The Upper Montgomery Lightning entered Friday night’s contest against Wootton knowing that they played the Patriots tough three weeks ago in a 3-1 loss. Upper Montgomery held the high scoring Wootton attack to nine goals under their season average. The rematch was entirely one sided with Wootton thumping Upper Montgomery in a very non-competitive contest by a score of 10-1. Upper Montgomery’s one goal was comparable to a soccer own goal because Wootton accidently shot the puck into their own net. It was definitely sweet revenge for Wootton. After never losing to Upper Montgomery in the first fourteen years of Upper Montgomery’s existence, Wootton lost twice to the Lightning two years ago and was embarrassed by the Lightning in last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament Championship game falling 9-1.
Lightning sophomore goaltender Ilan Shterenberg was under siege right from the opening faceoff. Upper Montgomery looked to play a structured defense first game in an attempt to neutralize Wootton’s high powered offense. The Lightning were hoping to mimic their defensive performance from the last game. It never had a chance to work. Wootton was relentless off the opening draw at center ice pressuring the Lightning all over the ice. Upper Montgomery rarely had clean possession of the puck. Many of the Lightning shots on goal were dump ins from center ice or shots from long range along the boards.
In contrast, Wootton peppered Shterenberg with pucks. The Patriots were first to rebounds and kept coming forward in waves. The young Lightning were overwhelmed and buried. Wootton’s all-state senior 18U AA defender Sam Hosier did the most damage scoring four goals and assisting on three other Patriots strikes. The deluge commenced four minutes into the game. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to neutral ice. In neutral ice Wootton defender Jayden Ahn chipped the puck off the left wing boards with his backhand. The puck banked forward to Wootton senior forward Nathan Tai who was coming out of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone to get back onside. Tai sent a backhand pass across the ice to Hosier on the right wing boards. Hosier circled around the neutral zone to pick up speed before entering the offensive zone on the right side. He drove wide around the Upper Montgomery defense and cut left towards the net. He sent a forehand shot to the back of the net high to the far side over Shterenberg’s blocker and right shoulder.
Sixteen seconds later it was Hosier two goals and Upper Montgomery zero. From a faceoff outside the Lightning defensive zone, Hosier won the draw to the right wing boards. He was first to the puck and once again did his customary curl around the center ice faceoff circle. Then, he rocketed directly up ice into the Lightning defensive zone. High above the faceoff circles from the middle of the offensive zone Hosier fired a wrist shot that bounced off Shterenberg’s glove, popped up into the air, and landed behind the young goalie settling into the net. It was a soft goal to allow and the two goal deficit seemed to further deflate the Lightning.
Upper Montgomery closed the gap to 2-1 with just under nine minutes remaining in the first period. It would be the only positive for the Lightning on this night. Back pressure applied by Lightning ninth grade forward Luke Hudson on the left wing of the neutral zone caused a turnover. Lightning senior center Henry Honacki stole the puck and headed up ice into the Wootton defensive zone. He curled up between the faceoff circle and the side wall and fired a bad angle shot at Wootton goalie Kevin Yu. Yu made an easy pad save with the puck shooting out into the empty slot. Backchecking Wootton defender Jaina Kronforst shot the puck looking to put it out of harm’s way into the right corner. She hooked her attempt slightly left and shot the puck into her own net past Yu. Honacki as the last Lightning skater to touch the puck was awarded the unassisted goal.
The Lightning’s good fortune lasted less than two minutes when Patriots forward Owen Goozh made the score 3-1 Wootton. The puck was in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone in the left corner. The puck was then carried behind the net by the Upper Montgomery defense and cleared up the right wing boards where it was intercepted by Tai. Tai fumbled the puck but was able to send it back to the point to Wootton defender David Oberst. Oberst then lost control of the puck into the high slot where Goozh pivoted and immediately fired a rising shot high through a double screen of Lightning defenders past Shterenberg’s glove. With five and a half minutes remaining in the opening period, Lightning senior forward Josh Nadler was called for a roughing penalty. The Lightning successfully killed off the penalty only because Wootton missed the net on several good looks after repeatedly breaking down the Lightning penalty killers.
Hosier closed out the first period scoring with twelve seconds remaining to put Wootton up 4-1. Goozh had the puck in the neutral zone before he entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He took the puck down to the left corner and continued to stickhandle looking to center a pass to the slot. Goozh sent the puck behind the net to the right defensive corner where it was picked up by Hosier. Hosier sent the puck up the right wing boards to the right point. The puck was dumped back down to the left corner intended for Goozh but went past him to Tai. Tai sent the puck to Goozh at the side of the net. Goozh tried to muscle the puck past Shterenberg to the short side. Shterenberg made the save with the puck coming right back to Goozh. Goozh then made a nice touch pass through the crease to Hosier in the low slot. Hosier had the entire right side of the open net to dump the puck into. Shots on goal in the first period were twenty three for Wootton and eight for Upper Montgomery.
The second period was a mirror image of the first period. Wootton fired eighteen shots on goal, three of which found the net and Upper Montgomery was credited with seven non-threatening shots that Yu saved. Three minutes into the period Ahn was given a checking from behind penalty and ten minute misconduct. The referees also called Nadler for a retaliatory roughing penalty to eliminate the potential Upper Montgomery powerplay.
With six minutes played of the second period Upper Montgomery had somewhat stopped the Wootton barrage. Then, on a shift with extended offensive zone time, Wootton increased the lead to 5-1. The scoring sequence began with a faceoff in the right faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Several poor Upper Montgomery defensive clears failed to get the puck to neutral ice. The last bad defensive clear was intercepted by Goozh. With the puck on the left wing side of the ice he dumped the puck behind the Lightning net. A puck battle ensued. Tai came out of the pack with puck possession. He sent a spinning backhand pass through the crease where the puck was kept in at the left point by Wootton defender Drew Kronforst. Kronforst sent the puck at the net where it landed in multiple skater’s feet. The puck bounced loose to Wootton forward Justin Heller who put the puck past Shterenberg short side low past his goalie stick.
Having largely keep Wootton in check during the second period, the Lightning finally faltered when Wootton broke through with under two minutes remaining. Hosier used a poke check to steal the puck at the red line. He went in on a three on two rush with Goozh and Heller. From the outside edge of the left faceoff circle he fired a pass through the crease to Goozh for an easy tap goal in at the back right goal post. Goozh had gotten behind the Upper Montgomery defense to deposit his second goal of the game.
On the next shift the game went into running clock as the score grew to 7-1. Off of a faceoff from the left faceoff circle in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the Lightning failed to clear the defensive zone…again. Hosier kept the puck in the offensive zone at the left point. He shoveled the puck with one hand on his stick over to Wootton forward Nathan Geeng. Geeng skated to the inner edge of the left faceoff circle where he fired a wrist shot to the near side post which went past Shterenberg’s goalie stick.
As the third period began, Wootton’s scoring onslaught continued. Geeng scored his second goal of the game on the first shift of the period. After several nice saves by Shterenberg, another bad Upper Montgomery defensive zone clear was grabbed by Hosier using his feet to settle the puck. The play was actually offsides as the puck came out of the defensive zone but the referee who made the call was well out of position. Hosier even stopped for a second or two as he knew the puck had come to center ice. With no whistle for offsides, Hosier then skated around the onrushing Upper Montgomery forward and fired a wrist shot at the net. Shterenberg made the save with his chest protector and the puck fell to the ice. The rebound was knocked in by Geeng standing all alone at the right goal post.
With six minutes mercifully remaining in the contest, Wootton scored again to go up 9-1. An Upper Montgomery shot missed the net. Hosier collected the puck on the left wing in his defensive zone. He skated up ice at full speed and blew past the Upper Montgomery right defender in the neutral zone. He came down the left side of the ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. At the left faceoff circle he cut right at the net and sent a backhand shot far side under Shterenberg’s glove for the unassisted goal, his fourth of the game.
On the next shift, Wootton reached double figures in goals. Geeng came down the left wing into the Lightning defensive zone. He turned, emerging from a puck battle to feed Wootton depth forward Brendan Lau in front. Lau stopped the puck with his forehand. He then moved the puck to his backhand and fired at Shterenberg. The Lightning goalie got most of the puck, however it popped up into the air and just over the goal line.
The Lightning now have a break to wipe away the stink of this performance as they do not play for the next three weeks. When the team returns to action, Upper Montgomery faces a challenge of a cross over game against the DC Stars from division one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. A win for the Lightning will go a long way toward locking up a home playoff game in the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference season ending post season playoff tournament.
Game Notes:
- Wootton significantly outshot Upper Montgomery 50-19 for the game, including 41-15 over the first two periods of play. It was a similar margin of shots on goal compared with the first game between the two teams, with Wootton doubling up the Lightning in shots 52-26.
- Upper Montgomery has now lost three of its last four games to drag is record down to 3-3-1 on the season after a fast start to the campaign.
- Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay in the contest.
- Upper Montgomery has scored a total of two goals in its three games against top fifteen teams in the state; 3-1 and 10-1 against Wootton and 7-0 against Urbana.
- Upper Montgomery returns to action after the Thanksgiving break to face division one opponent the DC Stars. Game time on Friday, December 13th is at 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.
Three Stars of the Game:
First Star—Sam Hosier—Wootton Defense—4 Goals, 3 Assists
Second Star—Owen Goozh—Wootton Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist
Third Star—Nathan Geeng–Wootton Forward—2 Goals, 1 Assist