have momentum by virtue of a three game winning streak. Upper Montgomery will finish with its best mark in conference play since the 2018 – 2019 season when the team only played the other teams in the lower division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. One more win over the final three conference games likely clinches the all important sixth seed in the upcoming post season playoffs. Finishing sixth would tie last season’s best ever regular season finish in program history.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery outshot the Jaguars 43-30 including a huge 32-12 margin over the first two periods of play.
• Lightning sophomore center Jake Hudson scored his first career varsity goal and followed that marker up with another strike.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored two goals for the third consecutive game.
• The victory was Upper Montgomery’s third consecutive league win pushing the team’s record to 6-3-1 overall, and 6-2-1 in conference play.
• The two teams combined for six goals in the final five minutes of the third period.
• With his assist on Honakci’s second goal, Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer tied his career high in points in a season with thirteen. He had three points in the game with a goal and two assists.
• Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel had a four point game with a goal and three assists.
• Upper Montgomery has a critical matchup next Friday night when the team returns to Rockville Ice Arena to take on the Rockville / Magruder Rams. It is a game that will more than likely determine the sixth and seventh seeds in the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament. Faceoff is at 9:00 pm on Friday, January 10th.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Jake Hudson—Upper Montgomery Center —2 Goals
Second Star—Henry Honacki—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Third Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 3 Assists

Another week, another pivotal game for the Upper Montgomery Lightning. In defeating the BCC Barons in the season opener for both squads, the Lightning earned the program’s first ever victory over the perennial Montgomery County powerhouse program. Friday night the Lightning earned another hard fought victory over the Barons to sweep the season series. The game played out just as predicted. It was a very heavy game with lots of contact and hard hits. There was very little room to maneuver around the ice. Stellar goaltending kept the game low scoring. Behind a second consecutive two goal game from Upper Montgomery senior center Henry Honacki, the Lightning left the ice exhausted but in a celebratory mood.

The 3-2 triumph increased Upper Montgomery’s record on the season to 5-2-1 in conference play and 5-3-1 overall. With bottom feeder Northwest / Quince Orchard up next after winter break, the Lightning have an ideal opportunity to move four games over .500 in conference play. Upper Montgomery has likely already clinched a top eight seed in the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament. This is key as the home team has the last line change and is able to match up forward lines and defensive pairings against their opening round playoff opponent. It was a well earned victory for the Lightning in light of how the game started.

On the opening shift of the game BCC’s leading scorer Leo Alley-Strocher scored an unassisted goal to punch Upper Montgomery right in the nose thirty seconds into the game. A BCC zone entry was stopped by the Upper Montgomery defense. The puck was sent around the back of the net to the right corner. An attempted defensive zone clear by the Lightning defense banking the puck off the side boards was blocked by the Barons. The puck caromed into the center of the right faceoff circle. Without his stick, Honacki attempted to kick the puck back to the Upper Montgomery defense. He missed the puck with Alley-Strocher standing right there. Alley-Strocher was thus in alone in front of the net. He first stickhandled around Lightning sophomore goaltender Ilan Shterenberg and then lifted a backhander to the far side of the net past Shterenberg’s goalie stick and blocker.

The early BCC goal did not deter the Lightning. Upper Montgomery’s response was excellent. The Lightning went on to outshoot the Barons by a lopsided nineteen to four margin over the opening fifteen minutes of action. Only Barons senior goalie Tycho Narrod-Malcolm kept BCC from getting blown out of the rink making superior save after superior save to continuously thwart the Lightning. It was a testament to Upper Montgomery’s student athletes that they were not deterred by how well Narrod-Malcolm was playing. The Lightning kept attacking and swarming inside the BCC defensive zone.

Four minutes after Alley-Strocher’s goal, Upper Montgomery found the tying score. The Barons defense had control of the puck inside the BCC defensive zone. Lightning junior center and team captain Owen Robbins stick checked the puck. The puck slid over to the other Barons defender. Honacki checked the Barons defender separating the skater from the puck. Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin took possession of the loose puck. From the bottom of the left faceoff circle Bhasin made an unselfish pass over to Honakci in the crease. The Lightning’s senior center slammed the puck past Narrod-Malcolm’s glove into the open side of the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The rest of the period was played in the BCC defensive zone. There was enormous pressure put on the Narrod-Malcolm who stood tall in net. There was also substantial play along the boards and in the corners with both teams playing a physical rough and tumble style of game. Eventually, the first period came to a close with the score tied at one. BCC immensely needed the intermission break as they looked to recover and change the complexion of the game.

It would take some time as just over a minute into the second period BCC defender Benjamin Lyons was called for a tripping penalty. The Lightning powerplay had been smoking hot of late but was unable to capitalize this time as Narrod-Malcolm kept the puck out of the net. The rough and tumble play continued with each team feeling as if the referees missed a call or two. But, BCC was able to begin to convert defensive zone exits into offensive opportunities. Play in the second period was much more even with each team firing ten shots on goal. After the early goal against, Shterenberg settled in and stopped the next thirteen shots he faced through two periods of play.

With three and a half minutes remaining in the middle period Upper Montgomery jumped out to their first lead of the game. From a faceoff in the defensive zone to the left of Shterenberg, the draw was won back to Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer in the right corner. Berkhammer took the puck behind his net and then sent an outlet pass to Robbins in the neutral zone. Robbins’ attempted backhand pass hit a BCC defender’s skate and came right back to him. He then entered the offensive zone on a two on two rush with Bhasin. Robbins went wide and sent a backhand pass across the ice which was just out of reach of the BCC defense. Bhasin skated into the pass. From the inside edge in the lower part of the right faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot on goal. The puck went seven hole between Narrod-Malcolm’s body and blocker to the far side of the net. It was Bhasin’s first career varsity goal.

With a minute remaining in the middle period Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton was whistled for a tripping penalty. Upper Montgomery successfully killed off the second period portion of BCC’s extra skater advantage to preserve its one goal lead entering the third period.

BCC played with much more urgency in the third period. The wrap around portion of Howerton’s penalty saw BCC begin to generate more offensive chances and penetrate to the interior of the Upper Montgomery penalty kill. Shterenberg made several strong saves to keep the Barons off the scoreboard. BCC was back on the powerplay once again with ten minutes remaining in regulation when Robbins was called for cross checking in front of the Barons goal. It was a terrible call as Robbins leaned on a smaller skater who fell down. Upper Montgomery scrambled through the second Barons’ powerplay but with Sheterenberg making several more point blank saves as part of his fifteen in the period BCC remained trailing 2-1.

With five minutes remaining in the game, Lyons was assessed his second penalty of the night. It was another poor officiating call by the same official that called Robbins penalty five minutes prior. Unlike BCC, the Lightning took advantage of Lyons’ slashing penalty to extend the lead to 3-1. Off of a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the BCC defensive zone the Barons won the draw. However, Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng outraced the Barons defense to the puck in the right corner. Zheng sent a backhand pass off one of the BCC defenders to Honacki in the slot. Honacki’s backhand shot went wide of the net far side and into the left corner. Lightning junior forward Philip Shkeda won the race to the puck along the left wing side wall. He dropped the puck back to Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer sent a long range wrist shot at the net while falling away from the goal. Berkhammer’s shot was deflected by Honacki on net. Narrod-Malcolm made the pad save. Honacki and Zheng banged away at the rebound. The puck fired off Narrod-Malcolm’s pads up the slot to Shkeda. Shkeda faked a shot, hesitated, and made a backhand pass down to Honacki at the left post. Honacki controlled the pass and quickly fired over Narrod-Malcolm’s right leg pad under his blocker for the powerplay goal. It was his team leading fourth powerplay goal and ninth goal of the season.

With a two goal deficit, BCC pulled Narrod-Malcolm for an extra skater extremely early with 3:20 left in the game. Upper Montgomery played strong defense over the next minute. An icing call brought the faceoff back into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone in the left faceoff circle. Upper Montgomery won the ensuing faceoff. Poor communication by the Upper Montgomery defenders coupled with a poor defensive zone clear sent the puck to Barons forward Kiran Maltby. His bad angle shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle was easily saved by Shterenberg’s blocker. Howerton cleared the puck out of the crease. Maltby picked up the loose puck in the left corner and took the puck around the back of the net from left to right. His centering pass to the slot was lodged in a tangle of bodies and skates in front of Shterenberg. The puck squirted out of the pile of skaters to BCC forward Peter Lanpher at the back left goal post. Lanpher’s forehand shot to the backside of the net trickled through Shterenberg who was coming across the net and just over the goal line.

With 2:27 remaining in the game Upper Montgomery was ahead by just one, 3-2. Five seconds after the puck drop at center ice, Narrod-Malcolm was back on the bench in favor of the extra skater. The Upper Montgomery coaches kept the same set of skaters on the ice to try and prevent BCC from tying up the game. Robbins, Berkhammer, Zheng, Honacki, and ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins gutted through the remainder of the game fighting in the corners and along the boards to clear the puck back to center ice or into the Barons end of the ice. As the puck came to center ice one final time with under five seconds remaining in the game, the Lightning had secured a second consecutive victory over BCC.

The Lightning will look to carry the momentum from this important victory into the final four regular season conference games. With Northwest / Quince Orchard the first game after winter break, the Lightning have an opportunity to continue to climb up the conference standings. Upper Montgomery can finish with its best mark in conference play since the 2018 – 2019 season when the team only played the other teams in the lower division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Two wins over the final four conference games likely clinches the all important sixth seed in the upcoming post season playoffs. Finishing sixth would tie last season’s best ever finish in program history.

Game Notes:

• Upper Montgomery outshot the Barons 39-30 including a huge nineteen to four margin in the opening period.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored two goals for the second consecutive game. He also scored the game winning powerplay goal in each of the last two games.
• Honacki now leads the Lightning with nine goals.
• The six on five pulled goalie goal scored by BCC was the third such pulled goalie goal scored by the Lightning’s opposition in nine games. The Lightning won two of the games and tied the third.
• Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay again. The team is now seven for eighteen (38.9%) on the season with the extra skater. Last season, Upper Montgomery scored all of seven powerplay goals the entire year.
• Upper Montgomery swept the season series from the Barons. It is the first season in its sixteen years of existence that Upper Montgomery has defeated BCC.
• The only Montgomery County high school program that the Lightning have never beaten is the Churchill Bulldogs.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action after the winter break with the team’s annual senior night celebration. The Lightning will honor its seven seniors before the team takes on last place Northwest / Quince Orchard. Faceoff is at 8:10 pm on Friday, January 3rd at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Tycho Narrod-Malcolm—BCC Goalie—36 Saves, .923 Save Percentage
Second Star—Henry Honacki—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals Including Game Winning PPG
Third Star—Ilan Shterenberg–Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 2 Goals Against, 28 Saves, .933 Save Percentage

In a pivotal game with home ice implications for the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament, Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored his second goal of the contest on a four on three powerplay with eleven seconds remaining in overtime to propel the Upper Montgomery Lightning past the DC Stars 3-2. It was an excellent bounce back win after the drubbing the Lightning endured in their prior game versus Wootton. With the victory over the DC Stars, Upper Montgomery has likely wrapped up a top eight seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference post season tournament and along with that home ice advantage (last line change) in the opening round playoff matchup. The Lightning increased their overall record on the season to 4-3-1 and 4-2-1 in conference play.

A concerted team effort in all three zones allowed Upper Montgomery to emerge victorious while playing without the team’s top three offensive weapons, senior Nathan Cassel and juniors Owen Robbins and Philip Shkeda. With that much offensive firepower out of the lineup, the coaching staff anticipated a low scoring game. Although the DC Stars vastly outshot Upper Montgomery, most of the DC Stars shots on goal were from long range or were harmless shots where Lightning sophomore netminder Ilan Shterenberg had clear sight lines to make a routine save. On the other hand, DC Stars goalie Anton Tracy was largely responsible for keeping Upper Montgomery to only two goals in regulation by making several outstanding saves to redeem the spotty DC Stars defensive performance.

From the outset of the game, the DC Stars made a concerted effort to shoot pucks at the net. As previously mentioned, the Stars were not too concerned with how dangerous the shots were, just that they were pumping rubber at Shterenberg. They succeeded in firing fifteen shots on net during the opening period of play to just six shots for the Lightning. However, it was Upper Montgomery that jumped in front to an early lead.

From a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Lightning sophomore center Jake Hudson won the draw cleanly to Upper Montgomery junior defender Brady Berkhammer at the right point. Berkhammer faked past the DC Stars forward coming out to guard him at the point and carried the puck down the right wing boards into the right corner. He proceeded to spin around the DC Stars left defender and sent a goal mouth pass through the crease to the back left goal post. Berkhammer’s pass was right on the money for Lightning ninth grade forward Luke Hudson to bang home the puck past Tracy’s goalie stick and blocker for his first career high school varsity goal. The primary assist was Berkhammer’s sixth assist on the season. The faceoff win credited Jake Hudson with his sixth assist of the season as well.

With two minutes left in the first period, Upper Montgomery took at too many skaters on the ice penalty. The Lightning penalty killers stood tall and prevented the Stars from getting good looks at the net. There was plenty of traffic in front, but most of the Stars shots were blocked by Upper Montgomery’s defense or from bad angles with Shterenberg in good position to make the easy saves.

Entering the second period with a lead and knowing that they could play with a division one opponent, Upper Montgomery began to assert control of play. One offensive thrust a couple of minutes into the period bore fruit when DC Stars forward Reuven Magder was assessed a cross checking penalty wiping out an Upper Montgomery forward standing in the crease setting a screen. The resulting powerplay gave the Lightning an opportunity to extend their lead which was exactly what the Lightning would do.

While shorthanded, the DC Stars sent the puck the length of the ice to Shterenberg in front of the net. The Lightning netminder sent a long outlet pass up the ice to Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin on the left wing at the offensive blue line. Bhasin curled around in center ice and headed into the DC Stars defensive zone down the middle of the ice. Bhasin avoided a big check by the DC Stars top defender, senior 18U AA Leo Nyberg, and dumped the puck into the left corner. Bhasin then attempted to bring the puck toward the net front where he was stick checked by Tracy. Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Matt Rivera pinched in from his left point position to keep the play alive. The puck went down the left wing boards to Honacki on the side wall. Honacki curled off the boards to the center of the left faceoff circle and sent a rising wrist shot to the far side of the net. Tracy, with bodies screening him in front, picked up the puck too late as the shot zoomed past his catching glove into the top right corner of the net.

Upper Montgomery seemingly had control of the game until an unlucky penalty a minute later put the Stars on their second powerplay of the evening. Bhasin’s stick got stuck under the skates of a DC Stars defender and down he went sending Bhasin to the penalty box for tripping. Upper Montgomery did a fine job on the first minute of the Stars powerplay keeping everything to the outside. An Upper Montgomery clear down ice was stopped in the left faceoff circle by Tracy. Tracy sent a pass up ice to Stars forward Liam Saxon at center ice along the left wing boards. Saxon entered the Lightning defensive zone diagonally to the center of the ice. From just inside the blue line Saxon sent a long distance shot on goal. As with many of the Stars’ shot attempts on the evening, Shterenberg made an easy save. A poor clearing attempt by the Upper Montgomery defense was kept in the offensive zone by Nyberg. Nyberg skated to the top of the right faceoff circle where he unleashed a powerful wrist shot at the net. His shot rose high above Shterenberg’s collarbone and just under the crossbar. The top shelf unassisted powerplay marker brought the Stars to within one.

Right after Nyberg’s goal trimmed the Lightning’s lead, the Stars had an excellent opportunity to quickly tie up the game when Honacki was called for a roughing penalty. Upper Montgomery did an excellent job on the Stars third powerplay opportunity of the evening blocking several shots, getting to loose pucks, and repetitively getting the puck out of the defensive zone. However, after the powerplay concluded, with five minutes remaining in the second period the game was all tied up.

Upper Montgomery dumped the puck into the DC Stars defensive zone behind the goal. The DC Stars zone exit was messy, but the puck eventually came to Stars forward Patrick Kaufmann on the right side of the ice at his defensive blue line. Kaufmann carried the puck through neutral ice and dumped the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone between the right corner and the goal. Two DC Stars skaters outnumbered Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton on the puck. Stars defender Sam Bensky came away with the puck and sent a pass from behind the goal to the slot area. Stars forward Frederick Bao outmuscled the Lightning defense to gain inside position at the top of the crease where he tapped home the puck five hole through Shterenberg’s legs to tie the game at two.

Thirty seconds later the Lightning were on the powerplay again when Stars forward Thomas Quinn was called for cross checking for running over Rivera in the neutral zone. Upper Montgomery controlled the puck in the offensive zone for the entire powerplay. At times, the Lightning skaters did not shoot the puck looking for the perfect shot. Other times, the Lightning had very good looks that Tracy shut down with fine saves to keep the game tied. Then, with a minute left in the period, Bhasin was called for his second penalty of the period, this time for cross checking. The Lightning penalty killers excelled on this shorthanded opportunity to reach the end of the period deadlocked at two even though the Stars outshot the Lightning eleven to four during the period and 26-10 through two periods of play.

The Lightning killed off the remainder of Bhasin’s penalty to begin the third period. Then, the period settled into a mirror image of the opening fifteen minutes of play. The DC Stars entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone and shot from distance at Shterenberg who made eighteen more saves in the period. While Upper Montgomery was more conservative with their eight shots and generated the better offensive chances. Shterenberg was solid making each save and directing the rebounds out of harm’s way. Tracy was excellent keeping the score tied with several really good saves. As the clocked ticked under five minutes, it seemed as if every rush up ice had the potential to bring the game winning shot with it. Once the clock reached under a minute remaining in regulation time, each team seemed more inclined to just reach overtime to secure the important standings points.

Once overtime began, the DC Stars had possession for the first minute of the extra session with Nyberg testing Shterenberg early on and then Stars forward Kai Handy-Kanegis having a good look from the top of the circles that he fired wide of the net. After that first shift of overtime, Upper Montgomery dominated puck possession. The pressure paid off when Saxon was called for a tripping penalty with two minutes remaining in overtime. But, with running clock the faceoff in the Stars defensive zone did not occur until one minute and thirty one seconds remained in the game.

With the four on three powerplay chance, Honacki won the initial faceoff draw back to Berkhammer at the right point. Berkhammer skated into the slot and sent a low wrist shot to Tracy’s blocker side. The puck went over Tracy’s outstretched leg pad and banged hard off the left goal post. The ricochet bounced directly under Tracy and the puck was quickly frozen. Honacki won the next faceoff too cleanly as the puck went directly out of the offensive zone. Berkhammer brought the puck back into the offensive zone from center ice. He reset the play allowing the Lightning skaters to get into position and set up. He sent a pass from the right point over to the left point to Lightning sophomore defender Miles Wendland. Wendland’s long range wrist shot was saved by Tracy and cleared down ice by the Stars defense.

Upper Montgomery’s next zone entry saw Berkhammer send in Wendland down the left side of the ice. Wendland entered the offensive zone and shot high and wide of the net to the far side. The puck circled around the boards to Berkhammer along the right wing boards. Berkhammer sent the puck down into the right corner to Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng found Wendland in the mid slot. Wendland’s next wrist shot was an easy save for Tracy with the netminder using his blocker to send the puck to the left corner. Wendland followed up his shot and rushed over gain control of the puck in the left corner.

With twenty-three seconds left in overtime Wendland sent the puck to Honacki at the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Honacki’s weak wrist shot was intercepted by the Stars defense. Berkhammer pressured the tired DC Stars forward who sent the puck to the right wing boards but not out danger. The puck was still in the DC Stars defensive zone and Berkhammer was easily first to the puck. Eighteen seconds remained when Berkhammer curled high in the offensive zone near the blue line. He deked between the Stars penalty killing forwards to the left portion of the slot. With everyone expecting Berkhammer to shot because he had a clear lane to the net, Nyberg came over to try and prevent Berkhammer’s shot.

Instead, Berkhammer made a deft pass over to Honacki on the right side of the goal. With a yawning net with Tracy faced up to Berkhammer and no defender nearby, from two feet in front of the goal Honacki buried the puck into the near side of the net. The buzzer beating goal set off a huge celebratory scrum in the right corner as the entire Lightning team charged over the boards to join in. Honacki’s powerplay tally was his seventh goal of the season tying him for the team lead. The goal officially came with 10.6 seconds remaining in overtime. Berkhammer’s pretty pass was his team leading seventh assist of the season.

The Lightning will look to carry the momentum of this thrilling win into next week’s rematch against BCC. Upper Montgomery will be looking for the season sweep of the Barons and to go three games over .500 on the season in conference play. With Northwest / Quince Orchard the first game after the winter break, the Lightning have an opportunity to finish with their best mark in conference play since the 2018 – 2019 season when the team only played the other teams in the lower division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Until the season opening win over BCC, Upper Montgomery had gone winless against the Barons in their first fifteen years of existence.

Game Notes:

• The DC Stars badly outshot Upper Montgomery doubling up the Lightning by a 46-23 margin. Upper Montgomery had the better of play in the overtime session outshooting the DC Stars five to two.
• Honacki’s two goals ties him with junior center Owen Robbins for the team lead with seven goals on the season.
• Upper Montgomery scored on both powerplay chances and is now six for sixteen (37.5%) on the season with the extra skater. Last season, Upper Montgomery scored all of seven powerplay goals the entire year.
• It was Berkhammer’s second two assist game of the season.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action next week to face off against the BCC Barons. Upper Montgomery defeated BCC for the first time in program history in the season opener for both teams. Game time is 8:45 pm next Friday at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Henry Honacki—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals Including Game Winning Overtime PPG
Second Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 44 Saves, 2 Goals Against, .957 Save Percentage.
Third Star—Brady Berkhammer–Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Assists

The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday night’s contest against Wootton knowing that they played the Patriots tough three weeks ago in a 3-1 loss. Upper Montgomery held the high scoring Wootton attack to nine goals under their season average. The rematch was entirely one sided with Wootton thumping Upper Montgomery in a very non-competitive contest by a score of 10-1. Upper Montgomery’s one goal was comparable to a soccer own goal because Wootton accidently shot the puck into their own net. It was definitely sweet revenge for Wootton. After never losing to Upper Montgomery in the first fourteen years of Upper Montgomery’s existence, Wootton lost twice to the Lightning two years ago and was embarrassed by the Lightning in last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Championship game falling 9-1.

Lightning sophomore goaltender Ilan Shterenberg was under siege right from the opening faceoff. Upper Montgomery looked to play a structured defense first game in an attempt to neutralize Wootton’s high powered offense. The Lightning were hoping to mimic their defensive performance from the last game. It never had a chance to work. Wootton was relentless off the opening draw at center ice pressuring the Lightning all over the ice. Upper Montgomery rarely had clean possession of the puck. Many of the Lightning shots on goal were dump ins from center ice or shots from long range along the boards.

In contrast, Wootton peppered Shterenberg with pucks. The Patriots were first to rebounds and kept coming forward in waves. The young Lightning were overwhelmed and buried. Wootton’s all-state senior 18U AA defender Sam Hosier did the most damage scoring four goals and assisting on three other Patriots strikes. The deluge commenced four minutes into the game. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to neutral ice. In neutral ice Wootton defender Jayden Ahn chipped the puck off the left wing boards with his backhand. The puck banked forward to Wootton senior forward Nathan Tai who was coming out of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to get back onside. Tai sent a backhand pass across the ice to Hosier on the right wing boards. Hosier circled around the neutral zone to pick up speed before entering the offensive zone on the right side. He drove wide around the Upper Montgomery defense and cut left towards the net. He sent a forehand shot to the back of the net high to the far side over Shterenberg’s blocker and right shoulder.

Sixteen seconds later it was Hosier two goals and Upper Montgomery zero. From a faceoff outside the Lightning defensive zone, Hosier won the draw to the right wing boards. He was first to the puck and once again did his customary curl around the center ice faceoff circle. Then, he rocketed directly up ice into the Lightning defensive zone. High above the faceoff circles from the middle of the offensive zone Hosier fired a wrist shot that bounced off Shterenberg’s glove, popped up into the air, and landed behind the young goalie settling into the net. It was a soft goal to allow and the two goal deficit seemed to further deflate the Lightning.

Upper Montgomery closed the gap to 2-1 with just under nine minutes remaining in the first period. It would be the only positive for the Lightning on this night. Back pressure applied by Lightning ninth grade forward Luke Hudson on the left wing of the neutral zone caused a turnover. Lightning senior center Henry Honacki stole the puck and headed up ice into the Wootton defensive zone. He curled up between the faceoff circle and the side wall and fired a bad angle shot at Wootton goalie Kevin Yu. Yu made an easy pad save with the puck shooting out into the empty slot. Backchecking Wootton defender Jaina Kronforst shot the puck looking to put it out of harm’s way into the right corner. She hooked her attempt slightly left and shot the puck into her own net past Yu. Honacki as the last Lightning skater to touch the puck was awarded the unassisted goal.

The Lightning’s good fortune lasted less than two minutes when Patriots forward Owen Goozh made the score 3-1 Wootton. The puck was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone in the left corner. The puck was then carried behind the net by the Upper Montgomery defense and cleared up the right wing boards where it was intercepted by Tai. Tai fumbled the puck but was able to send it back to the point to Wootton defender David Oberst. Oberst then lost control of the puck into the high slot where Goozh pivoted and immediately fired a rising shot high through a double screen of Lightning defenders past Shterenberg’s glove. With five and a half minutes remaining in the opening period, Lightning senior forward Josh Nadler was called for a roughing penalty. The Lightning successfully killed off the penalty only because Wootton missed the net on several good looks after repeatedly breaking down the Lightning penalty killers.

Hosier closed out the first period scoring with twelve seconds remaining to put Wootton up 4-1. Goozh had the puck in the neutral zone before he entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He took the puck down to the left corner and continued to stickhandle looking to center a pass to the slot. Goozh sent the puck behind the net to the right defensive corner where it was picked up by Hosier. Hosier sent the puck up the right wing boards to the right point. The puck was dumped back down to the left corner intended for Goozh but went past him to Tai. Tai sent the puck to Goozh at the side of the net. Goozh tried to muscle the puck past Shterenberg to the short side. Shterenberg made the save with the puck coming right back to Goozh. Goozh then made a nice touch pass through the crease to Hosier in the low slot. Hosier had the entire right side of the open net to dump the puck into. Shots on goal in the first period were twenty three for Wootton and eight for Upper Montgomery.

The second period was a mirror image of the first period. Wootton fired eighteen shots on goal, three of which found the net and Upper Montgomery was credited with seven non-threatening shots that Yu saved. Three minutes into the period Ahn was given a checking from behind penalty and ten minute misconduct. The referees also called Nadler for a retaliatory roughing penalty to eliminate the potential Upper Montgomery powerplay.

With six minutes played of the second period Upper Montgomery had somewhat stopped the Wootton barrage. Then, on a shift with extended offensive zone time, Wootton increased the lead to 5-1. The scoring sequence began with a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Several poor Upper Montgomery defensive clears failed to get the puck to neutral ice. The last bad defensive clear was intercepted by Goozh. With the puck on the left wing side of the ice he dumped the puck behind the Lightning net. A puck battle ensued. Tai came out of the pack with puck possession. He sent a spinning backhand pass through the crease where the puck was kept in at the left point by Wootton defender Drew Kronforst. Kronforst sent the puck at the net where it landed in multiple skater’s feet. The puck bounced loose to Wootton forward Justin Heller who put the puck past Shterenberg short side low past his goalie stick.

Having largely keep Wootton in check during the second period, the Lightning finally faltered when Wootton broke through with under two minutes remaining. Hosier used a poke check to steal the puck at the red line. He went in on a three on two rush with Goozh and Heller. From the outside edge of the left faceoff circle he fired a pass through the crease to Goozh for an easy tap goal in at the back right goal post. Goozh had gotten behind the Upper Montgomery defense to deposit his second goal of the game.

On the next shift the game went into running clock as the score grew to 7-1. Off of a faceoff from the left faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the Lightning failed to clear the defensive zone…again. Hosier kept the puck in the offensive zone at the left point. He shoveled the puck with one hand on his stick over to Wootton forward Nathan Geeng. Geeng skated to the inner edge of the left faceoff circle where he fired a wrist shot to the near side post which went past Shterenberg’s goalie stick.

As the third period began, Wootton’s scoring onslaught continued. Geeng scored his second goal of the game on the first shift of the period. After several nice saves by Shterenberg, another bad Upper Montgomery defensive zone clear was grabbed by Hosier using his feet to settle the puck. The play was actually offsides as the puck came out of the defensive zone but the referee who made the call was well out of position. Hosier even stopped for a second or two as he knew the puck had come to center ice. With no whistle for offsides, Hosier then skated around the onrushing Upper Montgomery forward and fired a wrist shot at the net. Shterenberg made the save with his chest protector and the puck fell to the ice. The rebound was knocked in by Geeng standing all alone at the right goal post.

With six minutes mercifully remaining in the contest, Wootton scored again to go up 9-1. An Upper Montgomery shot missed the net. Hosier collected the puck on the left wing in his defensive zone. He skated up ice at full speed and blew past the Upper Montgomery right defender in the neutral zone. He came down the left side of the ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. At the left faceoff circle he cut right at the net and sent a backhand shot far side under Shterenberg’s glove for the unassisted goal, his fourth of the game.

On the next shift, Wootton reached double figures in goals. Geeng came down the left wing into the Lightning defensive zone. He turned, emerging from a puck battle to feed Wootton depth forward Brendan Lau in front. Lau stopped the puck with his forehand. He then moved the puck to his backhand and fired at Shterenberg. The Lightning goalie got most of the puck, however it popped up into the air and just over the goal line.

The Lightning now have a break to wipe away the stink of this performance as they do not play for the next three weeks. When the team returns to action, Upper Montgomery faces a challenge of a cross over game against the DC Stars from division one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. A win for the Lightning will go a long way toward locking up a home playoff game in the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference season ending post season playoff tournament.

Game Notes:

• Wootton significantly outshot Upper Montgomery 50-19 for the game, including 41-15 over the first two periods of play. It was a similar margin of shots on goal compared with the first game between the two teams, with Wootton doubling up the Lightning in shots 52-26.
• Upper Montgomery has now lost three of its last four games to drag is record down to 3-3-1 on the season after a fast start to the campaign.
• Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay in the contest.
• Upper Montgomery has scored a total of two goals in its three games against top fifteen teams in the state; 3-1 and 10-1 against Wootton and 7-0 against Urbana.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action after the Thanksgiving break to face division one opponent the DC Stars. Game time on Friday, December 13th is at 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Sam Hosier—Wootton Defense—4 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Owen Goozh—Wootton Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Nathan Geeng–Wootton Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday night’s contest against Richard Montgomery on a two game losing streak. The team knew they needed to bear down and play much better. A connected team effort in all three zones was necessary to prevail against an offensively talented by struggling Rockets squad. Upper Montgomery largely succeeded getting contributions from up and down the lineup to throttle the Rockets by a score of 7-4. Lightning junior center Owen Robbins stole the show by scoring four goals and adding an assist propelling Upper Montgomery to victory.

The win advanced Upper Montgomery’s record in conference play to 3-1-1, and concluded play against the other teams in division two of the Montgomery Hockey Conference right in the thick of the conference standings. Gaining the sixth seed in the year end conference rankings would guarantee that the Lightning would miss playing the top two teams in the county (Walter Johnson and Whitman) during the season ending playoff tournament. Likely, a key second half of the season matchup between Rockville / Magruder and Upper Montgomery will determine which squad finishes in sixth place and which squad finishes in seventh place.

The game started off very shaky for Upper Montgomery. Most of the opening four minutes of play was confined to the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The Richard Montgomery offensive pressure paid off as the Rockets got on the scoreboard first. A poor clear by the Lightning defense was kept in at the right point by Rockets defender Franklin Karton. Karton sent the puck diagonally across the ice to the left corner where it was corralled by Richard Montgomery forward Connor Rosier. Rosier skated up the left wing boards and flipped the puck back over to Karton at the right point. Karton fired a wrist shot at the net through several skaters bodies and legs. Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg made the save on Karton’s shot with the rebound caroming out to the right side of the net at a forty five degree angle. Rosier was standing right where the rebound shot out and he was able to deposit the rebound past Shterenberg’s blocker side before the Lightning goalie could slide over to make the save.

The Rockets lead would last all of sixteen seconds. Off the ensuing faceoff at center ice Richard Montgomery controlled the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Lightning sophomore forward Jake Hudson chased down the zone entry from behind. After controlling the puck, Hudson skated up the right wing boards fighting through a body check and out of his defensive end. At center ice he fired a pass up to Robbins near the Richard Montgomery defensive blue line. Robbins then sent a cross ice pass over to Hudson’s younger brother, ninth grade forward Luke Hudson entering the offensive zone in on a two on one rush with Robbins. Luke Hudson made an immediate and gorgeous one touch return pass to Robbins on the right wing. Robbins unleashed a snap shot low along the ice, short side just inside the right goal post. Richard Montgomery netminder Blake Schoenebeck never had a chance to come back across the net. The primary assist was Luke Hudson’s first career varsity point.

Halfway through the opening period Upper Montgomery would surge to the lead. From the right point Rockets defender Samir Wang fired a shot wide of the net. The puck was kept in at the left point by Wang’s defensive partner Ryan Jones. Jones’ shot was blocked by Upper Montgomery senior defender Cole Howerton–who played the best game of his Lightning career. Howerton’s defensive partner ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins took possession of the puck behind the Lightning net. She sent the puck up the left wing boards to Upper Montgomery junior forward Philip Shkeda. Shkeda skated the puck out of the defensive zone before sending a cross ice pass to Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng on the right wing. Zheng skated the puck from the red line into the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. From between the top of the right faceoff circle and the blue line he uncorked a wrist shot that went high glove side on Schoenebeck. The puck sizzled past Schoenbeck’s glove before hitting the bottom of the crossbar and deflecting down into the back of the net to put the Lightning in front 2-1.

With five minutes remaining in the first period the Rockets struck back to tie the game at two. Upper Montgomery cleared the defensive zone. Richard Montgomery’s most explosive skater, senior 18U AA center Tom Stone gained possession of the puck inside his own defensive blue line. He sent a cross ice pass to the left wing to Rockets forward Caleb Liu. Upper Montgomery’s defense stood up the play at the blue line separating Liu from the puck. The puck slid over to Richard Montgomery forward Connor Myers who skated into the left faceoff circle. From the faceoff dot he cut to the inside. At the inside edge of the left faceoff circle he fired back across where he had come from. The puck rose to mid goal height and drifted past Shterenberg’s blocker.

With a minute remaining in the opening period Robbins’ second goal of the game provided the Lightning with a 3-2 lead entering the first intermission. Back pressure by Zheng caused a turnover. Robbins, who was jumping onto the ice from the bench during a line change, grabbed the puck in the neutral zone. He skated up ice on the right wing into the offensive zone. From the top of the right faceoff circle, while falling away from the net, Robbins fired a wrist shot that went far side past Schoenebeck’s blocker. It was a perfectly placed shot that snuck just inside the left goal post above the goalie’s right leg pad and below his blocker.

The evenly played period concluded without either team having a powerplay opportunity. Shots on goal were Richard Montgomery with ten and Upper Montgomery with nine. The up and down the ice period was high scoring and very entertaining for the spectators. However, Upper Montgomery’s coaching staff was not pleased with the loosey goosey style of play which allowed Richard Montgomery to have too much time and space in the offensive zone.

Right off the jump in the second period, Upper Montgomery responded to the coaches messaging during the first intermission. A Richard Montgomery forward wiped out in his offensive zone under intense Upper Montgomery defensive pressure. From the right defensive corner Lillian Robbins sent the puck up the right wing boards to Jake Hudson on the half wall. Hudson turned and whipped an outlet pass hitting Shkeda in stride down the left wing side of the ice. Shkeda carried the puck into the offensive zone. His slinging wrist shot from the left faceoff circle went high across the goal to the far side past Schoenebeck’s glove and into the top right corner of the net.

Three minutes later Shkeda would score his second goal of the evening and fourth goal of the season to extend the Lightning’s lead to 5-2 and give the team a bit of breathing room. A Richard Montgomery shot from the right point was blocked by Owen Robbins. Robbins then chipped the puck high off the glass from his defensive zone into neutral ice. Robbins charged after the puck in the neutral zone and arrived just ahead of the Richard Montgomery defender. He poked the puck forward up ice to Shkeda. Shkeda stickhandled around the Rockets defense coming over to the right side of the ice before cutting wide around the backchecking Rockets. As he cleared the Rockets defenders, Shkeda cut toward the net. Shkeda was patient with the puck coming past Schoenebeck from right to left while Schoenebeck reached forward to try and grab the puck. With the puck on his forehand and clear of the netminder, Shkeda fired a lofting shot into the back of the net past the prone goalie’s stick hand side and blocker.

Halfway through the middle period Karton was called for a hooking penalty putting Upper Montgomery on the powerplay for the first time. The Lightning entered the offensive zone with puck possession with Zheng taking the puck wide on the right wing side of the ice. As he took the puck towards the net a scramble ensued with skaters from each team attempting to gain control of the loose puck. Eventually, Shkeda gained control of the puck in the left corner. He sent a backhand pass to Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer steadied the puck and settled down play. He then sent a defense to defense pass to Owen Robbins at the right point. Robbins was deployed as one of the defenders with the Lightning on the powerplay. His long range wrist shot to the left side of the net went past a screened Schoenebeck to his stick and blocker side. It was Robbins third goal of the game and second hat-trick of the season. The marker was also his team leading sixth goal of the season.

With two minutes remaining in the period Lightning senior center Henry Honacki and Richard Montgomery senior forward Lester Benitez got tangled up. Benitez muscled up Honacki who cross checked him back in response. Both seniors were shown to the penalty box with Richard Montgomery’s frustration beginning to show trailing by a score of 6-2. The dust up did energize the Rockets who scored a minute later to cut the lead to 6-3 heading into the third period.

From an Upper Montgomery shot that was semi-blocked, Stone gathered the puck in his defensive zone. He skated by himself out through the neutral zone and down the right side of the ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His wrist shot from the right faceoff circle went high over Shterenberg’s blocker into the top left corner of the net for the unassisted goal. Shots on goal in the second period were even once again with Richard Montgomery sending ten pucks at Shterenberg and Upper Montgomery putting eleven shots on Schoenebeck. After two periods of play, each team stood at twenty shots on goal.

Over the third period Upper Montgomery sat back to defend their three goal margin. Five minutes into the period Owen Robbins connected for his team leading seventh goal of the season and fourth goal of the night. Jake Hudson and Owen Robbins teamed up to steal the puck in the neutral zone. Robbins passed the puck to Shkeda on the left wing entering the offensive zone. From the faceoff dot in the left faceoff circle Shkeda sent a wrist shot wide of the goal short side. Jake Hudson got to the puck first on the right side of the ice near the right corner. He sent the puck back from where it came behind the net from right to left. Shkeda coming out of the left corner behind the net had the puck explode off his stick directly back to Hudson. Hudson then returned the puck to Shkeda now in the right corner. Shkeda sent a return pass to Hudson along the right wing half wall. Hudson continued the play sending the puck back to the right point to Lillian Robbins. Her shot from the point was blocked by the on rushing Richard Montgomery forward. Owen Robbins gathered the loose puck and fired an off balance shot high over Schoenebeck’s blocker.

Up 7-3 with ten minutes remaining in the game Upper Montgomery went into somewhat of a defensive shell. This allowed Richard Montgomery to have more offensive zone time. It also resulted in the Rockets outshooting the Lightning by a fifteen to seven margin in the final period. Upper Montgomery’s defense held strong until there were just under three minutes remaining in the game. Rockets defender Wang sent an outlet pass from the right wing of his defensive zone to Rosier just outside the blue line. Rosier skated down the middle of the ice to the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line where Upper Montgomery defenders, senior Patrick Sell and Lillian Robbins interrupted Rosier’s rush up ice. While falling down, Rosier collected the puck in the right faceoff circle. He mustered a weak wrist shot high towards the net. The puck bounced off of Shterenberg’s glove, flittered up over the goalie and bounded into the net. It was fortunate for the Lightning that they had a four goal lead when the weak goal was allowed.

The bad break did not deter the Lightning who continued to play sound defensively. The final three minutes ticked away with Upper Montgomery thwarting the Rockets even when Upper Montgomery senior forward Josh Nadler took at interference penalty in the final minute clearing out a Rockets forward in front of the net. The Lightning now have a little time to appreciate the victory over the Rockets as a rematch against arch rival Wootton is on the horizon in two weeks. Wootton will be looking for revenge after a close game against the Lightning earlier this season and three consecutive Upper Montgomery victories over the past two seasons.

Game Notes:

• Richard Montgomery outshot Upper Montgomery by a 35-28 margin.
• Upper Montgomery junior center Owen Robbins scored a career high four goals and added an assist for a career high five point game.
• Lightning junior forward Philip Shkeda had his second four point game of the season with two goals and two assists.
• Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins had her first career multi point varsity game with a career high three assists.
• Upper Montgomery forward Jake Hudson had a career high three assist game as well.
• Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Luke Hudson notched his first career varsity point with a pretty assist on Robbins’ first goal.
• High scoring Richard Montgomery forward Lester Benitez returned to the Rockets lineup after missing the early portion of the season.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action after a week off to face arch rival Wootton. The game will be a rematch of the team’s recent contest won by the Patriots 3-1. Upper Montgomery played well and held Wootton to just three goals which was nine goals below their season average. Game time is 9:00 pm on Friday, November 22nd at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Owen Robbins—Upper Montgomery Center—4 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Third Star—Cole Howerton–Upper Montgomery Defense

The Upper Montgomery Lightning are known as a program that will play any high school hockey program anywhere and at anytime. Often, the team plays against the top ranked opponents throughout the state. On Tuesday afternoon Upper Montgomery was steamrolled by the Urbana Hawks for the second consecutive season falling by a score of 7-0. For the Lightning it was not a very good performance coming on the heels of Friday evening’s excellent showing against archrival and highly ranked Wootton. Upper Montgomery’s excellent defensive effort stymied the Patriots holding them to only three goals, nine goals below their average heading into the contest. Against Urbana, Upper Montgomery had no answers and did not match the Hawks physicality or intensity. Additionally, the young Lightning defenders were often exposed and taken advantage of by the more experienced Hawks.

Urbana jumped on Upper Montgomery right from the outset of the contest cruising to a 3-0 lead after the opening fifteen minutes of action while outshooting the Lightning by a very lopsided eighteen to five margin. Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg must have felt like he was on the wrong end of a machine constantly firing pucks his way as Urbana controlled territorial play for the entire period.

It took only three and a half minutes for the Hawks to get on the board. A poor clearing attempt by the Lightning along the left wing boards in the defensive zone was intercepted by Urbana forward Matthew Browning-Elam. He skated behind the net from right to left all the way out to the left faceoff circle where he dropped the puck back to the left point to his brother, Andrew Browning-Elam. Andrew Browning-Elam dumped the puck into the left corner where Urbana forward Kendall Hanson sent a centering pass to the slot area looking for Urbana center Zachary Thayer. Thayer mishandled the puck as he was about to shoot on net. He recovered the puck in the left faceoff circle drawing the defense with him as he fired a cross crease pass over to Matthew Browning-Elam. The Hawks forward had gotten behind the Upper Montgomery defense and had no difficulty tapping the puck into the wide open right side of the net past Shterenberg.

A minute later the lead became 2-0. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the two centers tied each other up. Hanson swept in and got the puck. She sent a bank pass off the right wing boards back to the point. Urbana defender Michael Dye settled the puck and fired a long range wrist shot from just inside the blue line. The puck sailed high to the blocker side of Shterenberg. Partially screened, Shterenberg picked up the puck late and could not prevent the shot from landing in the top left corner of the net. With a two goal cushion and firmly in control of play, Urbana did not let up and continued to threaten offensively.

It took almost nine minutes but the Hawks finally scored again to take a commanding 3-0 lead with a minute and a half remaining in the first period. Urbana’s scoring sequence began with a faceoff in the offensive zone in the left faceoff circle. Hawks center Buck Vongnaraj won the draw to the left wing boards to Urbana forward Alexander Cheves. Cheves cut inside an Upper Montgomery forward to the left faceoff circle. He proceeded into the slot unencumbered and fired a backhand shot at the net through traffic. The puck squeezed past Shterenberg seven hole between his blocker and body.

Mercifully, the first period ended and the Lightning were able to clear their heads and settle down after getting outclassed through the first fifteen minutes of play. Play over the first ten minutes of the second period saw Upper Montgomery more actively compete for loose pucks and focus on getting the puck out of their defensive zone, reach center ice, and dumping the puck behind the Urbana net. At the halfway point of the period, Urbana removed starting goalie Mason Sebold and replaced him with backup netminder Chloe Hanson.

With five minutes remaining in the second period, Hawks forward Patrick Terrebonne scored to increase the margin to 4-0 Urbana. From a faceoff originating outside of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone on the right wing in neutral ice, Urbana won the draw back to the red line. A defense to defense pass positioned the puck on the left side of the ice where the puck was sent to Cheves coming down the left wing boards into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Cheves skated through the left faceoff circle into the left corner and turned to go around the net from left to right. Without a shooting lane he sent the puck to the right point to Dye. Dye’s long range shot from the point was deflected by Terrebonne at the edge of the crease up and over Shterenberg’s glove hand.

Two minutes later Cheves scored his second goal of the game to make the score 5-0. Another faceoff play began from the left faceoff circle in front of Shterenberg. Upper Montgomery won the draw but Cheves outraced the Lightning to the puck before sending the puck behind the net to Terrebonne. Terrebonne returned the puck to Cheves who took the puck out the other side of the net, left to right. Finding some open space, Cheves fired short side past Shterenberg’s glove.

With the game out of hand and the third period left to play, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff asked the team to focus on winning the third period. Unfortunately, the team was unable to generate much offensively. Urbana again began teeing off against Shterenberg firing pucks almost at will with little resistance from the Lightning. With nine minutes left in the game, Upper Montgomery backup goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons was inserted into the game to receive some varsity level experience and save Shterenberg from the barrage of shots he was facing.

The first shot on net against Stutsrim-Lyons went in to put the game into running clock as Urbana had a six goal lead. Andrew Browning-Elam had the puck behind his own net. He sent the puck to Dye in the left corner. Dye fired the puck up ice to the blue line finding Urbana forward Dimitri Kolmakov. Kolmakov’s cross ice pass to Urbana depth forward Matthew Albertson missed connecting. Trailing the play, Browning-Elam picked up the puck on the left wing boards. He cut to the inside of the ice heading down the slot through the Lightning defense. As he got to the top of the crease, Browning-Elam sent a backhand shot far side past Stutsrim-Lyons’ glove hand.

The only positive about running clock when a team is loosing badly is that it gets the game over sooner. But, not soon enough for the Lightning. Urbana’s forwards began cherry picking and trying to make highlight reel plays. Most did not work except for one play by Andrew Browning-Elam with six minutes remaining in the game. After the referees let a tripping penalty go against Urbana without a call, Dye took possession of the puck in the left corner of his defensive zone. He sent a homerun stretch pass to Browning-Elam at the Upper Montgomery defensive blue line. Browning-Elam was in all alone on a breakaway. He faked a shot causing Stutsrim-Lyons to go down early before firing high over the prone goalie’s glove.

Upper Montgomery will look to quickly flush the non-conference defeat as the team gears up to face Richard Montgomery on Friday. A win over the talented by struggling Rockets would conclude the Lightning’s swing though the other teams in division two of the Montgomery Hockey Conference with a 3-1-1 conference record and looking to break into the top half of the overall conference standings.

Game Notes:

• Urbana badly outshot Upper Montgomery 41-16 for the game, including 18-5 in the first period.
• Upper Montgomery was shutout for the first time this season and for the first time since losing to Churchill 8-0 last year.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki’s three game goal scoring streak ended.
• There were no penalties called during the game so neither team received a powerplay opportunity.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action on Friday, November 8 when the Lightning take on the Richard Montgomery Rockets. Game time is 9:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Alexander Cheves—Urbana Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Michael Dye—Urbana Defense—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—Andrew Browning-Elam–Urbana Defense—2 Goals

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returned to conference play after a long layoff skating to a 5-2 victory over the Whitman Vikings. The Lightning were not playing with their full junior varsity lineup as the coaching staff chose to hold out several student athletes. With a varsity contest later in the evening, the coaches did not want students to have to pull double duty and play two games in one day. Not having the entire squad did not matter. Upper Montgomery was clearly the better team playing one the team’s best games of the season. The Lightning played within the style and structure that the coaching staff implemented at the beginning of the first team practice session back in September. The victory propelled the team to the fourth seed in the conference standings with a 4-1-2 conference record and 4-2-2 overall.

The game started off ominously for Upper Montgomery as Whitman scored on their first shot of the game. After an Upper Montgomery icing there was a faceoff in the Lightning defensive zone in the left faceoff circle. A clean faceoff win by Vikings center Atticus Davis went to the inside of the ice and directly to Whitman’s right defender, Nicholas Naum. From the inside edge of the left faceoff circle Naum unleashed a wrist shot from the slot. With a direct look at the net, Naum’s shot went far side past Upper Montgomery’s ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons’s glove hand. Under two minutes into the game, Upper Montgomery was behind.

The Whitman lead did not last long. With ten minutes remaining in the opening period the Lightning would strike to even the score at one. After a good save by Vikings’ netminder Alexander Minkoff on Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin from close in front, Whitman failed to clear the defensive zone. The puck was kept in the offensive zone by Upper Montgomery junior forward Jason Woodman. He nudged the puck forward to Lightning ninth grade forward Max Israfilbek who touched the puck. Bhasin controlled the puck and fired at the net from the right faceoff circle. His shot was blocked into the right corner.

Bhasin retrieved the puck and took it behind the net from right to left where he then lost control of the puck. The Whitman defense cleared the puck to the left point where Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans stopped the puck with her feet. She positioned her body and fired a left handed wrist shot at the net from a stride inside the blue line. Minkoff stuck out his stick to make the save. The puck hit his stick then rose into the air. As the puck fluttered up over his right shoulder it nestled across the goal line into the net for an unassisted goal, Evans’ second tally of the season.

With under four minutes remaining in the period, the teams traded powerplay opportunities. First, Naum was called for an interference penalty putting Whitman down a skater. Upper Montgomery’s powerplay barely had any zone time as dump in after dump in was smacked back down the ice by the Whitman defense. With thirty seconds left on Naum’s penalty, Israfilbek was called for hooking. As with the Upper Montgomery powerplay, Whitman was also unable to set up in the offensive zone. The Lightning stopped every Vikings rush up ice and sent the puck back down into the Whitman defensive zone. The first period ended with the score tied at one and with Upper Montgomery outshooting Whitman ten to seven.

The first half of the second period was played evenly. Then, Upper Montgomery exploded over the second half of the middle frame. Upper Montgomery’s second goal of the game came after the puck was kept in at the left point by Upper Montgomery senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton rimmed the puck around the boards behind the Whitman net and over to the right corner. A weak Whitman defensive clear up the boards was kept in the offensive zone by Upper Montgomery sophomore defender Max Curtusan. He ticked the puck to Upper Montgomery senior center AJ Marks. Marks sent a seam pass to Bhasin cutting down the slot. Bhasin fired a wrist shot along the ice that went under the right leg pad of Minkoff into the back of the net. It was Bhasin’s fifth goal of the season and second in as many games. Marks’ assist was his team leading seventh of the season.

A minute later an individual play by Howerton increased the lead to 3-1. Whitman had possession of the puck at center ice. An attempted dump in deep into the Lightning defensive zone was intercepted by Howerton along the right side of the ice inside his blue line. Howerton took the puck up the middle of the ice into the offensive zone. He then cut left around the Whitman defense traveling down into the lower part of the left faceoff circle. He shot high to the far side of the net. The puck clipped off the top of Minkoff’s glove hand and tumbled past the Vikings goaltender into the net. It was Howerton’s fourth goal of the season.

Down three to one Whitman would not go away. Whitman forward Josephine Ingis helping out on defense had the puck in the right corner of her defensive zone. She made a smart looking outlet pass to her center Hugh Golub heading up the center of the ice in the defensive zone. Golub pushed the puck forward and then exploded up ice when the near side Upper Montgomery defender fell. Golub was in alone on a breakaway. From the bottom of the inner edge of the right faceoff circle he fired far side high over Stutsrim-Lyons’ blocker into the top left portion of the net.

A minute after Golub’s goal brought the Vikings closer, Upper Montgomery would extend the lead back to a two goal cushion. Another poor Whitman defensive clearing attempt was kept in the offensive zone at the right point by Lightning senior defender Patrick Sell. He sent the puck down the side boards to Marks coming out of the right corner. Marks dug the puck off the boards and pushed it toward the center of the ice to Lightning sophomore forward Mason Jagoz. Marks then moved into the high slot where Jagoz found him with a return pass. Marks sent a wrist shot low along the ice back across from the direction he had come from. The puck sailed past Minkoff’s glove hand into the net. It was Marks’ fifth goal of the season and team leading twelfth point. The Lightning’s impressive middle period where they scored on three of their five shots on goal provided a two goal margin with just fifteen minutes left to play.

The Upper Montgomery goal scoring spree continued in the first minute of the third period. Howerton blocked a Whitman offensive zone entry along the left wing boards in his defensive zone. He banked the puck off the boards up ice to Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng settled the puck and then headed up ice out of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He skated through the middle of the ice in the neutral zone and cut right entering the offensive zone. From the right faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot far side high over Minkoff’s blocker into the top left portion of the net. The goal was very similar to Golub’s goal for Whitman in the second period. For Zheng it was his team leading sixth goal of the season.

Upper Montgomery spent the final fourteen minutes of the game playing responsible defensive hockey. Defensive zone clears, reaching the red line, dumping the puck deep into the Whitman defensive zone, pressuring the Whitman defense, creating chaos, and repeating that pattern over and over again. There were two hooking penalties called late in the game, one on each team. Whitman’s Davis was sent to the penalty box with five minutes remaining. Upper Montgomery’s sophomore center Jackson Schicker got the gate with just less than four minutes left in the period. Each team was unable to generate any good scoring chances while with the extra skater.

The Lightning now turn their attention to the junior varsity playoffs. The Lightning will host a quarterfinal round game against the Churchill Bulldogs with the date and time to be announced after the winter break. It has now been three seasons since the Lightning captured the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship. The Lightning have lost their last two playoff games while only mustering one goal total in those two games. A 4-1-2 conference record should give the Lightning confidence. Their excellent overtime loss performance versus Churchill earlier in the season should be motivation as well. A few weeks of practice commence after the winter holiday break for the Lightning to get ready for what is hopefully a long playoff run.

Game Notes:

• Shots on goal were fairly even for the game with Upper Montgomery registering 25 and Whitman sending 23 at Lightning goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.
• The Lightning had five different goal scorers in the game.
• Lightning defender Max Curtusan was credited with his first career point with an assist on Bhasin’s goal.
• Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton scored for the third game in a row.
• Lightning sophomore center Jackson Schickler returned to the Lightning’s lineup after a long injury absence.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity clinched the fourth seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoff tournament. The team will host the Churchill Bulldogs in a quarterfinal matchup with the date and time to be determined after the winter holiday break. Upper Montgomery lost to Churchill in overtime 2-1 during the regular season while playing with a depleted lineup.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Avery Evans—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Goal
Second Star—Siddy Bhasin—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal
Third Star—Cole Howerton—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returned to action after a long layoff to face off against the Annapolis / Arundel Wildcats in a non-conference tilt of evenly matched programs. It was a wildly entertaining wide open game with plenty of up and down the ice rushes. The Wildcats scored two late third period goals to come back and prevail over Upper Montgomery. It was only the second regulation loss of the season for the Lightning who now sport a 3-2-2 record.

Upper Montgomery started off the game well, settling into the team’s desired playing style and structure. It led to the opening goal three and a half minutes into the game. Upper Montgomery exited the defensive zone led by Lightning ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin in control of the puck along the right wing boards. He found Lightning sophomore center Jake Hudson exiting the defensive zone into neutral ice. Hudson’s return pass to Bhasin on the right side did not connect as Bhasin was knocked down as the puck approached. The puck slid down the ice into the right corner in the Annapolis / Arundel defensive zone.

A poor Wildcat defensive zone clear was kept in at the right point by Upper Montgomery senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton dumped the puck down low behind the net to Bhasin. The puck hit Bhasin and bounced in front to Hudson. Hudson’s quick shot missed the mark wide of the net to the left, far side. Hudson retrieved the puck and sent it back to the left point to Lightning sophomore defender Avery Evans. Evans maneuvered around a Wildcat forward and went down the left wing boards. She passed the puck to Hudson in the left faceoff circle. Hudson’s snap shot through traffic was stopped by Annapolis / Arundel goalie Solomon Abramson. Lightning ninth grade forward Max Israfilbek, standing near the right goal post, jumped on the rebound and fired it past Abramson before the goalie could come across the net and get into position to make a save. For Israfilbek it was his first career high school goal.

The Lightning’s lead was short lived. Annapolis / Arundel scored on the next shift to even the score at one. An Upper Montgomery turnover exiting the defensive zone was intercepted by Wildcats forward Nicholas Turchetta. Turchetta headed forward into the offensive zone. His left handed wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circles was an easy stick save for Upper Montgomery ninth grade goaltender Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. The puck was directed into the right corner where Turchetta retrieved the puck. Near the right point the puck was kept in the offensive zone after Upper Montgomery failed once again to clear the defensive zone. Wildcat defender Peter Back dumped the puck back into the right corner to Annapolis / Arundel forward Benjamin Gendell. Gendell drove toward the net where he was cut off by Evans. Thus, he chose to pass the puck back to Back at the right point. Back’s slap shot from long range beat Stutsrim-Lyons low to the blocker side.

Just under seven minutes remaining in the first period, Evans was called for a slashing penalty. Annapolis / Arundel kept up the pressure with several excellent offensive chances with the extra skater. Upper Montgomery was in scramble mode with Stutsrim-Lyons making several saves from in tight to keep the game tied at one. Once the Wildcats powerplay ended, Upper Montgomery again settled into their game and did a nice job stifling the Wildcats until there were eighteen seconds remaining in the first period. A defensive breakdown led to the late Annapolis / Arundel goal after a nice passing play between forward Henry White, defender Robert Levin, and finally over to Kayleb Haley whose shot squirted past Stutsrim-Lyons. The Wildcats outshot Upper Montgomery ten to five in the opening fifteen minutes of play.

The Lightning controlled play during the second period. Halfway through the frame Howerton connected for his third goal of the season to knot the game at two. The scoring play began with a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone. Upper Montgomery senior center AJ Marks won the draw to the right wing boards. Ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins, playing forward in this game, sent the puck back to Howerton at the right point. Howerton’s weak snap shot toward the net found pay dirt low along the ice past Abramson’s feet with Lightning ninth grade defender Luke Hudson setting an excellent screen in front.

A minute and a half later Bhasin would put the Lightning in front with his fourth goal of the season. A flurry of pressure by Annapolis / Arundel was thwarted by Stutsrim-Lyons who made a save on a close range shot. The puck bounced behind the net where Evans and Marks converged on a Wildcat forward. Marks gained possession of the puck and came around the net to the left side of the ice. Marks fired the puck hard off the boards and out of the defensive zone. The puck went to Bhasin coming toward the defensive zone from the bench after a line change. Behind the Wildcats defense, Bhasin was in all alone on a breakaway coming down the left wing. He made a head fake as if he was going to go to his left on his backhand which froze Abramson. Bhasin then took a stride to the right and deposited the puck into the open far side of the net before Abramson could recover and come over to prevent the goal.

Over the final five minutes of the period Upper Montgomery had to kill off two penalties. The first was a tripping penalty to senior defender Patrick Sell. The Lightning did a much better job neutralizing the Wildcats and preventing several zone entries by hemming up the neutral zone. The second penalty with just under a minute remaining in the period was to Israfilbek for cross checking. Again, Upper Montgomery did the job while shorthanded with the teams retiring to their benches at the end of the second period with the Lightning holding on to their 3-2 lead.

After killing off the balance of Israfilbek’s penalty, the Lightning were at even strength for only a minute when Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Matt Rivera was called for a tipping penalty in the neutral zone. It was a no doubt about it penalty and put the Lightning back on the penalty kill for the third time in the last seven minutes of game action. Upper Montgomery was not as clean on this Annapolis / Arundel extra skater advantage and struggled through the two minutes while shorthanded. But, the puck did not find the back of the net and eleven minutes remained in regulation when Rivera was released from the penalty box.

As the third period crossed the half way mark, Annapolis / Arundel ramped up the offensive pressure. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the defensive zone, Upper Montgomery won the draw but was outraced to the puck in the left corner. The puck was played back to the left point before being dumped back down to the left corner again. The puck was thrown behind the net to the right corner. Upper Montgomery’s clear up the boards was kept in at the right point by Wildcats defender Matthew Keys. He sent the puck down to the right corner to Annapolis / Arundel forward Ethan Xie. Xie’s pass to the middle of the slot was shot wide of the net. The puck was retrieved by Haley who sent it back to the left point to Wildcats defender Samantha Scott. Scott sent the puck back down the boards to Haley. Haley’s short side shot from a bad angle was saved by Stutsrim-Lyons. White picked up the puck and went around the net from left to right. He curled the puck around the right goal post sneaking the puck inside the right post and Stutsrim-Lyons’ left skate for a wrap around goal to tie the score at three with seven minutes remaining in the game.

A minute and a half later the Wildcats jumped in front. An Upper Montgomery defensive zone clear to neutral ice was taken by Annapolis / Arundel forward Gavin Hare. From the right circle his wrist shot was saved by Stutsrim-Lyons. The puck landed behind the net and was reversed by Hare to the right point to Scott. Scott’s shot from the middle of the ice above the faceoff circles was deflected just below his shoulders by Wildcat forward William Woodson-Potter in the low slot. Woodson-Potter’s deflection changed the flight trajectory of the puck down past Stutsrim-Lyons body and into the net.

Now down by a goal with five minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery went on the offensive pushing defenders forward looking for the game tying goal. There were several super chances generated by the Lightning. However, the puck either squirted just wide of the net or hit Abramson and somehow stayed out of the net with lots of Lightning skaters charging the front of the net looking for rebounds. With a minute left in the game Upper Montgomery pulled Stutsrim-Lyons replacing him on the ice with an extra skater. The team continued to apply pressure which led to a penalty being called on Wildcat defender Levin for cross checking. With 38 seconds left in the game and now with a two skater advantage, Upper Montgomery continued to shoot pucks toward the net. All available slaters crashed at Abramson’s feet looking for any loose pucks. Unfortunately, the puck deflected just over the net on one shot. A cross crease centering pass went just past Bhasin standing at the right post for potentially an easy tap in. The Wildcats were able to exhale after the final buzzer sounded with the Lightning buzzing all around the net unable to get the tying goal.

The Lightning must now look forward to trying to win their season concluding regular season game against the Whitman Vikings and advance their conference record to 4-1-2 on the season. A win likely guarantees the team a first round bye in the junior varsity playoffs. The Lightning will be looking to win their first playoff game in three seasons when the playoffs kick off in mid-January. A few weeks of practice commence after the winter holiday break for the Lightning to get ready for what is hopefully a long playoff run.

Game Notes:

• Annapolis / Arundel outshot the Lightning 31 to 18 for the game.
• Lightning ninth grader netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons gave up more than two goals in regulation for only the second time all season. He still sports an incredibly low 1.98 goals against average and a very high .928 save percentage.
• Upper Montgomery was clean on the penalty kill subduing all four Wildcats powerplay opportunities.
• It was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
• Lightning defender Max Curtusan made his program debut in the game.
• Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity team is scheduled to conclude regular season conference play on Friday, December 20th when the Lightning play an important contest against Whitman. An Upper Montgomery victory over the Vikings would secure the number four seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. It would guarantee that the Lightning are exempt from having to play an opening round playoff game and would give the Lightning the last line change in their quarterfinal matchup. Game time is 5:30 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Henry White—Annapolis / Arundel Forward—1 Goal, 1 Assist
Second Star—Siddy Bhasin—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal
Third Star—AJ Marks—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Assists

The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday night’s contest against Wootton knowing that they would need to excel defensively in order to slow down Wootton’s high powered offensive attack. Wootton had scored fourteen and ten goals in their first two games of the season. Upper Montgomery largely succeeded in holding Wootton down by surrendering only three goals. However, Upper Montgomery was unable to convert on several net front scrambles and other prime scoring opportunities flittered away in a 3-1 loss to the highly ranked Patriots. It was a good showing by the young Lightning squad in their first test against a highly rated team.

The contrast in styles made for a very busy night in net for Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg, who made a career high 49 saves during the game. Upper Montgomery was outshot 52-26 for the game with Shterenberg having to make save after save on Wootton fast break rushes up ice. The game played out exactly how the Upper Montgomery coaching staff prepared the Lightning. Wootton would gain possession of the puck in their defensive zone and all of their skaters would fire up ice looking to outnumber the Lightning defenders. Upper Montgomery countered with a defensive game plan seeking to frustrate the Patriots by clearing the defensive zone and forcing the Patriots to constantly rewind at center ice and re-enter the Lightning defensive zone time and again with layers of green shirted defenders protecting the net.

The opening half of the first period was played entirely in the Lightning defensive zone. Wootton had long stretches, shift after shift, of offensive zone time with frequent shots fired at Shterenberg. At times it looked like a shooting gallery. As the game neared ten minutes of action, Upper Montgomery cleared their defensive zone. The Patriots all world senior defender Sam Hosier collected the puck in his own zone and circled around with possession. His pass up ice was broken up by Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. Zheng dumped the puck back into the Patriots defensive zone to the right corner. Wootton advanced the puck to neutral ice and the puck was again slammed back into the Wootton defensive zone by Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Matt Rivera. Hosier gained the puck behind his own net. He dumped the puck out the defensive zone and immediately Upper Montgomery sent the puck deep for a third consecutive time.

At that point, Hosier had had enough. He jumped up and intercepted the last dump in on the left wing at his own defensive blue line. Hosier circled in his own zone to the right and headed up ice. He individually advanced the puck out of the Wootton defensive zone, through neutral ice, and then into the bottom of the left faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone. He unleashed a rocket of a wrist shot that went high to the far side of the net. As the puck went past Shterenberg blocker it hit the bottom of Shterenberg’s water bottle sitting on the top of the net.

Forty seconds later the Patriots were on the powerplay after Lightning senior center Josh Nadler was called for tripping. The target practice continued with shot after shot attempt directed at the Lightning’s goalie. With Shterenberg’s fine goaltending display, and a few shots sent just wide, Upper Montgomery survived the penalty kill. The final three minutes of the first period ticked away enabling the Lightning to reach the end of the period down by only one goal even through they had been outshot seventeen to four in the first fifteen minutes of game action.

The second period was more of the same. Target practice, with 25 more shots fired on Shterenberg who was excellent again in the middle period making several outstanding saves. Upper Montgomery was becoming a little more comfortable with and adjusted to the pace of play. Wootton’s speed advantage while noticeable no longer fully controlled the action. Upper Montgomery was able to counter with some goal mouth flurries that produced nine shots on goal. The Lightning were helped by an early second period powerplay opportunity when Wootton sophomore defender Jayden Ahn was called for a roughing penalty just over three minutes into the period. While Upper Montgomery was unable to cash in, the extra skater and Wootton’s focus on the penalty kill momentarily interrupted their go for broke fast pace style of play.

Halfway through the period, Wootton went to their second powerplay of the game when Lightning junior forward Philip Shkeda was called for roughing. Complicating matters was that Upper Montgomery junior center Owen Robbin, a primary penalty killer for the Lightning, was whistled for a cross checking penalty with forty second remaining on Shkeda’s penalty. The rest of the Lightning penalty killers rose to the challenge and Shterenberg made a huge save to get through the five on three portion of Wootton’s powerplay to get Shkeda back on the ice.

As the clock ticked under five minutes remaining in the second period and with thirty seconds still remaining on Robbins’ penalty, Wootton broke down the Lightning penalty killers to increase their lead to 2-0. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck down ice to the Wootton defensive blue line. Hosier retrieved the puck and did his customary circle to generate some speed. He made a backhand pass to Wootton forward Owen Goozh on the right side of the defensive blue line. Goozh traveled through the neutral zone down the middle of the ice. He made a move around the Lightning penalty killers but in doing so lost the puck into the left corner in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. With Goozh and Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton battling for the puck, Wootton forward Justin Heller jumped in and helped dislodge the puck loose. Heller fired the puck behind the Lightning net to Patriots senior center Nathan Tai. Tai came around the goal toward the right corner and then further around the outside of the right faceoff circle. Coming at the net with speed, Tai snapped off a sharp wrist shot that went far side seven hole into Shterenberg’s body under his blocker and stick. The pace of the shot propelled the puck past the young goaltender’s body and into the net.

Upper Montgomery would get a late powerplay of their own to close out the second period when Tai was called for a hooking penalty. Upper Montgomery continued to threaten the crease area but time after time the puck squirted just wide of the net or was blocked away when seemingly headed toward an open net. The Lightning were unable to cash in with the extra skater and entered the third period down by two goals while having been outshot 42-13 through thirty minutes of action.

The Lightning again had a golden opportunity to tighten up the game at the beginning of the third period when Hosier was called for a slashing penalty just seconds into the period. Upper Montgomery put on a significant amount of pressure while on the powerplay with Hosier off the ice. There was a goal mouth scramble with Wootton goalie Kevin Yu bobbling the puck behind him. However, the puck was steered just wide of the net. As Hosier’s penalty ended, the puck was stolen by Wootton forward Michael Klimantov at the red line along the right wing boards. Klimantov skated into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone where he passed the puck to his left finding Hosier open in the high slot. Hosier shot the puck back across his body toward Shterenberg. The perfectly placed shot wound up going under Shterenberg’s outstretched glove hand. It was a deflating moment as Upper Montgomery had an opportunity to climb back into the game, and then seconds after Wootton returned to even strength the Lightning was staring at a three goal deficit.

At the eight and a half minute mark of the third period, Upper Montgomery would use a fine set of passes to finally convert on one of their high danger opportunities. Lightning senior center Henry Honacki poke checked the puck loose from Hosier just inside the Wootton defensive blue line. Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Jake Hudson picked up the puck just outside the blue line. He sent a pass back to Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins standing at the Lightning’s defensive blue line along the right wing boards. Robbins swung the puck left to her defensive partner junior Brady Berkhammer who read a slow developing Wootton line change. Berkhammer fired the puck up to Honacki who had managed to get behind all Wootton skaters. From the offensive blue line in, Honacki was in alone on a breakaway. Honacki faked from forehand to backhand and easily outmaneuvered Yu carefully sliding the puck into the yawning open net.

With Upper Montgomery trailing by just two goals, an all out offensive push provided a lifeline when Wootton’s Tai was called for a tripping penalty on the next shift. Another opportunity with the extra skater to try and claw closer. The right goal post was as close as the Lightning would come with several more chances that just would not go in. After Tai’s penalty ended, Wootton spent the final six minutes of the game focusing on playing sound defense.

For Wootton, their best defense is their potent offense and puck possession. The Patriots struggled to clear their defensive zone, but did manage to block several Upper Montgomery shots to help protect Yu. Even when Upper Montgomery pulled Shterenberg with two minutes left in the game, Wootton had trouble finishing the game. The Lightning applied constant pressure which Wootton relieved with several icings over the final two minutes of the game. But, it was enough as the Patriots found a way to win a game where their offensive output was nine goals lower than their season average. The Lightning have little time to appreciate how well they played against a very good opponent. A clash against another top ranked team, the Urbana Hawks comes up on Tuesday afternoon.

Game Notes:

• Wootton badly outshot Upper Montgomery 52-26 for the game, including 42-13 over the first two periods of play.
• Lightning sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg made a career high 49 saves with a .942 save percentage.
• Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored for the third consecutive game.
• Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins notched her first career varsity point with an assist on Honacki’s goal.
• Upper Montgomery returns to action early Tuesday afternoon facing off against another powerhouse team in the Urbana Hawks. Game time is 3:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—49 Saves, .942 Save Percentage
Second Star—Sam Hosier—Wootton Defense—2 Goals
Third Star—Kevin Yu–Wootton Goalie—Win, 1 Goal Against, 25 Saves, .962 Save Percentage