The Upper Montgomery Lightning are CHAMPIONS! having won the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament. The tournament consists of all teams in the county that did not make the state playoffs. Think of the tournament as the equivalent of the NIT tournament in college basketball. Even through Upper Montgomery was ranked 13th in the state, Montgomery County is only allotted four of the sixteen state playoff berths. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the state playoffs, the Lightning stayed mentally strong and blew through the competition to take the Varsity Tournament title. Upper Montgomery finished the season with its highest ever season ending ranking, fifth in the county and 13th in the state.
In the quarterfinals of the tournament the Lightning destroyed Northwest/Quince Orchard 14-1. The game was a blowout from the outset. Every Upper Montgomery skater tallied at least one point with twelve of the fourteen skaters having multiple points. Chris Hassett led the team with five goals and six points. Ninth grade student athlete Aiden Zheng scored his first career goal and finished with a hat-trick and two assists for a career high five points. Cole Howerton tallied two assists which were his first two varsity points. Henry Honacki chipped in with four assists.
In the semifinals, the Lightning clamped down on Sherwood’s high scoring senior Grayson Winckler to throttle the Warriors 5-1. Hassett, the team’s leading scorer, again led Upper Montgomery with four goals. Brandon Bernard and Philip Shkeda had three assists in the game.
In the championship game, Upper Montgomery crushed Wootton blitzing the Patriots 9-1 to win the title. Hassett concluded his career with another five point game, two goals and three assists. Bernard tallied twice and added two assists. It was the third straight victory for the Lightning over Wootton. Prior to last season, Wootton had won all previous matchups between the two teams.
In a wonderful conclusion to the careers of the Upper Montgomery senior class, Sean Levine, Olivia Robbins, Adam Levine, Hunter Cameron, Bradley Cupples, Chris Hassett, and Brandon Bernard, they all scored in their final high school hockey games. The Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament title caps a four year run that has taken the Lightning program to new heights.
#Champions, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!