The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity squad returns to action this coming Friday afternoon versus Glenelg in a non-conference game. Puck drop is 3:30 pm at Skate Frederick. Both teams are 1-1 on the season and will each be looking to move past the .500 mark before a return to conference play in the month of December.
The Lightning will be looking to bounce back from a tough defeat to Richard Montgomery. The young Lightning played the Rockets very tough for long stretches of the game before fading late in a 5-2 loss.
The goalie matchup will be a duel between two long-time friends. Landon Bernard will be in net for the Lightning and Zain Huda will backstop the Gladiators. Both student athletes grew up playing together and against one another in the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association and are now both playing with the Frederick Freeze hockey club. The post game hand shake line is bound to be filled with friendly banter.
On defense for the Lighting, Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell will see significant playing time as they battle the deep and experienced Gladiator forwards. Andrew Gean is expected to play down from the varsity squad to provide veteran leadership and support. Expect several forwards to drop back and play some defensive shifts throughout the game as the Lightning will likely only dress 13 skaters for Friday’s tilt.
Up front on offense, the Lightning will look to get back to the strong game they played to open the season versus BCC. The forward group of Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, Josh Nadler, Josh Miller, Adam Levine, Henry Honacki, James Hyman, Lucas Eyman, and TJ Gottesman will need to develop better chemistry in order to find the net on a more consistent basis. The effort has been there. The number of quality chances will likely grow as the season continues. Several of the forwards would like nothing better than to break long scoreless streaks. Friday’s game versus Glenelg would be a prime opportunity for the team to find its offensive touch.