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