The Upper Montgomery Lightning were not pleased with their performance this past Friday night in the 2023 – 2024 season opener against the Whitman Vikings. A tied game at the very end of the second period bottomed out after Whitman scored a goal with one second remaining in period to take the lead. It was the third consecutive season that the Lightning have dropped their season opener. Upper Montgomery will be looking to bounce back and get into the win column late this upcoming Friday evening against the DC Stars. Game time is set for 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.
While disappointed with the outcome of the Whitman game, the team still has very high expectations for the season. Qualifying for the state playoffs for the first time in program history is still the goal for the Lightning. With an experienced roster dominated by seniors and juniors, the team remains primed to meet these high expectations. The humbling third period against Whitman should incentivize the Lightning. Just because the Upper Montgomery roster looks good on paper, the team will need to rise to the challenge each week and grind out victories. The other programs in the Montgomery Hockey Conference are not going to just allow Upper Montgomery to win. The team will have to earn everything.
The Lightning still reside fifth in the Montgomery Hockey Conference rankings. This is the highest ranking ever achieved by the program. The challenge that awaits the team is that the program will face off against all of the other top teams in the league. Friday’s game versus the DC Stars is no exception. This version of the DC Stars is much improved with an assortment of young talented student athletes.
The Upper Montgomery program has twelve skaters that are only eligible to play in varsity competition, many of whom also play on high level AA or AAA external travel hockey teams. Last season’s top four scorers return looking to propel the Lightning. Senior center and team co-captain Chris Hassett could qualify to be enshrined in the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League Hall of Fame with a big season. He is coming off of two straight seasons leading Upper Montgomery in scoring with 16 GP, 15 G, 19 A, 34 PTS last year and 15 GP, 17 G, 16 A, for 33 PTS during the 2021 – 2022 season. Joining Hassett on the top line will be fellow high octane scorer and Honorable Mention Division One Forward Nathan Cassel. Cassel, a junior, tallied 12 GP, 11 G, 14 A, for 25 PTS last season after tallying 12 GP, 11 G, 6 A for 17 PTS in his 9th grade season. Joining these two talented skaters will be sophomore winger Philip Shkeda, last season’s top 9th grade scorer. Shkeda had a point per game with 14 GP, 7 G, 7 A, for 14 PTS.
The second line is likely to have junior Ryan Jacobson 10 GP, 12 G, 4 A, for 16 PTS centering senior Brandon Bernard and junior Henry Honacki. Jacobson had five games last season with multiple goals. Bernard blew up last season as a junior 14 GP, 9 G, 6 A, for 15 PTS and will look to conclude his high school career with another monster offensive season. Honacki’s speed will complement these two experienced skaters and will help drive back the opposing defenses.
The third line will have rugged senior center Bradley Cupples 15 GP, 3 G, 10 A, for 13 PTS last season and 15 GP, 11 A during the 2021 – 2022 season centering senior Olivia Robbins. Robbins was selected and honored by the Washington Post as an All Metropolitan 2nd Team Girls forward last season, the first ever All MET selection in Upper Montgomery team history. She tallied 11 GP, 6 G, 5 A, for 11 PTS last season. The third line right wing will likely be a rotation of forwards vying for playing time or someone off the top two lines double shifting. Junior varsity student athletes will most certainly be called up to play in varsity games based upon the team’s needs, which members of the varsity are out-of-town with their external travel teams, and which student athletes are producing during the junior varsity games. Senior Adam Levine and Junior Josh Nadler both have served as depth forwards in prior seasons and should get first crack at filling the void.
The DC Stars will be led senior forward Eli Rubin 9 GP, 4 G, 1 A last season and juniors Ethan Howe, Reuven Magdar and Tom Quinn. All are good skaters and possess some offensive skill. Younger forwards Ian Cox, Kai Handy-Kanegis, and Patrick Kaufmann will provide depth, something that the DC Stars have not had for many years. The DC Stars played Walter Johnson tough last week and will look to follow up that performance with an eye opening victory over the Lightning.
On defense the Lightning will have top level talent. Senior co-captain Hunter Cameron 14 GP, 2 G, 7 A, 9 PTS last season (and both Upper Montgomery goals last week) is making the transition from forward to defense to anchor and provide stability on the back end. This week he will miss the high school game as he will be out-of-town with his external travel team. With Andrew Botti still out injured, his presence will be deeply missed this week. Cameron will forever be remembered for his game winning overtime goal in last season’s playoff matchup versus St. Johns helping the Lightning to their first every Division One playoff victory.
When he is in town, Cameron will likely be paired with either sophomore Owen Robbins or sophomore Brady Berkhammer, 14 GP, 6 A. Junior Andrew Botti 14 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 PTS was expected to anchor the other defensive pairing but was recently injured playing for his external travel team and will miss a significant portion of the season. Both Robbins and Berkhammer had excellent 9th grade seasons and will be counted on to take their games to another level this season. Defensive positions five and six will be a rotation all season long with Josh Nadler, Sean Levine, Jake Roth, Cole Howerton, and Miles Wendland each likely to receive an opportunity to earn shifts during varsity game action as well as several forwards who may drop back to play shifts on defense to help fill the void.
Most of the DC Stars upper level talent is on the defensive side. The DC Stars are similar to Whitman in this regard. Junior Leo Nyberg is the leader on the back line for the DC Stars. He is the DC Stars top returning scorer with 10 GP, 5 G, 3 A last season. He will be joined by senior Rodrigo Mattioli, brothers Jonathan and Benjamin Lust, and Fletcher Lyttleton all of whom will be tasked with shutting down the Lightning’s high octane offense.
In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard looking to shake off last week’s third period and use last season’s exceptional playoff run as a springboard to dominate this season. Bernard’s individual statistics have improved each season, and he would like to add a varsity county championship to the junior varsity championship he backstopped two seasons ago. Last year, Bernard posted a strong regular season with a 3.65 GAA, and an .866 save percentage to go along with his 8-7-2 record. In the playoffs, he sparkled with a 0.98 GAA and a .966 save percentage. Bernard will be backed up by young but talented 9th grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg has the technical skills to make the tough save look easy. He will gain valuable playing time this season as the only junior varsity netminder while also seeing some varsity game action. Shterenberg has a very bright future with the Lightning program and has won his first three junior varsity starts.
The DC Stars will play either sophomore Anton Tracy or sophomore Gabriel Sokol in net, or maybe both in a split game. Both netminders shared time in net last season for the DC Stars junior varsity team. Both goalies are big netminders and Upper Montgomery will need to get them to move laterally and open them up for pucks to get through. They will look imposing taking up a lot of the net. Deflections, rebounds, and greasy goals will be necessary to beat these hulking goalies.
In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff will be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. This week, anticipate those lesser experienced skaters to receive more playing time as a way to balance out the line combinations. The depth of the Lightning’s roster will be tested but should be able to handle one or two student athletes missing a game here or there. Getting contributions from up and down the lineup will take pressure off the top two lines and allow them sufficient rest on the bench between shifts. If Upper Montgomery’s scoring is centralized amongst only a few skaters, the coaching staff will be forced to constantly rely on those few top end offensive skaters. This is not a recipe for success as their performance will deteriorate as the game progresses.
For Upper Montgomery it is a critical game. The Lightning need to get their first win of the season and rack up standing points in winnable games. The DC Stars game is a winnable game for the Lightning, but only if Upper Montgomery brings its domination mindset and plays a complete game.
#Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!