The Upper Montgomery Lightning crushed Wootton 9-1 on Thursday afternoon to win the Montgomery Hockey Conference Tournament Championship. All of the teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference that fail to advance to the Maryland state high school hockey playoffs all compete in the Tournament Championship. It is a highly prestigious achievement and the most coveted accomplishment to date in Upper Montgomery program history.
The Lightning finished the 2023 – 2024 season ranked 5th in the conference (the top team which missed out on advancing to the state playoffs) and 13th in the state this season. Although 16 teams make the state playoff tournament, there is a limit on the number of teams from Montgomery County—four. Unfortunately, the squad fell one game short of qualifying for the state playoffs for the second consecutive season.
In the Montgomery Hockey Conference tournament championship game, the team was led by leading scorer senior center Chris Hassett who tallied two goals while adding three assists. Brandon Bernard finished his high school career with a big game netting two goals and two assists. Senior Hunter Cameron and juniors Andrew Botti and Henry Honacki each added a goal and an assist. Brady Berkhammer dished out two assists. Senior Bradley Cupples and Philip Shkeda each scored in the drubbing of Wootton as well. Senior netminder, Landon Bernard finished out his career with the convincing victory allowing only one goal and making fifteen saves.
Upper Montgomery has now beaten former perennial powerhouse Wootton three straight times (8-2 and 4-2 both last season, and then destroying the Patriots 9-1 this season).