For the third time this season the Upper Montgomery Lightning eased past the Northwest / Quince Orchard Jaguars. The final score of Friday’s game was 8-4, with the game not as competitive as the final score indicated. Northwest / Quince Orchard scored two goals in garbage time at the end of the game to make the score look more respectable. Upper Montgomery charged out to a 6-1 lead after two periods of play outshooting the Jaguars badly in building its insurmountable lead. With the victory, Upper Montgomery advances to the semifinals of the Montgomery Hockey Conference varsity tournament. It was a very good win for the Lightning who played without their leading scorer in senior center Henry Honacki (15GP, 12G, 7A) and their leading defensive scorer junior defender Brady Berkhammer (15GP, 4G, 15A). The Lightning also saw the return of sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg who missed last week’s playoff game against BCC with an illness.
Upper Montgomery controlled play right from the beginning of the game. Having the majority of puck possession time the Lightning were easily able to hold down the Jaguars. Northwest / Quince Orchard never threatened in the offensive zone over the opening three and a half minutes of play. The frustrated Jaguars chased play all over the ice. The only scenario that helped Northwest / Quince Orchard was that Upper Montgomery missed the net on multiple high danger scoring opportunities. The Jaguars frustration eventually boiled over when Jaguars forward Omar Ben Younes received a roughing penalty for throwing a body check away from the play.
On the powerplay, the Lightning turned up the pressure even further. Upper Montgomery 18U AA senior forward, Nathan Cassel cut off a Northwest / Quince Orchard shorthanded advance up ice along the right wing boards. The puck was scooped up by Lightning junior 16U AAA defender Owen Robbins. Robbins curled back into his defensive zone where he passed the puck over to Cassel on the left wing. Cassel entered the offensive zone down the left wing progressing to the bottom of the left faceoff circle. He unleashed a wrist shot top shelf short side above Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goalie Joseph Dean’s blocker. It was Cassel’s eighth goal of his condensed senior season as he missed multiple games at the beginning of the year with an upper body injury.
Upper Montgomery continued to dominate play over the next five minutes of action looking to increase their lead. The Jaguars cleared the puck out of their defensive zone down the ice where Shterenberg stopped the puck. The goalie then handed the puck to Robbins in the right defensive corner. Robbins sent an outlet pass to Lightning forward Philip Shkeda in the neutral zone. Shkeda banked a pass off the boards that was intercepted by Northwest / Quince Orchard. Shkeda followed up the play knocking the puck free to Cassel who then took the puck down the right wing boards. He stickhandled with the puck before sending it back to the right point to Upper Montgomery sophomore defender Miles Wendland. Wendland dumped the puck to the right corner with the puck coming around the boards to Lightning sophomore center Jake Hudson stationed in the left corner. Hudson sent a backhand pass to Shkeda. Shkeda received the pass before curling to the middle of the ice. He stickhandled through several defenders then faked out Dean putting a forehand shot past the goalie’s leg pad. Shkeda’s sixth tally on the year increased Upper Montgomery’s lead to 2-0.
Two minutes after Shkeda’s goal, Upper Montgomery faced its first penalty kill situation of the evening. Lightning depth forward Jason Woodman was called for a roughing penalty for an excellent body check on the Jaguars puck carrier. It was a mystifying penalty call. Not only did Upper Montgomery excel during the penalty kill, the Lightning outplayed the Jaguars with one less skater on the ice. A Northwest / Quince Orchard shot from the left point was blocked by Upper Montgomery senior center Josh Nadler. The puck bounced forward directly to Cassel sending him off on a breakaway down the left wing. Cassel’s shot was saved by Dean’s left leg pad. The rebound was collected by Nadler along the right wing boards. After a short puck battle, Nadler emerged with the puck. He turned sending a pass to Cassel in the slot. This time Cassel’s wrist shot went low past Dean’s glove hand for the shorthanded goal. Cassel’s second goal of the night and ninth of the season gave Upper Montgomery a 3-0 lead entering the first intermission. It was one of the better periods that the Lightning had played in several weeks.
After a small blip, the second period mirrored the first. Three minutes into the second period, the Jaguars got on the scoreboard off of a broken play. Northwest / Quince Orchard leading scorer, junior center Ethan Custodio collected the puck along the right wing boards in his defensive zone. He skated the puck up ice all the way into the offensive zone. He was guarded by Wendland and his defensive partner, Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton. With both defenders shadowing the dangerous Custodio who had the puck, he sent the puck to his left into open ice. The puck came close to the slot where Ben Younes slapped at the puck. Somehow, his slow shot along the ice got past the left leg pad of Shterenberg just inside the right goal post. It was Ben Younes’ first goal of the season bringing the Jaguars within two goals at 3-1.
Twenty five seconds later the Lightning’s lead was back to three goals. Upper Montgomery had considerable offensive zone time. A slap pass by Northwest / Quince Orchard was cut off by Wendland at the center point just inside the blue line. He skated two strides to his left and unloaded a wrist shot high to the far side of the net past Dean’s glove hand. Wendland’s unassisted marker was his second goal on the season eliminating any stress a potential Northwest / Quince Orchard comeback would apply.
The next six minutes of game action saw Upper Montgomery continuously press forward offensively. A fifth goal would likely end the competitive portion of the game putting the Lightning up by four goals. With five minutes left in the middle period, the Jaguars cleared the puck to the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. The puck was retrieved by Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Matt Rivera. He sent a pass up the middle of the ice to Cassel in the neutral zone. Cassel took the puck down the right wing into the Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone. He stickhandled to free himself from the Jaguars defense leaving a drop pass for Shkeda. Shkeda was not expecting the pass but was able to secure possession bringing the puck deeper into the offensive zone along the right wing boards down into the right faceoff circle. He stopped and found Robbins unguarded in the slot. Robbins had time and space to send a slinging wrist shot high over Dean’s glove hand for his eighth goal of the season. It was Robbins first tally since the Richard Montgomery game back in early November.
With under a minute remaining in the second period, Upper Montgomery scored its sixth goal of the evening putting the game well out of reach. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Nadler won the draw to Robbins in the slot. Robbins fired a backhanded shot that Dean saved with his right leg pad. A Jaguars defender attempted to go around the net with the puck from his left to his right. On the way around the net he was met by Robbins who relieved him of the puck. Robbins left the puck along the right wing boards for Shkeda. Shkeda carried the puck further down the right wing boards into the right corner before giving it up to Robbins who was headed in the other direction up the boards toward the right point. With possession, Robbins pivoted back toward the corner coming at the net on the same side. He sent a backhand pass to Nadler standing just outside the goal crease. Nadler fired a quick shot short side over Dean’s leg pad and under his glove. It was goals in back to back games for Nadler after going the entire regular season without scoring.
With a five goal lead and in complete control of the game, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff pulled Shterenberg and inserted ninth grade goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons to handle the netminding duties in the third period. It was a reward for Stutsrim-Lyons whose play last week was excellent in both the varsity playoff game against BCC (40 saves on 43 shots on goal, .930 save percentage) and the junior varsity semifinal playoff game directly after the varsity game (39 saves on 42 shots on goal, .928 save percentage).
It seemed that inserting Stutsrim-Lyons into the game signaled to the teams that the competitive portion of the game had ended. Upper Montgomery certainly played the third period similar to a scrimmage with very low intensity. A minute into the final period Lightning sophomore forward Aiden Zheng was called for a tripping penalty for reaching in from behind on a Jaguars skater. It took a minute and a half, but Northwest / Quince Orchard struck while playing with the additional skater. Jaguars senior defender Drew Blurton broke up an Upper Montgomery shorthanded two on one rush. He possessed the puck in his own left defensive corner where he started innocently skating the puck up ice. He wound around the defensive zone then into the neutral zone where he cut left to enter the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He carried the puck around the net from left to right. As he came around the side of the net heading up into the right faceoff circle, Blurton lifted a backhanded shot toward the goal. The puck clanked off the side of Stutsrim-Lyons helmet backwards into the net for an unassisted powerplay goal, Blurton’s third goal of the season.
A minute later Upper Montgomery stretched the lead back to 7-2. A Northwest / Quince Orchard clear down the ice was retrieved by Wendland. He skated with the puck around his net from right to left. On the right side boards, he swung the puck up the boards to Shkeda in the neutral zone. Shkeda entered the offensive zone down the middle of the ice. With no Jaguars defender converging on him, Shkeda took the puck directly to the net. He faked Dean but the goalie was able to poke check the puck loose from Shkeda’s possession. Robbins collected the puck momentarily but lost possession to the Jaguars defense. The Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone clearing attempt was read well by Rivera. He rushed over to stop the puck before it crossed over the defensive blue line. Rivera did what he could with the puck by simply dumping it into open ice on the left side of the offensive zone. Robbins skated hard reaching the puck first due to his effort. He regathered the puck. Once in control of the puck, Robbins spun towards the net and fired a rocket of a wrist shot that beat Dean high to the glove side. The Jaguars’ netminder hardly moved as the puck zoomed past him for Robbins’ second goal of the evening and his ninth on the season.
Five minutes later Nadler scored his second goal of the evening to finish off the Lightning’s goal scoring. It was his third goal in the last two games. From a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Nadler won the draw to the right where Robbins stepped forward to grab the puck. Robbins sent a pass over to Cassel at the left point. Cassel’s wrist shot was blocked by the Jaguars defense falling into the slot near Nadler. Nadler fired a quick wrist shot low to the far side of the goal past Dean’s glove hand.
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery depth forward Siddy Bhasin was issued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for mouthing off to the officials in an 8-2 game. Northwest / Quince Orchard wasted no time at all in tallying their second powerplay goal of the period. Five seconds after Bhasin went into the penalty box, the score closed to 8-3. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, the referee dropped the puck before Upper Montgomery was aligned to defend. Custudio won the faceoff forward stretching to nudge the puck to his right. Jaguars ninth grade forward Gabriel Carlos was all alone on the right side of the crease to easily tap in the puck past Stutsrim-Lyons. It was Carlos’ fourth goal of the season and third scored against Upper Montgomery.
Thirty seconds later Custudio scored to close the margin to 8-4 which was as close as the Jaguars would get. An Upper Montgomery turnover in the neutral zone went to Custodio. He turned back up ice blazing down the left side of the offensive zone around the Lightning defense. His initial short side shot was saved by Stutsrim-Lyons with the puck deflecting up in the air. Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins saved a goal by clearing the puck off of the goal line. Her clearing swat went all the way to the left point where Blurton kept the puck in the offensive zone. Blurton’s shot bounced around on its way toward the net. It finally settled at the side of the goal directly onto Custodio’s stick for an easy tap in goal.
With the victory, Upper Montgomery moves into the semifinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament. It is the third straight year that the Lightning have made the semifinals. The team will be looking to advance back to the championship game with an opportunity to defend their championship from last season. Last year’s finals victory was the most impactful championship won in the history of the Upper Montgomery program. Becoming back to back champions would continue to cement the program’s climb into the top tier of Montgomery County hockey programs.
Game Notes:
- Upper Montgomery had a distinct advantage in shots on goal. The Lightning fired 39 shots on Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goalie Joseph Dean. The Jaguars fired 23 shots against the Lightning goalie tandem. Upper Montgomery outshot the Jaguars 26-10 over the first two periods of play in building their 6-1 lead.
- Upper Montgomery had three different students score two goals in the game; senior forward Nathan Cassel, senior center Josh Nadler, and junior defender Owen Robbins.
- All three games Owen Robbins scored in were multi-goal efforts. He authored two, three, and four goal games this season.
- Upper Montgomery played without its leading defensive scorer Brady Berkhammer in the game.
- The Lightning were also without their leading overall scorer, senior center Henry Honacki who missed the game serving his one game supplementary disciplinary suspension for receiving a major penalty for boarding in last week’s playoff game against BCC.
- Jaguars center Ethan Custodio tallied eight points in three games against the Lightning; three goals and five assists.
- Lightning sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg increased his varsity win total to seven.
- Upper Montgomery advances on to the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Semifinals. After a two week break, the Lightning will host the Blair Blazers on Friday, February 21st. Game time is 8:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Second Star—Owen Robbins—Upper Montgomery Defense—2 Goals, 3 Assists
Third Star—Josh Nadler—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 1 Assist