The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Thursday’s game against Northwest / Quince Orchard knowing that they were the more talented squad. Hoping for a Halloween massacre, the team settled for a ho hum sloppily played victory over the overmatched but pesky Jaguars. While Upper Montgomery dominated play for much of the evening, the coaching staff was not pleased with how the team seemed to go through the motions with a distinct lack of intensity. With the victory, Upper Montgomery advanced its record to 2-0-1 on the season and cemented its place among the top half of the teams in the county.
The first half of the opening period was filled with individualism and very little team play. The individualism led to many turnovers with skaters out of position not knowing where the puck carrier was going with the puck in the offensive zone. These continuous turnovers led to easy defensive zone clears for the Jaguars. Of note, Lightning junior center Owen Robbins twice hit the goal post with wicked wrist shots. Unfortunately for him and the Lightning, both shots harmlessly clanged away from the net after easily beating Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goalie Joseph Dean.
The Lightning opened the scoring with eight and a half minutes left in the first period. Northwest / Quince Orchard dumped the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the left corner. Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer chipped the puck off the corner boards to Upper Montgomery senior center Henry Honakci. Using his backhand, Honakci dug the puck up ice to senior forward AJ Marks making his varsity debut. Marks touched the puck before over skating the puck in his haste to exit the defensive zone. Berkhammer, trailing the play, jumped on the puck and skated out of the defensive zone up ice. He maneuvered down the left wing boards into the offensive zone. Entering the left faceoff circle with the puck on his forehand, he shed the Northwest / Quince Orchard defender with a shoulder lean and cut toward the front of the net. Berkhammer skated around Dean and slid a backhand shot along the ice to the far side of the net.
Having finally taken the lead Upper Montgomery seemed to relax just a bit. That exhale of relief seemed to jump start the team. Two minutes later, the score increased to 2-0. The Northwest / Quince Orchard defense slung the puck around the curve behind their own net. The puck was cut off by Upper Montgomery junior forward Philip Shkeda along the left wing boards. He returned the puck low behind the Northwest / Quince Orchard net. The Northwest / Quince Orchard defense attempted a defensive zone breakout up the other side of the ice. This fling of the puck was kept in at the right point by Upper Montgomery senior defender Patrick Sell. From midway between the top of the right faceoff circle and the blue line, Sell lined up a wrist shot and fired at the net. His shot traveled high toward the top right corner of the net. Dean could not get his glove hand up high enough to stop the puck leading to Sell’s first career varsity goal and a rousing celebration from the Lightning bench.
With three and a half minutes remaining in the opening period Northwest / Quince Orchard clawed back into the game. A shot by Lightning sophomore forward Jake Hudson was blocked by Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Roman Martin. The puck bounded slightly forward toward the Northwest / Quince Orchard net. Martin poked the puck to Northwest / Quince Orchard center Ethan Custudio. Custudio took the puck up the left side of the ice through the neutral zone and into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. From the top of the left faceoff circle he fired a wrist shot past the leg of a Lightning defender to the short side of the net. The puck squirted past Upper Montgomery sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg’s blocker and his side and then into the net. It was a goal that Shterenberg would tell you never should have gotten past him.
The soft goal against seemed to fire up the Lightning. On the very next shift Upper Montgomery restored the two goal lead. Northwest / Quince Orchard iced the puck. Off the offensive zone faceoff in the right faceoff circle, Honacki shot the puck toward the net. The puck went wide short side and rebounded off the back wall to Shkeda in the left corner. Shkeda sent a bank pass off the boards to Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer sent a return pass off the boards back down to Shkeda. Shkeda fired a cross ice pass looking for senior forward TJ Gottesman. Gottesman chunked the cross crease feed wide of the net past the right goal post. Gottesman hurried to the puck and went around the back of the net from right to left. He lost control of the puck as he came around the net. Retaining possession he then passed the puck into the slot. The puck was grabbed by Honacki on his backhand. Honacki spun away from the Northwest / Quince Orchard defense and fired a wrist shot that went top shelf near side past Dean’s blocker.
Nineteen seconds later, with the same forward trio remaining on the ice, Gottesman scored his first career varsity goal to extend the lead to 4-1 putting Upper Montgomery firmly in control. Northwest / Quince Orchard won the center ice faceoff following Honacki’s goal. From the right wing boards along the defensive zone blue line, the Jaguars defense cleared the puck up ice. Berkhammer stole possession of the puck inside his own defensive zone blue line. He advanced the puck up the left wing boards to Shkeda in neutral ice. Shkeda skated through the middle of the ice and cut to the left entering the offensive zone. Shkeda stickhandled in and lost the puck as he closed in on the goal. Dean swatted at the puck which went to Gottesman on the right side of the slot. Gottesman shot high over Dean’s glove hand to find the back of the net. Shots on goal in the first period were sixteen for Upper Montgomery and four for Northwest / Quince Orchard. As previously mentioned, it was a period that Upper Montgomery seemed to go through the motions and still the Lightning dominated play.
The second period saw a continuation of the same. Upper Montgomery outshot Northwest Quince Orchard by a similar fifteen to four margin. Off the opening faceoff to start the second period, Martin was called for a roughing penalty putting Upper Montgomery on the powerplay for what would be their only opportunity of the evening. Robbins again hit the goal post and the Lightning had several other threatening opportunities but could not cash in with the extra skater.
A minute after the Lightning’s powerplay concluded, Shkeda scored his second goal of the season. A shot from the point by Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Andrew Isaacson was saved by Shterenberg. The puck bounced into the slot near Shkeda who was covering for the defense. Shkeda corralled the puck and headed up the right wing. He made a self pass off the boards as he stepped around the Northwest / Quince Orchard defender. He came in on a two on one rush with Hudson. Choosing to shoot, Shkeda fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. The puck went far side under Dean’s blocker for the unassisted goal.
With four minutes remaining in the period, Berkhammer would tally his second goal of the game to extend the Lightning’s lead to 6-1. Berkhammer began the play firing a diagonal cross ice pass from his left defensive corner to Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Aiden Zheng on the right wing at the Lightning defensive blue line. Zheng skated the puck all the way down the right wing into the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. He traveled into the right wing corner and then around the net. Coming around the net, Zheng sent a backhand pass to Berkhammer at the left point. Berkhammer skated around the approaching Northwest / Quince Orchard forward and then to the inside of the defense before he fired a wrist shot short side over Dean’s blocker.
With under two minutes remaining in the second period, Honacki scored his second goal of the game and third of the season to bring the game temporarily into running clock with Upper Montgomery ahead 7-1. Berkhammer again started the play beginning with the puck behind his own net. He sent a bank pass up the left wing boards to Shkeda. Shekda made a nice pick up of the pass while skating backwards. He pivoted forward into a two on one rush with Honacki. Shekda again chose to shoot, this time from the low portion of the left faceoff circle. Dean made a pad save with the puck rebounding immediately back to Shkeda. This time Shkeda passed across the crease to Honacki alone at the right goal post for an easy tap in goal.
With a six goal lead, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff inserted ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons to play the third period. The coaching staff also began to give some of the depth skaters more playing time as the victory was securely in hand with fifteen minutes left in the game. The game began to have the flow and nature of a friendly scrimmage. Three and a half minutes into the third period Hudson was called for a hooking penalty putting Northwest / Quince Orchard on the powerplay for the first time in the game. With Upper Montgomery using skaters who do not normally kill penalties, the Lightning penalty kill was scattered and chaotic, but did enough to keep the Jaguars off the scoreboard.
With five and a half minutes remaining in the game, Lightning senior defender Cole Howerton was called for a roughing penalty. Thirty seconds later, Northwest / Quince Orchard scored to get the game out of running clock with five minutes remaining. Off of a faceoff in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to the right of Stutsrim-Lyons, the Lightning lost the draw to the side wall. The puck found its way back to the left point to Isaacson. He stepped around the Upper Montgomery forward and fired a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle through a screen in front. Stutsrim-Lyons made the initial save but could not control the rebound which fell in front of the net. Custudio found the puck through some legs and skates and slid a pass across the front of the crease to Miriam Birck standing behind the Lightning netminder. Birck slammed home the puck to the far side of the goal.
With less than two minutes to play, Northwest / Quince Orchard was back on their third powerplay of the period. A frame in which Upper Montgomery just went through the motions gearing up for the monumental tilt tomorrow evening against highly ranked Wootton. Sell took an interference penalty in front wiping out a Northwest / Quince Orchard forward. Similar to the last Northwest / Quince Orchard powerplay, Upper Montgomery was hemmed in the defensive zone.
With a minute remaining in the game and from a faceoff originating outside of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone along the right side of the ice, Custudio won the draw back to Martin. Martin entered the Upper Montgomery zone and fired the puck wide of the net. The puck was kept in at the left point by Isaacson. He dumped the puck down into the left corner. An Upper Montgomery defensive zone clear was kept in at the left point by Isaacson. This time he fired at the net where the shot hit Martin and deflected high off Stutsrim-Lyons’s stick to the left side of the ice. The Lightning defense possessed the puck and attempted to skate the puck out of the defensive zone rather than simply immediately icing the puck as the coaching staff has instilled in all Lightning penalty killers. Custudio snuck in and stole the puck. He passed to the slot with Upper Montgomery’s skaters heading up ice anticipating the puck would be cleared down the ice. Martin was all alone in front of Stutsrim-Lyons for a layup goal to conclude the scoring. It proved to be an anticlimactic end to the ho-hum evening which produced an Upper Montgomery victory that was hardly celebrated.
Game Notes:
- Upper Montgomery outshot Northwest Quince Orchard 37-20 for the game, including 31 to 8 over the first two periods of play.
- Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer had his first career high school multi-goal game and he added two assists for a career high four point game.
- Lightning senior defender Patrick Sell scored his first career high school varsity goal.
- Lightning senior forward TJ Gottesman scored his first career high school varsity goal and added an assist for his first two career varsity points.
- Playing in his first ever varsity game, Lightning senior forward AJ Marks registered an assist for his first career varsity point.
- Upper Montgomery ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons entered the game and played the entire third period seeing his first career varsity action. Stutsrim Lyons made ten saves and played well.
- Upper Montgomery returns to action late tomorrow night facing off against arch rival and undefeated Wootton. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Philip Shkeda—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 3 Assists
Second Star—Henry Honacki—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Ethan Custudio—Northwest / Quince Orchard Center—1 Goal, 2 Assists