On a night when the Lightning’s seven seniors were celebrated for all they have contributed to the program over the past four seasons, the celebratory mood was almost spoiled by last place Northwest / Quince Orchard. A frenetic final five minutes of action saw a comfortable Upper Montgomery lead evaporate into a nail biting, heart pounding final two minutes of play. A couple of signature plays by Upper Montgomery’s senior leadership saved the day. The Lightning are now assured of finishing the regular season with a winning record in conference play. It was a win that leaves a lot of room for improvement heading into the final three regular season conference games which will be played against much tougher competition.
Upper Montgomery started the game with a bang. Sophomore center Jake Hudson scored his first career high school goal less than two minutes into the opening period. Hudson started the scoring sequence with a clean win of a faceoff to the right of Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goaltender Joseph Dean. The win of the draw was so clean that the puck shot back into the neutral zone where Lightning junior defender Brady Berkhammer took possession of the puck. From his defensive blue line Berkhammer sent a diagonal pass cross ice to Lightning forward Philip Shkeda on the left wing entering the offensive zone. Shkeda sent a pass back across the ice to sophomore forward Aiden Zheng. From the left side of the ice, Zheng skated the puck to the middle of the high slot where he passed the puck over to Berkhammer in the right faceoff circle. Berkhammer fired a bad angle shot from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle that was saved by Dean. The puck rebounded back directly to Berkhammer. He then proceeded to take the puck around the net from right to left before passing the puck to Hudson in the left faceoff circle. Hudson took two strides to his right toward the slot where he unleashed a wicked wrist shot high over Dean’s glove hand to the back of the net.
Upper Montgomery played with its 1-0 lead for twelve minutes. The Lightning began looking to make perfect plays rather than just getting pucks toward the net. The lack of aggression kept the Jaguars in the game. With just over a minute left in the opening period, Northwest / Quince Orchard wound up tying the game on a goal that never should have happened. A faceoff outside the Upper Montgomery defensive zone was won by Upper Montgomery with the puck brought back into the Lightning’s defensive zone by an Upper Montgomery forward. A turnover occurred just inside the defensive blue line and Northwest / Quince Orchard forward Gabriel Carlos sent a weak long range shot toward the goal. Lightning sophomore netminder Ilan Shterenberg placed his catching glove over the puck which should have resulted in a whistle and a stoppage in play. The out-of-position referees did not see Shterenberg clamp down on the puck. The Jaguars’ most dangerous skater, center Ethan Custudio charged the net and pushed his stick under Shterenberg’s glove shoving the puck loose and over the goal line to tie the game.
The Lightning finished the period on the powerplay when Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Drew Blurton was called for tripping with less than a minute remaining in the period. Upper Montgomery was unable to cash in on either the portion of the powerplay that ended the first period or the carry over powerplay time which began the second period. The first period concluded with the score tied at one apiece and Upper Montgomery having nearly doubled up the Jaguars in shots on net eleven to six.
Upper Montgomery’s coaching staff expressed great displeasure at the lack of urgency shown by the team in the first period. The Lightning seemed to take notice because the team came out much sharper in the middle period outshooting the Jaguars by a huge 21 to six margin. Three and a half minutes into the second period, the Lightning jumped back out in front. With extended pressure in the Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone the puck was dumped up the boards to Berkhammer at the right point. He skated around an onrushing Jaguars forward and down the boards. While on the move, Berkhammer sent a cross ice ice pass from outside the right faceoff circle to Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel in the left faceoff circle. Cassel whipped a feed to the front of the net looking for Lightning senior center Henry Honacki. Honacki’s tap in shot was saved by Dean’s left leg pad. The rebound shot out into the slot where Berkhammer placed a left handed wrist shot past Dean’s glove close in by his body.
Having the lead once again further energized the Lightning. Five minutes later Upper Montgomery’s lead grew to 3-1 after Hudson scored his second goal of the evening. Hudson won the draw from the right faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. Lightning forward Siddy Bhasin pushed the puck back to the right point to senior defender Cole Howerton. Howerton’s snap shot toward the net hit Hudson’s skates. Hudson collected the puck and sent it into the right faceoff circle to Bhasin. Bhasin returned the puck to Hudson who was now standing at the inner edge of the right faceoff circle. Hudson’s turnaround push shot deflected off of a Northwest / Quince Orchard defender’s skate and caromed past Dean low blocker side along the ice.
Upper Montgomery kept up the pressure. Two and a half minutes later Honacki scored his team leading tenth goal of the season to put Upper Montgomery ahead by three goals. Off of a faceoff from the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, the Jaguars won the faceoff back to the left corner. Shkeda sped in and got to the puck first. He sent the puck lower into the left corner to Honacki. Fighting through a body check, Honacki cycled to the lower portion of the left faceoff circle where he dropped the puck down to Cassel. Cassel skated the puck to the top of the left faceoff circle near the left wing boards where he threw the puck to open ice in the right corner. Once again, Shkeda was first to the puck. He sent the puck back across the ice to Cassel who was standing alone in the left faceoff circle. Cassel found Honacki cutting down the slot toward the crease with a deft pass. All Honacki had to do was pound the puck home from a few feet out in front.
Just before the period ended, Northwest / Quince Orchard forward Omar Ben Younes took a tripping penalty. Upper Montgomery had a great opportunity up three goals entering the third period to put a stranglehold on the game by scoring a powerplay goal. Instead, the Lightning began looking for perfect highlight real chances rather than pressuring the net and swarming the crease area. After not converting on the powerplay, Upper Montgomery went on the penalty kill when Cassel was called for a cross checking penalty. The Lightning penalty killers and Shterenberg faced pressure while shorthanded with Upper Montgomery’s goalie coming through with several key saves to keep the Lightning in front by three.
With just over six minutes left in the third period, Lightning senior forward Josh Nadler took an unnecessary cross checking penalty behind the play. Northwest / Quince Orchard took advantage and scored on the resulting powerplay to close the score to 4-2 with just under five minutes to play. Off of a faceoff outside the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, there was a tie up off the draw. Custudio took possession of the puck and went into the offensive zone wide along the right wing. Getting around the Upper Montgomery defender, he ripped a forehand snapshot from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle. Shterenberg took the puck off his chest protector with the puck bounding off of him to the backside of the crease. Carlos outhustled the Upper Montgomery weak side defender and pushed the puck home into the wide open left side of the net.
A minute and twenty seconds later the Lightning answered back to reclaim their three goal lead. Upper Montgomery dumped the puck out of their defensive zone to neutral ice. Having to create offense, the Jaguars turned the play back towards the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Standing up just inside the blue line, senior defender Patrick Sell deflected the puck breaking up the Jaguars offensive zone entry. The puck deflected over to Cassel at the red line. Cassel circled back into the Lightning defensive zone and fired up the ice to the Upper Montgomery offensive zone. He cut to his right and brought the puck down the right wing side of the ice. Sensing the Jaguars defenders converging, he stickhandled to the inside at the right faceoff circle. His move evaded the left Northwest / Quince Orchard defender. When the right Northwest / Quince Orchard defender came across the ice to assist and support the play, Cassel slid the puck to his left past both defenders and right on the stick of Zheng. From inside the crease, Zheng punched the puck past Dean’s blocker and goalie stick along the ice at the far side of the net.
Being up 5-2 with three and a half minutes left should have sewn up the game. Maybe that is what the Lightning student athletes thought as well because they stopped competing. Shterenberg made multiple close in saves in rapid succession, first the initial shot, then the second chance, and even a third rebound jam shot. His number of saves shot up dramatically. Then, with under two minutes to play, Carlos scored again to make the score 5-3. With the puck and control in the offensive zone Shkeda collided with Lightning ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins. The puck was scooped up by Blurton along the left wing boards in his defensive zone. He sent an outlet pass into neutral ice to Custudio sending the speedy center in on a breakaway with Lightning sophomore defender Miles Wendland applying back pressure. Shterenberg made a save with his leg pads when Custudio attempted to beat him five hole. The rebound popped out into the slot where Northwest / Quince Orchard defender Andrew Isaacson fired. Shterenberg made a blocker save on the rebound attempt with the puck sliding over to the side of the net. Carlos sent a backhanded chip shot toward the net. His short side shot was just out of the reach of Shterenberg as he lunged over to the other goal post attempting to make a third excellent save in succession.
Off the center ice faceoff, all of the Lightning skaters fell asleep. Cassel turned the puck over in the neutral zone after a face off win by Honacki. At the faceoff dot outside the Lightning defensive zone Isaacson had the puck on the left wing. He moved over the blue line into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. From the outside edge of the left faceoff circle, his wrist shot went to the far side of the net, past Shterenberg’s glove hand into the top right corner of the net.
While the Jaguars were still celebrating cutting the Lightning’s lead to 5-4 with 1:35 remaining in the game, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff had already called for a timeout. In a strategic move, Lightning junior center Owen Robbins was moved back to defense to provide a bigger body for the anticipated Northwest / Quince Orchard six on five pulled goalie attack.
Fortunately, Upper Montgomery kept the puck out of the Jaguars possession. After a Northwest / Quince Orchard dump in to their offensive zone Berkhammer settled the play behind his own net. Berkhammer then sent a defensive zone breakout pass to Shkeda up the left wing boards. Shkeda sent the puck high off the defensive zone glass up the boards and out of the defensive zone. The puck sailed over the head of Northwest / Quince Orchard senior defender Roman Martin who jumped up in an attempt to catch the puck. The puck deflected off of Martin’s glove hand negating any potential icing call. Honacki raced down the ice and beat the weak side Jaguars defender to the puck in the left wing of the Northwest / Quince Orchard defensive zone. Breaking free, Honacki cut toward the net as he was in all alone. He shot towards the left side of the goal, back from where he had just skated. The puck whizzed past the right arm and body of Dean going past him seven hole into the back of the net. The score provided a brief respite as Upper Montgomery was now ahead 6-4 with 56 seconds remaining in the game.
The same five Lightning skaters lined up at center ice for the ensuing faceoff as the team continued to defend the last minute of the game. Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, the Lightning dumped the puck into the Northwest / Quince Orchard end of the ice. Using his speed, Shkeda raced in to gain possession of the puck on the half wall on the left wing side of the ice. He was instantly converged on by two Jaguars defensive skaters. From the top of the left faceoff circle, Shkeda managed to get the puck over to Honakci in the slot. Honacki backhanded the puck wide of the net and into the left defensive corner. Cassel arrived on the puck first and took the puck deeper along the curve of the corner sending a pass to Shkeda almost behind the net. Shkeda sent a short return pass to Cassel who had turned into the left faceoff circle. Cassel fired a short side wrist shot past Dean’s blocker to salt away the game with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.
While fighting off the spirited Jaguars upset bid, the Lightning know that they will need to play much, much better to stay competitive with the three remaining teams on their conference schedule; Rockville / Magruder, Churchill, and Whitman. The seniors were able to celebrate a win on senior night, but the game was anything but easy against last place Northwest / Quince Orchard. The Lightning have momentum by virtue of a three game winning streak. Upper Montgomery will finish with its best mark in conference play since the 2018 – 2019 season when the team only played the other teams in the lower division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. One more win over the final three conference games likely clinches the all important sixth seed in the upcoming post season playoffs. Finishing sixth would tie last season’s best ever regular season finish in program history.
Game Notes:
- Upper Montgomery outshot the Jaguars 43-30 including a huge 32-12 margin over the first two periods of play.
- Lightning sophomore center Jake Hudson scored his first career varsity goal and followed that marker up with another strike.
- Lightning senior center Henry Honacki scored two goals for the third consecutive game.
- The victory was Upper Montgomery’s third consecutive league win pushing the team’s record to 6-3-1 overall, and 6-2-1 in conference play.
- The two teams combined for six goals in the final five minutes of the third period.
- With his assist on Honakci’s second goal, Lightning defender Brady Berkhammer tied his career high in points in a season with thirteen. He had three points in the game with a goal and two assists.
- Lightning senior forward Nathan Cassel had a four point game with a goal and three assists.
- Upper Montgomery has a critical matchup next Friday night when the team returns to Rockville Ice Arena to take on the Rockville / Magruder Rams. It is a game that will more than likely determine the sixth and seventh seeds in the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference post season playoff tournament. Faceoff is at 9:00 pm on Friday, January 10th.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Jake Hudson—Upper Montgomery Center —2 Goals
Second Star—Henry Honacki—Upper Montgomery Center—2 Goals, 2 Assists
Third Star—Nathan Cassel—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 3 Assists