The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity played its first true road game of the season Monday afternoon when the team traveled up to Abingdon, Maryland to faceoff against Harford County. What is typically approximately an hour trip took everyone in the program between two hours and ten minutes and two and a half hours to reach the rink. Some students arrived after puck drop. To say the least, the beginning of the game was chaotic.
The Lightning began the game piecing together the line combinations on the fly. With very few skaters available at the start of the game, there were several long shifts for certain skaters as there were just not enough bodies available. Mid-way through the opening period, Lightning ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander was called for holding. Ostrander is one of Upper Montgomery’s top penalty killers so his absence was noticeable as the Lightning went shorthanded. Halfway through the Harco powerplay, Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray was assessed a tripping minor penalty. Down two skaters with a short bench, the Lightning trio of sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek, junior defender Max Curtusan, and ninth grade defenders Lenny Roth and Dylan Kim did a masterful job of not allowing very much pressure at all.
Shortly after both Harco powerplays were killed off, Upper Montgomery went to the powerplay when Harco forward Connor Kreit was whistled for a roughing minor penalty. Similar to when the Lightning were on the penalty kill, halfway through the Upper Montgomery powerplay, the Lightning were presented with a golden opportunity to jump in front when Harco forward Jack Jones was sent to the penalty box for elbowing. As with Harco’s two skater advantage, Upper Montgomery failed to generate much offense with two extra skaters on the ice having a difficult time even setting up in the offensive zone. The first period ended shortly after the Lightning’s failed powerplay chances. The break gave the entire team an opportunity catch its breath. The coaches were able to set up the forward lines and defensive pairings as almost the entire team had arrived and been able to get over to the bench area. Shots on goal in the opening period were very low for each team, Harco with six and Upper Montgomery with five.
The second period saw Harco attack offensively with some additional urgency. Upper Montgomery had too many rushes up ice where the puck carrier tried to do too much and take on the Harco defenders all by themselves. This lead to constant turnovers and assisted with the Harco offensive transition chances. Three minutes into the second period, Harco got on the scoreboard first. An Upper Montgomery turnover was forced at the offensive blue line by Harco defender Roxy Metallo. Her hit allowed fellow defender Lilah Emerick to gain possession of the puck just inside her own defensive blue line on the left wing. She passed the puck up ice to Harco forward Jeremy Doyle in the neutral zone. Doyle circled back into his own zone to gain speed before rushing up ice on the right wing. He carried the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone where he reached the top of the right faceoff circle. He fired a wrist shot that deflected off of an Upper Montgomery defender’s stick changing the direction and flight path of the initial shot. The puck flew into the back of the net past Upper Montgomery ninth grade goalie Stephen Rickman’s blocker, high to the far side of the net.
Just under three minutes later, Upper Montgomery struck back. Zamaray came back on defense and stole the puck in the defensive high slot area. He skated the puck up ice down the left wing side. He entered the offensive zone under pressure from Metallo. Zamaray was forced around the net from left to right. Still with possession, Zamaray skated around the outside of the bottom of the right faceoff circle then cut through the circle to the slot. Not finding an open shot to his liking, the skilled young forward went to the outside of the left faceoff circle. His pass through the slot was cleared by the Harco defense off the glass but was kept in at the right point by Roth. Roth’s rising wrist shot from distance was headed for the center of the net. As the puck went through the right faceoff circle, it hit off the upper arm of the Lightning’s starting junior varsity goalie sophomore 16U Lower A Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. The puck’s trajectory changed just enough to confuse Harco ninth grade netminder, Jacob McBee. With little time to react, McBee was unable to prevent the puck from entering the net high to the top left corner over his stick and blocker. For Stutsrim-Lyons, it was his first career high school goal, something one would think he never would have imagined since he mainly plays in net.
After the tying goal, Harco continued to press up ice offensively. Rickman and the Lightning defense thwarted each attack. With 45 seconds left in the second period Curtusan was called for an elbowing penalty. As with the the earlier first period penalty kills, Upper Montgomery successfully killed off the first half of Curtusan’s penalty reaching the end of the second period with score tied at one. Harco fired thirteen shots on goal at Rickman for a two period total of nineteen. Upper Montgomery sent six shots at McBee and Harco starting goalie Jackson Scalli who entered the game with four minutes remaining in the second period in a planned goalie split. The Lightning’s shot total sat at eleven after two periods of play.
The third period began with Harco on the powerplay for another 45 seconds. From the faceoff at the center ice dot, Upper Montgomery won the draw to their defensive zone right wing corner. A clear up the boards was kept in the offensive zone at the right point by Harco forward Owen Young. Young sent a weak shot on net that somehow snuck through the arm and Rickman’s body seven hole. Young’s unassisted goal was certainly one that Rickman wished he had back.
Being down a goal with the entire third period remaining, Upper Montgomery knew they had time but the team needed to turn up the offensive pressure. Similar to the first period, forwards began trying to make one on one plays rather than using the other skaters on the ice. Meanwhile, the clock continued to count down to five and a half minutes remaining in the game when Kreit was called for another roughing minor penalty. It was a glorious opportunity for the Lightning to use the powerplay to re-tie the game. While on the powerplay Israfilbek got into a shoving match with the Harco defense in front of Scalli. Out of frustration he took a roughing penalty which ended the Lightning’s powerplay early. On the way to the penalty box he was assessed a ten minute misconduct penalty (eight minutes of game action) which ended his night early. After the four on four play concluded, Upper Montgomery again did an outstanding job throttling the Harco powerplay.
With three minutes left in regulation, the Lightning defense lost control of the puck with two Harco forwards in on the forecheck. Harco forward Sean McDermott came away with possession of the puck and fed Metallo at the right point. Her pass found Harco forward Jacob Roeder at the right faceoff dot. Roeder sent a weak wrist shot toward Rickman. The puck again squirted though him seven hole. This time the puck landed in the crease on the far side of the net where McDermott was standing off to the side. He nudged the puck forward a few inches and over the goal line to give Harco a 3-1 lead.
Upper Montgomery was now behind by two goals with three minutes remaining in the game. The old adage is in order to get two goals you first must score once. That is exactly what the Lightning were able to do. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in their defensive zone, Ostrander won the draw back to Curtusan in the left defensive corner. After a brief puck battle, Curtusan sent the puck forward a few feet looking for Ostrander. The young center returned the puck to Curtusan who wasted no time sending the puck up the middle of the ice looking for Zamaray leaking behind the Harco defenders. Zamaray collected the puck and was off on a breakaway. Coming in alone on Scalli, Zamaray faked forehand, backhand, and then drew the puck back to his forehand. While falling, Zamaray stuffed the puck past Scalli’s right toe and the near post. The young forward almost faked himself out on the play but was able to get the Lightning to within one goal at 3-2 with his fourth goal of the season.
Less than forty seconds remained in the game when the ensuing faceoff took place at center ice. When the Lightning eventually got Rickman off the ice for an extra skater twenty seconds later, they had two shot on goal that Scalli turned aside securing Harco’s first win of the season. In this game, it felt as if Upper Montgomery played down to a lower level of competition. Maybe it was the long commute to the game. Maybe it was the chaotic nature of playing a game with no locker room comradery and no pre-game warm-up. Or, it could be that the Upper Montgomery junior varsity needs to learn how to win. For the Lightning to be successful, the team will need to return to the strong physical style that has worked to keep the faster more skilled teams at bay. The Lightning have been competitive in every game this season for long stretches of play before the youth of the team eventually gets exploited. After a second consecutive non-conference game against Annapolis / Arundel, there will be no margin for error if the team wants to qualify for the junior varsity playoffs.
Game Notes:
- Harford County outshot Upper Montgomery 30-19 during the game.
- Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons skated out during the game and scored his first career high school goal.
- Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray scored for the second straight game and for the third time in four games.
- The Upper Montgomery junior varsity has another short break before returning to play a second straight non-conference opponent, Annapolis / Arundel. Game time is 6:15 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens on Monday evening, December 15th.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Roxy Metallo—Harco Defense—1 Assist
Second Star—Lenny Roth—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Assist
Third Star—Tima Zamaray—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal