Tomorrow evening kicks off the beginning of the Upper Montgomery Lightning on-ice preseason evaluation sessions and practices. With the graduation of nine seniors, many of whom played outsized roles in the team’s success last year, with junior Ryan Jacobson leaving the area to play junior hockey in Michigan, and with top defender junior Andrew Botti choosing not to play high school hockey in his senior season, the program will endeavor through a natural cycle of younger student athletes receiving ample playing time.
The evolution of sophomore AA goalie Ilan Shterenberg will be critical to the team’s success as he will be heavily counted upon in net, just as he was for the junior varsity squad last season. Shterenberg excelled with the junior varsity in his first high school season posting an 8-1-1 record with three shutouts, a 1.80 goals against average, and a .927 save percentage. He received valuable experience with the varsity squad last year as well and won two of his four starts going 2-1 with a 4.44 goals against average and an .829 save percentage. Ninth grade netminder Porter Strutsrim-Lyons will serve as the goalie for the junior varsity and will back up Shterenberg in varsity games. It is not out of the question that Strutsrim-Lyons may play a few varsity games depending upon Shterenberg’s external club team travel schedule.
The Upper Montgomery defense returns experienced student athletes on both the varsity squad and the junior varsity squad. Junior AAA defensive defender Owen Robbins (14 GP, 3A) has amassed a tremendous amount of varsity experience (30 games) in his first two years of high school and he will be leaned upon to play heavy minutes during the upcoming season. It is anticipated that he will play with senior Cole Howerton. Howerton will be expected to step in and play regular shifts for the varsity in his final season. Howerton has played some at the varsity level over the past two seasons and will be looked upon to take on a bigger role this season. The other defensive pairing will likely be junior AA defender Brady Berkhammer (21 GP, 1G, 12A) playing with sophomore A level defender Miles Wendland (18GP, 6A). The team will need for one of the junior varsity defenders to step forward and push for playing time at the varsity level.
Howerton (10 GP, 5G, 4A) and Wendland have junior varsity eligibility remaining and will play down to help the junior varsity’s younger defenders. Senior defensive defender Patrick Sell will play plenty at the junior varsity level and will need to demonstrate he is ready to step in at the varsity level. Sophomore AA defender Avery Evans (8GP, 1G, 4A) will see regular junior varsity action. Ninth grade AA defender Lillian Robbins will compete with A level ninth grader Matthew Rivera and ninth grader Luke Hudson to round out the defensive corps. Sophomore defender Max Curtusan will receive junior varsity playing time as the season progresses.
Offensively, the Lightning return their second and third leading scorers from last season. Senior AA forward Nathan Cassel (15 GP, 11G, 18A) and junior forward Philip Shkeda (20 GP, 13G, 12A) will headline the top line. Finding a center for this high scoring duo will come down to how the coaching staff decides to split up ice time. The top returning center is senior upper A level skater Henry Honacki (21 GP, 7G, 8A). On the second line Aiden Zheng (9GP, 3G, 5A) will compete for playing time with incoming sophomore Jake Hudson and returning senior Josh Nadler. Nadler is the junior varsity’s all time goal scoring leader and he will need to elevate his game to produce at the varsity level. TJ Gottesman has exhausted his junior varsity eligibility and will serve as a depth forward for the varsity. There will be plenty of opportunity for senior AJ Marks to show that he deserves to be dressed for varsity games. Incoming ninth grader Siddy Bhasin could also earn third line duties playing for the varsity throughout the season.
The junior varsity will have a significant number of new faces dressed at forward for game action. Zheng, Jake Hudson, and Bhasin will all receive regular shifts for the junior varsity. They will be joined offensively by junior Jason Woodman and then younger skaters, sophomore Jackson Schickler, and incoming ninth graders Decklin Hughes and Max Israfilbek, along with sophomore Mason Jagoz who played high school hockey in Frederick last season.
The 2024 – 2025 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. It should be exciting and rewarding as the younger skaters grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the habits that will lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference this season. Or, is the team simply to young to compete now. Come along for the ride, it should be a fun season!
#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!