The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity played its second consecutive non-conference game of the season on Monday evening when the Lightning faced off against the Annapolis / Arundel Panthers in a game played at the Laurel Ice Gardens. The game started at 6:15 pm, however, Upper Montgomery really did not get going in the contest until after the first period was over. At that point, it was too late, with the Panthers having jumped out in front with a four goal opening period. While the Lightning played much better in the second and third periods, the early hole was just too much to get out from under in an eventual 6-2 loss.
Saying Upper Montgomery eased into the game would be an understatement. The Panthers were aggressive from the start. It took less than two minutes for Annapolis / Arundel to jump to a lead they would never relinquish. Panthers defender Braden Burrows had the puck in the left defensive corner in his own zone. He chipped the puck off the left wing boards to Annapolis / Arundel forward Elliott Langbein just inside his defensive blue line. Langbein took the puck into the neutral zone before charging down the left wing boards into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He then cut to the middle of the ice before throwing the puck at the net from the inner edge at the top of the right faceoff circle. Langbein’s shot went five hole on Upper Montgomery ninth grade goalie George Schickler for his fifth goal of the season.
Two and a half minutes later, Upper Montgomery was down 2-0. With the puck in the left defensive corner, Panthers defender Nikolai Chernovsky flipped the puck out of his own zone down ice looking for a breaking forward. His flip found Annapolis / Arundel forward Gavin Hare in the neutral zone. Hare carried the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone down the left wing. He went outside the Upper Montgomery defender. From the lower portion of the left faceoff circle Hare’s shot went through Schickler’s body into the net for his first goal of the season.
The Panthers third goal took a little more than three minutes. With Upper Montgomery posing no offensive threat and being outraced to many of the loose pucks, Annapolis / Arundel kept up the pressure. On one such occasion, the Lightning were able to gain the offensive zone. A long range shot originating from the right point was well wide of the net. Panthers defender Isaac Waesche collected the puck and sent it up the right wing boards to Annapolis / Arundel forward William Keuleman in the neutral zone. Keuleman ventured down the right wing into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle was saved by Schickler. The puck was cleared up the middle of the defensive zone by the Upper Montgomery defense. A poor decision and a critical mistake. Chernovsky kept the puck in at the middle of the blue line. His shovel shot from long range eluded Schickler five hole for his second goal of the season. Schickler’s reaction indicated he felt he should have definitely stopped Chernovsky’s shot as it was not a difficult save to make.
Langbein capped off the disastrous first period for the Lightning with his second goal of the night and his team leading sixth goal of the season. Panthers forward Kyler Porzillo stole the puck from a Lightning forward in the right defensive corner. He sent a backhand pass to the slot which carried through to Keuleman. Keuleman’s backhand shot went wide of the right goal post. Porzillo captured the puck behind the net and he threw it back into the slot for Langbein. Langbein buried his shot to the top right corner of the goal over Schickler’s glove hand. The Lightning made it to the first intermission with no further damage down 4-0, having been outshot by the Panthers eleven to two. Annapolis / Arundel goalie Frederick Bright had a rocking chair period with very little action on his side of the ice.
During intermission, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff asked the students how they felt they played during the first period. The students were honest and accurate in that their play was not close to being good enough. The Lightning coaches then asked the students what they were going to do about their poor performance during the opening period. The students went out and competed hard during the second period holding the Panthers to just four shots on goal. The more aggressive play yielded an early powerplay when Annapolis / Arundel forward James Reynolds was called for a tripping minor penalty. While Upper Montgomery was unable to score with the extra skater, the early powerplay opportunity took the Panthers out of their offensive flow.
Then, with three and a half minutes left in the middle period, the Lightning got on the board. Off of a designed faceoff play called ‘shooter’ Upper Montgomery broke through. Lightning sophomore center Decklin Hughes cleanly won a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone. The puck went directly to Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray who was already in the shooting motion. Zamaray cranked a one-time slap shot past Bright into the top right corner of the goal for his team leading fifth goal of the season.
Down by three goals entering the final period, the Lightning continued to struggle to generate any offensive thrust. The team was credited with two shots on goal in the third period finishing the game with only eight shots. Nowhere near enough to win a game. Four minutes into the third period the slim chance at a comeback vanished. An Upper Montgomery defender sent the puck across the ice along their defensive blue line to the left wing. The pass was off target and picked up by Chernovsky who entered the offensive zone down the left wing. His slap shot from distance was handled by Schickler with the rebound shooting out into the slot. Waesche, coming down from his point position, sent a backhand pass to Keuleman at the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Keuleman easily deposited a backhanded shot into the wide open right side of the net for his first goal of the season.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, Upper Montgomery struck again. Lightning sophomore defender Matt Rivera stood with the puck behind his own net. He fired a home run pass down the middle of the ice looking for junior forward Jackson Schickler behind the Panthers defense. Schickler did not handle the pass cleanly but also did not quit on the play. He chased down the puck by outhustling the Annapolis / Arundel defense before fighting to fish the puck from the defender’s skates. He took the puck around the net from left to right coming around the outside of the right goal post before Bright could recover and come over to the opposite post. The wraparound shot went under Bright’s glove for Schickler’s first goal of the season.
A minute later the Lightning went on the penalty kill when junior defender Max Curtusan was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers did a nice job limiting the Panthers to the exterior and keeping the deficit to three goals. With a couple of minutes remaining in the game, Lightning senior forward and team captain Jason Woodman lost his balance and fell into a Panthers forward. The referees determined that Woodman had boarded the Panthers skater and sent him off the ice for a minor boarding penalty. A boarding penalty also comes with a misconduct penalty ending his evening early.
On the ensuing powerplay, Annapolis / Arundel scored quickly to finish out the game’s scoring. From the right faceoff circle in the defensive zone, Upper Montgomery won the puck battle off the faceoff and took the puck behind the net. A turnover left the puck out in front of the net. The Lightning defense watched as the Panthers shoveled the puck at Schickler twice. Schickler made both saves. Eventually, Panthers forward Eric Patterson shoved the puck across the crease behind Schickler to Ian Crane who tapped the puck across the goal line for his first goal of the season.
Annapolis / Arundel was in control the entire game. The game never seemed in doubt after the early first period lead. Upper Montgomery struggled just to get back into the game. It was certainly a game that Upper Montgomery’s slow start played a major factor in the outcome. For the Lightning to be successful, the team needs to play strong physical defensive hockey which they did not do against the Panthers. This was one of the few games that the Lightning have not been competitive in. There is now no margin for error if the team wants to qualify for the junior varsity playoffs. It is a must that the Lightning beat Walter Johnson in its next to last conference game.
Game Notes:
- Annapolis / Arundel outshot Upper Montgomery 27-8 during the game.
- Upper Montgomery junior center Jackson Schickler scored his first goal of the season.
- Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray scored for the third straight game and for the fourth time in five games.
- The Upper Montgomery junior varsity has another short break before returning to play a critically important game against Walter Johnson. The winner of the game has an inside track to qualify for the junior varsity playoffs. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink on Friday evening, January 2nd.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Nikolai Chernovsky—Annapolis / Arundel Defense—1 Goal 2 Assists
Second Star—Elliott Langbein—Annapolis / Arundel Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—William Keuleman—Annapolis / Arundel Forward—1 Goal, 1 Assist