The Upper Montgomery Lightning showed extreme resiliency fighting back on three separate occasions in the second and third periods to salvage a tie against Northwest/Quince Orchard on Saturday afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. A tie may have been a fitting outcome as both teams were very evenly matched. With Northwest/Quince Orchard, almost all of the student athletes participating in the game also play on those program’s varsity teams.
The first period was evenly played with both teams missing the net on most shot opportunities. The final shots on goal for the period were Northwest/Quince Orchard with five and Upper Montgomery with four. Both teams each scored goals in a similar fashion. The Lightning would open the scoring halfway through the period. A bad clearing pass was kept in just inside the blue line by Lightning defender Patrick Sell. He took one stride and fired a wrist shot from deep near the blue line. The puck was deflected right in front of Northwest netminder Joseph Dean by his defense, changing the direction of the shot which found its way five hole past Dean giving Upper Montgomery the lead.
Three minutes later Matthew Mills of Quince Orchard would tie the game at one. Davany Gonzalez of Quince Orchard possessed the puck in the neutral zone along the left wing boards. He passed the puck back to Mills who was standing at the middle of the defensive blue line. Mills gathered the puck and cut right up the boards. Entering the offensive zone along the right wing boards, Mills fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle past a Lightning defender. The puck went high blocker, far side, past a screened Landon Bernard into the top corner of the net.
A minute into the second period, Northwest/Quince Orchard would jump into the lead. Off of a faceoff win, Northwest defender Micah Chin kept the puck in at the left point. He passed the puck down the left wing boards to Clark Atkinson. Atkinson while covered, returned the puck back to Chin at the left point. Chin sent a wrist shot toward the net from deep. As the puck neared the net, the puck deflected off Lightning defender Jake Roth, changing direction enough to beat Bernard high glove side putting Northwest/Quince Orchard in front.
The next few minutes of the game settled into a chess match where neither team generated much offense. With seven and a half minutes left in the second period, the Lightning would go on the game’s first powerplay when Northwest forward Sohiab Younes was called for interference. On the powerplay, Upper Montgomery would draw even. A bad clearing opportunity by Chin was kept in at the blue line by Lightning defender Sean Levine. Levine quickly pivoted and fired a slap shot from just inside the blue line at the left point. The puck beat Dean cleanly five hole for an Upper Montgomery powerplay goal to tie the game at 2-2.
Three minutes later, Northwest/Quince Orchard would again jump to the lead. After an Upper Montgomery dump in, Chin retrieved the puck in the right defensive corner. He swung the puck up the boards and Rhett Swick swiped it into the neutral zone. Younes picked up the puck along the right wing boards and skated into the offensive zone moving left along the blue line. He cut toward the center of the slot and fired a wrist shot back across the grain to beat Bernard high glove side.
With a minute remaining in the second period, the Lightning would once again tie the game. Upper Montgomery center Henry Honacki coming back on defense laid a crushing body check on a Northwest/Quince Orchard forward who was carrying the puck. The result of the hit was that the intended shot went way off mark and over to the left wing boards. Adam Levine won the puck in the defensive zone. He hesitated a moment and found a wide open Branson Hughes in the neutral zone. Hughes brushed the puck as he fumbled it. Honacki, trailing the play, picked up the puck and skated up ice on the right wing. He entered the offensive zone and ripped a wrist shot through a defensive screen and Dean. The puck went high glove side to even the score at three. Upper Montgomery had scored on three of their ten shots on goal through two periods of play.
The third period started off poorly for Upper Montgomery. Similar to the start of the second period, Northwest/Quince Orchard would score one minute in. Off a bad Lightning turnover behind the net, Nikhil Mudunuri slapped the puck from behind the net back up the boards on the right wing to Younes. Younes centered the puck which was batted to Chin in the high slot. Chin’s wrist shot beat Bernard high blocker side to give Northwest/Quince Orchard yet another one goal lead.
Soon thereafter, Sean Levine was called for roughing, the only penalty assessed to Upper Montgomery during the game. The Lightning penalty kill stepped up and held Northwest/Quince Orchard to only low percentage perimeter chances. With under five minutes remaining in the game, Northwest/Quince Orchard sent the puck around the boards in their defensive zone. The puck was held in at the blue line by Sean Levine at the left point. He smacked the puck to keep it in the offensive zone. Josh Nadler collected the puck and swung around to the outside of the right circle. From a bad angle at the bottom outside of the right circle near the boards, Nadler shot the puck toward the net. Nadler’s shot deflected off the Northwest/Quince Orchard defense and past Dean five hole. The third Upper Montgomery goal of the game that went five hole on Dean.
With time winding down, Cole Howerton laid a massive body check into Mills on a step up just inside the defensive zone blue line. The puck flittered into the corner as the clock ran out giving each side a draw along with an important standings point. Upper Montgomery has one final chance to earn conference standings points versus lowly Rockville/Magruder when league play finishes later this week.
Game Notes:
- The Lightning’s leading scorer TJ Gottesman missed the game.
- The Lightning were outshot by a 23-14 margin, 18-10 over the final two periods of the game.
- The four goals given up with a goalie in net were the most surrendered by Upper Montgomery in a month.
- Henry Honacki scored his team leading sixth goal of the season.
- The Upper Montgomery junior varsity next returns to game action for their final Montgomery Hockey Conference game of the season on Thursday afternoon in a pivotal matchup versus Rockville/Magruder. Game time is 4:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Micah Chin—Northwest Defense—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Matthew Mills—Quince Orchard Defense–1 Goal
Third Star—Sean Levine—Upper Montgomery Defense–1 Goal, 1 Assist