Category: Game Previews

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to game action on Friday evening December 9th versus the Blair Blazers. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Friday’s game will begin a stretch of six consecutive games against comparable competition. Upper Montgomery began the season playing the top four teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) over the first five weeks of the season. If the team’s performance is any indication, playing very competitive games against the top competition, the team should have confidence that they are one of better teams in the conference. Upper Montgomery deserves to be ranked in the top half of the conference rankings. However, in the MHC, the top ten or eleven teams have an opportunity to win every week. If the Lightning do not bring it and play well, Blair has enough talent to prevail.

Upper Montgomery’s leading scorers Nathan Cassel (4GP, 4G, 5A) and Chris Hassett (5GP, 4G, 4A) will need to carry the offensive load for the Lightning as sophomore center Ryan Jacobson (4GP, 4G, 2A) will miss the game as he is out-of-town with his external travel team. Depth scoring which had been a weakness of the team in previous seasons is much better this year. Brandon Bernard has scored three goals in his three games. Philip Shkeda has scored (6GP, 3G, 4A). Bradley Cupples and Olivia Robbins have each chipped in with four points. The defense has been more active offensively. Senior George Benedick has picked up his scoring pace over his previous three seasons (4GP, 2G, 4A). Ethan Hockey had a hat-trick versus Northwest. Brady Berkhammer has four assists in his first high school season. The depth scoring has taken the pressure off of the top line and makes the team more difficult to match up against. Scoring against Blair should not be difficult as Blair has given up the second most goals (49) in the MHC this season, ahead of only last place Northwest.

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to build off of his best performance of the season. Earlier this week he played superb in a junior varsity loss to top ranked Walter Johnson, stopping 37 of 39 shots and almost single handedly stealing a win for the Lightning junior varsity. He stopped five breakaways in the game. The only two goals he gave up were on breakaway chances. Bernard has been solid in net this season and needs to remain sharp against Blair’s top three forwards. Blair will start Lily Bendavid in net. She has a goals against average of 8.17 and a save percentage of .723. Giving up over eight goals a game, it is easy to see how Blair has a 1-5 record this season.

However, don’t be deceived. Blair has three very high-end forwards in Chris Birchard (6GP, 8G, 2A), Alex Birchard (6GP, 7A), and Michael Humphreys (4GP, 5G, 1A). These three seniors all play 18U AA travel hockey and are very offensive minded. They will be hard to miss on the ice. Their speed and singular focus on offense can be hard for opponents to play against. Upper Montgomery will have to carefully determine when to press forward offensively while these three student athletes are on the ice. Their counter attack style of play often leads to multiple odd skater rushes each game. The Lightning defense will need to recognize which student athletes are on the ice and adjust quickly or else the Blazers will burn them in transition and score goals. Top ranked Whitman’s only loss this season was to Blair and Blair only has one victory, although they are coming off a close loss to Wootton in the final minute of regulation.

The Lightning need to begin piling up victories against teams with similar talent. The game against Blair is the first of four games that are ‘pick-em’ contests where either team could easily win the game if they play well. Upper Montgomery needs to play a complete game and not give up too many high quality scoring chances to the Blazers. If Upper Montgomery is able to limit Blair’s offensive production, the Lightning should be able to find the net enough to come away with the victory. It is time to say good-bye to close losses and feel good about yourself type of performances and bring home the wins.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Wednesday afternoon for a non-league game versus the high powered Walter Johnson Wildcats. Game time is 1:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. It will be another tough test for the Lightning as Walter Johnson has the top junior varsity team in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The Lightning program uses games against tough non-conference opponents to prepare the team for the league schedule and the junior varsity playoff tournament. Upper Montgomery will be looking to bounce back after three consecutive losses. The team did play much better this past Sunday morning, a tight 3-1 loss to Richard Montgomery where the Rockets scored into an empty net with 20 seconds remaining in the game to salt away their victory.

Upper Montgomery needs to be better offensively. The team is averaging only 2.2 goals per game and has scored more than two goals in only one game this season. Henry Honacki has scored four of the team’s eleven goals on the season. He has been by far the best skater on the ice for the Lightning junior varsity. No other student athlete has more than one goal. TJ Gottesman leads the team with six points on one goal and five assists. Josh Nadler, Stephen Shkeda, and Adam Levine need to push through and increase their offensive production for the team to have success. It would help alleviate some of the scoring pressure if the defense could chip in with some offensive production. Collectively, the Upper Montgomery defense has only five points in five games.

Defensively, the team played much better against the Rockets. The emphasis in practice has been on playing the body. It is beginning to pay dividends as Richard Montgomery had fewer high quality scoring chances than either BCC or Wootton in the prior two games. The Lightning will have to contend with a Wildcats squad led by Cameron Luskin (4GP, 2G, 2A) and Sam Mayster (3GP, 3G). In addition, Walter Johnson has a very talented back line. Liam Dorien and Lucas Chang anchor the defense with 9th grade defender Sophie Pyott expected to receive a lot of ice time. The Wildcats have given up only three goals in four games. Upper Montgomery will need to stay out of the penalty box as the penalty kill has been weak area all season.

Landon Bernard’s goaltending has been really solid with many of the oppositions’ goals coming in situations where he has had very little chance to make the save. On Sunday, he saved 22 of 24 shots (.917 save percentage) against the Rockets. Richard Montgomery’s goals came on a back door tap in with no coverage in front and on a breakaway. Bernard will need to be very sharp for Upper Montgomery to have a chance to pull off the victory. In goal for the Wildcats will be Joseph Villatoro who has stopped 56 of 59 shot attempts for a .949 save percentage. He has a 0.88 goals against average and three shutouts. The Wildcats defense is very stingy as they average giving up only 15 shots on goal per game.

Upper Montgomery will have their hands full trying to generate more offense against a team which has posted three shutouts already this season. It will be difficult to match Walter Johnson’s skill and talent, so the Lightning will have to out-compete the Wildcats to earn the victory.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action early Sunday morning against the Richard Montgomery Rockets. Game time is 9:15 am at Wheaton Ice Rink. Sunday’s game will be the first of back-to-back games against the top two junior varsity teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Upper Montgomery will be looking to bounce back after two consecutive games where the team did not play well. It will be a tough ask facing a Rockets team that has only given up three goals on the season.

Upper Montgomery will need to be better offensively. The team is averaging only 2.5 goals per game and has scored just two goals in three of their first four games on the season. Henry Honacki has scored four of the teams ten goals and he has been by far the best skater on the ice for the Lightning. No other student athlete has more than one goal. TJ Gottesman has five points in three games and his play is much improved from last season. Josh Nadler, Stephen Shkeda, and Adam Levine need to increase their offensive production for the team to succeed this season.

Defensively, the team has played very poorly the past two games; a wipeout loss to Wootton and a close loss to BCC where the defense gave up a breakaway goal with two minutes remaining in the game. The penalty kill has been weak with the team giving up three power play goals in eight chances. The defense has to make better decisions and play the body. There is too much of an attempt by the defense to create offensive scoring chances rather than playing to keep the opponent from scoring. Landon Bernard’s goaltending has been solid with many of the oppositions’ goals coming in situations where he has had a very little chance to make the save.

The Rockets come into the game with a 3-1 conference record with their only loss a 1-0 decision to top ranked Walter Johnson. Richard Montgomery will be looking to avenge last year’s junior varsity championship game loss to Upper Montgomery. The Rockets are likely to be fired up for the match up as they seek revenge for Upper Montgomery’s upset win. In goal for the Rockets will be Gregory Saffell. Saffell has stopped 56 of 59 shot attempts for a .949 save percentage. He has a 0.94 goals against average and one shutout, giving up only three goals in four games. The Rockets defense is very stingy as they average giving up only 15 shots on goal per game.

Upper Montgomery will also have their hands full with the Rockets high powered offense. Richard Montgomery has scored 15 goals in four games and that includes their shutout loss to Walter Johnson. Otherwise, the Rockets are averaging five goals per game. The Rockets are led by senior Tyler Senko (4GP, 3G, 3A) and Ryan Jones (4GP, 2G, 2A). Four other Rockets’ student athletes have scored two goals on the season. The even distribution of scoring will make it difficult for Upper Montgomery to focus on any one line. Pressure will be on the Lightning to find a way to match Richard Montgomery’s skill and talent and come away with a victory.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to game action on Friday evening versus the top ranked Whitman Vikings. Game time is 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Fresh off their dismantling of bottom feeder Northwest, the Lightning will be severely tested by Whitman’s structured team defensive system. The game will finish off a stretch where the Lightning play each of the top four ranked teams in the first five weeks of the season.

The thrashing of Northwest should give the Lightning some confidence. Ten skaters had multiple point games against the Jaguars. Leading scorer Chris Hassett had a hat-trick and three assists. Ethan Hockey scored his first career high school hat-trick and added an assist. Nathan Cassel had two goals and three assists. Philip Shkeda had two goals and two assists. George Benedick had a goal and three assists. The team finally received depth scoring which it has lacked throughout the last several season. Brady Berkhammer had three assists. Brandon Bernard and Adam Levine each had a goal and an assist. Bradley Cupples and Stephen Shkeda each chipped in with two assists. But, it will be much, much tougher to score against Whitman even with the return of Ryan Jacobson to the lineup.

Whitman has given up only ten goals in five league games. If their game against Blair is excluded, the Vikings goals against drops to just four in four games. Their opponents in three of those four games were strong BCC, Walter Johnson, and Wootton, and then Rockville/Magruder. Certainly, the Vikings have played as a stingy defensive unit.

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to build off of last week’s shutout over Northwest. He has been solid in net this season and needs to be sharp to limit Whitman’s attack. In a game that is expected to be a low scoring, tight checking defensive game, one goal could likely determine the winner. Whitman will counter in net with either Reed Chricton, 2-1 record, 4.32 goals against average, and .833 save percentage, or Ryan Graf, 2-2 record, 3.26 goals against average, and .888 save percentage. Both netminders have split time this season for the Vikings. The Whitman goalie statistics are inflated by two losses to top tier private schools.

Defensively, the Vikings are led by senior AA travel student athlete Walter Ingis (6GP, 3G, 2A) and sophomore AA travel student athlete Morrison Cohen (5GP, 1G, 8A). The Whitman defense is rounded out by AAA defender Zach Krauss and AA defender Rowan Miller. The Lightning are going to have to find ways to score a few greasy goals as the Vikings’ defense will likely prevent odd skater rushes and stymie fancy offensive play. It will be key for the Lightning to get off to a good start and play with a lead to force the Vikings to press forward and depart their defensive shell.

On offense, the Vikings are led by two AA level travel student athletes, senior Theo Hauptmann (7GP, 4G, 3A) and sophomore Charles Ingis (7GP, 4G, 3A). Nick Huguely and Andrew Fou have chipped in with (7GP, 3G, 4A) each and Jacob Lerman has (7GP, 3G, 3A). Whitman is a counter attack team. The Vikings played smothering defense, wait for the opposition to press offensively, and then take advantage of their odd skater opportunities. Upper Montgomery’s defense pinching in at the offensive blue line will need to be careful as missed pinches will jump start the Vikings offensive attack.

The Lightning should have a complete lineup for just the second time this season. With Upper Montgomery having beaten Whitman each of the last two seasons, the Vikings will be looking for revenge and to keep their number one ranking. This could also be a trap game for Whitman as they play perennial power Churchill next week. Friday night’s game will be a good measure of where the Lightning are as a team and if they should continue to be ranked as one of the top eight teams in the conference.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning Junior Varsity returns to game action on Tuesday afternoon against BCC. Game time is 2:30 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Although BCC is in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, this game will be a non-league contest.

The Lightning will be looking to get back on track after being wiped out by Wootton in their last game. The loss to Wootton ended an eight game winning streak dating back to last season. In the Wootton game, the team was completely outplayed. The coaches will be looking to see which student athletes respond with a better effort versus BCC.

Landon Bernard will handle the goaltending duties for Upper Montgomery. Bernard is fresh off a shutout victory in last week’s varsity game against Northwest. His personal eight game winning streak in junior varsity games was halted in last week’s loss to the Patriots. BCC is expected to start Tycho Narrod-Malcolm in goal. He has a 2.40 goals against average and an .833 save percentage in two games this season. He was victorious versus bottom feeder Churchill, with a close loss to a strong Whitman team.

On defense, the Lightning will need to do a much better job of gap control and playing the body. Against Wootton, there was way too much swiping at the puck and getting skated around by Wootton’s speedy offensive forwards. The defensive corps of Cole Howerton, Patrick Sell, Jake Roth, Sean Levine, and Behr Schickler will need to play a more structured game where they play more conservatively and continue to knock the puck up to the forwards in the neutral zone. Peter Lanpher is the Baron’s top offensive threat with (2GP, 3G, 3A) with all of his production against Churchill.

Offensively, the Lightning need to generate more high quality chances. Outside of Henry Honacki (3GP, 3G, 1A) and TJ Gottesman (2GP, 1G, 3A), the team has had sporadic offensive production. Stephen Shkeda, Adam Levine, and AJ Marks have chipped in with a couple of points each, but the balance of the forwards need to do more. Josh Nadler returning to form after a long absence will surely help the team put the puck in the net.

In a pre-Thanksgiving matinee, the Lightning will be looking for a bounce back effort and a return to winning form.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action this Friday night against the Northwest Jaguars. Game time is 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The team is eager to hit the ice for the first time in two weeks after last week’s bye week. Following the brutally difficult schedule to begin the season, playing each of the top three teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, the Lightning are eager to get into the win column. The game against Northwest should be exactly the opponent for Upper Montgomery to deliver its first win of the 2022 – 2023 season as the Jaguars are at the bottom of the conference standings by a wide margin.

In net, Landon Bernard will be looking for high school varsity win number two. He has played very well at times and has faced far too many high quality scoring opportunities early in the season. In net for Northwest will be Joseph Dean. Dean who is also Northwest’s junior varsity goalie plays behind a porous defense prone to mistakes and an overall lack of talent. His goals against average is bloated as Northwest averages giving up 10.5 goals per game. The Lightning will have to attack the net and put lots of rubber on goal. It might just be a greasy goal that kick starts the offense. Upper Montgomery will need to play to its talent level rather than down to Northwest’s ability. The longer that the Jaguars remain in the game, the more belief they will have that they might be able to pull off the upset and beat the Lightning.

On defense, the Lightning will dress all six of their regular defenders for just the second time this season. It has been difficult for the defense to gain continuity with all of the missing student athletes from game to game. Upper Montgomery has had to navigate illness and defenders missing games. Against Churchill three key defenders missed the game. Against Northwest, the defense should have no issues shutting down the Jaguars offensive attack so long as the defense makes good decisions at the blue line. Unnecessary, and ill timed pinches at the offensive blue line have created too many odd skater opportunities against.

The Jaguars have only two offensive threats in their lineup, Brady Graham (4GP, 7G, 4A), a do it all defender who has seven of the Jaguars twelve goals on the season, and Ethan Custodio. Custodio is young, a 9th grade AA external travel team student athlete with lots of upside (3GP, 4G). When Graham and Custodio are on the ice together they account for the entire Jaguars offensive output and are becoming a dangerous tandem.

The Lightning will be without top six forwards Olivia Robbins and Nathan Cassel against the Jaguars. However, it should not impact the Lightning’s offensive output. Returning this week is the team’s leading scorer, center Ryan Jacobson (3GP, 4G, 1A). Brandon Bernard and Josh Nadler return to action as well after long absences. Expect last season’s leading scorer, center Chris Hassett to control play when he is on the ice. Hassett is likely to see significant ice time with a variety of forwards. Bradley Cupples will center a line that is feisty and brings grit and intensity to the game. If the Lightning start off the game lazy or slowly, look for Cupples to agitate to get the team fired up.

If Upper Montgomery plays hard and as units, the Lightning’s top two lines should have their way against Northwest. It would be helpful if the third line and the depth forwards also contribute offensively. It would be a welcome addition so that the coaching staff is able to roll the lines and provide rest for the team’s forwards, which has not been the case yet this season as the team has played shorthanded in every game.

Look for Friday night to be the game that ignites the Lightning and propels the team toward a second consecutive playoff appearance. A victory, even this early in the season, will provide a confidence boost for the team after several good, close performances against the upper echelon teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity is back in action on Friday afternoon November 11th squaring off against the Wootton Patriots. Game time is 4:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The game is a rematch of last year’s game between the two programs where Upper Montgomery vastly outplayed Wootton but lost 1-0 as Wootton was inexplicitly granted permission to play a goalie that would have normally been ineligible for junior varsity level competition.

Coming off this week’s dominating victory over the Glenelg Gladiators, the junior varsity has won eight straight games dating back to last season. The team has thrived because of the depth of the roster and each game it seems as if a different student athlete steps forward to provide a major play in a critical moment.

Landon Bernard might be in net for the Lightning. This is an unexpected development as his external travel team was scheduled to be out-of-town this weekend. The Lightning have been working in position skater, center Chris Hassett in net just in case Bernard was unavailable. Bernard has been outstanding at the junior varsity level this season (2-0 record, 0.83 gaa, .958 save percentage, and one shutout). He is currently riding an eight game winning streak dating back to last season where he earned post-season honors (MSHL high 8 wins, 2.69 gaa, and an .880 save percentage). He began this season with a 15 save shutout victory in the Lightning’s season opening 2-0 victory over the DC Stars and he gave up one goal in the victory over Glenelg. If Bernard plays well, Upper Montgomery will have a superior advantage in goal. Wootton is expected to play a position skater in goal as the Patriots do not have a regular goalie with junior varsity eligibility.

On defense the Lightning will have close to a full complement of skaters. Although there will be a rotation and Stephen Shkeda may see some shifts playing defense late in a close game, expect the defensive pairings to be Cole Howerton with Patrick Sell and Jake Roth with Sean Levine. Behr Schickler will likely play with each of the other defenders. Each pairing will have one offensive minded defender paired with a more traditional stay at home defender. The forwards will need to backcheck hard to help the defense as Wootton is by far the best team the Lightning will have played this season. Wootton is led in points and goals by forwards Justin Heller (2 GP, 6G, 3A) and Owen Goozh (2GP, 4G, 1A). It is tough to gauge the Patriots roster as many of their points were accumulated in their season opening win against Churchill and Churchill has the worst junior varsity team in the county.

The Lightning’s offense has been spread around. TJ Gottesman leads the team in points with four after his three point effort against the Gladiators, Henry Honacki leads the team in goals with two, but has had half a dozen grade A scoring chances in each game and should have many more. Adam Levine, AJ Marks, and Patrick Sell have also chipped in with tallies. With Josh Nadler returning to play in the Glenelg game, he should be more comfortable in his second game of the season. Stephen Shkeda will be the most experienced and versatile student athlete on the ice. The Lightning should be close to full strength as the virus impacting Montgomery County, Maryland seems to be subsiding. The team has had multiple student athletes impacted over the past couple of weeks and that has certainly affected the roster composition for both the varsity and the junior varsity teams.

On Friday, Upper Montgomery will be out for revenge to erase the outcome of last season’s unfair loss. If the team continues to play together, plays hard, gets in on the forecheck, and executes, the Upper Montgomery junior varsity has a good chance to extend their winning streak and bring home another W.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to game action on Monday afternoon against the Glenelg Gladiators in a non-conference matchup. Game time is 3:00 pm at the Columbia Ice Rink. The game is a rematch of a game between the two programs last season that ended in a 3-3 tie.

The junior varsity has been off for almost two weeks since its season opening victory over the DC Stars. The program had an opportunity to schedule an additional game because Montgomery County Public Schools are closed for end of the marking period grading. The game will be a good opportunity for the team to play together prior to Friday’s league game versus Wootton.

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 with the Frederick Freeze travel program. Bernard has been outstanding at the junior varsity level riding a seven game winning streak. He followed up a strong sophomore season (MSHL high 8 wins, 2.69 gaa, and an .880 save percentage) with a 15 save shutout victory in the Lightning’s season opening 2-0 victory over the DC Stars. It was Bernard’s first career high school shutout. Bernard was excellent in net again last week in the varsity’s 2-2 tie versus highly ranked BCC. If Bernard plays up to his capabilities, Glenelg will have a very tough time finding the back of the net.

On defense the Lightning will have a full complement of skaters. Expect the pairings to be Brady Berkhammer with Behr Schickler, Cole Howerton with Patrick Sell, and Jake Roth with Sean Levine. Each pairing will have one offensive minded defender paired with a more traditional stay at home defender. If the forwards backcheck and help the defense by clogging up the neutral zone, Glenelg will find it difficult to generate much offense. The Lightning will have to pay special attention to the Gladiators top scorer, defender Holden Yeager, who leads Glenelg with four goals in two games from his defensive position.

The Lightning should be able to feast on the Glenelg defense. The Gladiators have given up 13 goals in two games and have not played very well in front of their goalies. The Lightning will need big games from Henry Honacki, Stephen Shkeda, and Adam Levine who has goals in three straight games dating back to last season. This talented trio will need to continue to play well as they did against the DC Stars to take pressure off of the rest of the roster. Junior varsity captain Josh Nadler is close to returning to the lineup and should be back in action either on Monday against Glenelg or on Friday versus Wootton. Forwards Lucas Eyman, James Hyman, and TJ Gottesman will be looking to light the lamp early in the season and newcomers AJ Marks, Jason Woodman, and Callum Hughes will be looking to score their first ever high school goal.

Since winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship last season, every opponent will be bringing their top effort to try and beat the Lightning. At the same time, Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity student athletes need to continue to play an intelligent, complete team game. The best way to impress the coaching staff and earn additional playing time is to play the game the right way.

Friday night, the Upper Montgomery Lightning will face off against the number one team in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, and the defending state champion Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is at 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena and expect a raucous Churchill crowd to be present. The game will conclude an opening stretch of games that the program has referred to as the four game gauntlet, where the Lightning will have played against four of the top teams in the state to begin the season. After the Churchill game, the schedule becomes more reasonable until the end of season playoff tournament.

The team’s record has suffered as a result of the opening schedule. The Lightning are off to an 0-2-1 start, but the team’s progress this season has been evident. Upper Montgomery had a 4-3 lead against second ranked Walter Johnson with eight minutes left in the season opener. The Lightning tied third ranked BCC 2-2 in the team’s last game. These results have propelled the program up the weekly conference rankings due the tough competitive games against the conference’s top teams. The tie against BCC brought the team its first ever points earned against one of the top four programs in the county; Churchill, Wootton, BCC, or Walter Johnson. A late pulled goalie power play goal was necessary to save the BCC Barons from defeat this past Monday evening. Upper Montgomery is no longer going to sneak up on any team in the county.

The Churchill game will be an extremely difficult matchup for the young Lightning. For the third time this season, the team will be playing short important skaters. Churchill will dress an array of AAA level travel hockey student athletes and will be in an ornery mood having uncharacteristically lost to South River earlier in the week. Prior to the South River game, Churchill dumped arch rival Wootton 10-3 in a game that was not very competitive.

In net for the Bulldogs will be either AAA goalie, senior Avery Schiff, or AAA goalie 9th grader Mac Glazer. Both goalies have each played in one game this season. It will be a game time decision on who starts in net or if Churchill will play both netminders during the game. For Upper Montgomery, Landon Bernard will again be between the pipes as he has been all season. Bernard is coming off of a very strong outing versus BCC, a game which many viewed as his best career varsity performance. Bernard stopped 28 of 30 shots, .933 save percentage, and made many high quality saves to keep the Lightning in the lead. Expect Churchill to fire the puck at Bernard often throughout the game with shots coming in bunches.

On defense Datlon Esko-Himmelfarb will see significant action versus the Lightning. He will be guiding an inexperienced defensive corps and will likely play against Upper Montgomery’s top offensive skaters. For the Lightning, top line defender Andrew Botti will miss the game as he is out-of-town with his external travel team. The Lightning will rely on four core defenders to try and slow down the Bulldogs, senior team captain, George Benedick, senior Ethan Hockey, and 9th grade defenders Brady Berkhammer and Owen Robbins. Both young defenders have loads of potential but lack experience playing against this level of opponent with many skaters who are three years older.

On offense for the Bulldogs it is pick your poison. With junior top tier forward Joshua Potenti likely to miss the game, the Lightning only have to contend with three AAA level travel forwards; Samuel Strand, Brook Chapman, and Ryan Wees, and also highly talented AA forward Zack Silver. Strand, Wees, and Silver are all averaging over one goal per game early this season. The Lightning defense will be under constant pressure. The forwards will need to play back in a defensive shell to clog up the ice and make it more difficult for Churchill to find open spacing in which to make plays with their superior talent.

The Lightning will likely be without this season’s top scorer, Ryan Jacobson, who has four goals and an assist in three games. The Lightning will also be missing several other skaters and the illness that is moving through Montgomery County may further deplete the roster prior to game time. Expect Lightning forwards Chris Hassett and Hunter Cameron to log significant minutes and for Olivia Robbins, Nathan Cassel, Bradley Cupples, and Philip Shkeda to use their offensive exploits to help the Lightning try and keep the game close.

Once the game is over late Friday evening the Lightning will have a pretty good idea of how they stack up. Defeating the defending state champion Bulldogs will be a tall order. The coaching staff is more interested in how the Lightning competes, even if down early, and for how long the team can stay in the game against Churchill.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to the ice on Monday afternoon, October 31st to take on the BCC Barons. Game time is 5:10 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. For the Lightning, it is game three of a four game gauntlet to start the season where Upper Mongomery will play against four of the top teams in the state, including the top three ranked teams in Montgomery County. Monday’s game will be another test for the team to see how they stack up against top competition.

The netminder dual will be one to watch. Landon Bernard played very well in last week’s loss to Urbana and he posted a shutout of the DC Stars in last week’s junior varsity tilt. For BCC it will surely be Graham McGrath White, who has a stellar 1.52 goals against average and a .921 save percentage through two games of the young season. Maybe working in the Lightning’s favor is that McGrath White plays with Lightning alternate captain Hunter Cameron on their AA level external travel team. The book on McGrath White is that he is a tall and athletic netminder who relies more on his athleticism and talent than positioning and technique.

On defense the Lightning must stop pressing forward and rushing defenders up ice. In certain situations, the defense must give up the blue line and fall back on defense. There have been too many pinches at the blue line that have missed. This aggressive nature has created multiple odd skater rushes up ice for the opposition. In last week’s game, Urbana had a half dozen two on one or three on one rushes. The return of George Benedick to the lineup this week and having Brady Berkhammer available will help. When the Lightning play a more defensively sound and compact system through the neutral zone, the team plays better and limits the opposing team’s offensive chances. The team is also able to create turnovers that lead to their own odd skater chances. Playing sound defensive hockey will be critical to stopping the Barons who scored ten goals against Blair this past Friday evening.

BCC’s defense is led by Graham LeBlance, a senior who plays AA level travel hockey. Thus far through two games, he has two goals and two assists on the season. He is joined on defense by Johnny Brunn, a smooth skating junior who had a hat-trick in the Barons last game, the lopsided victory over Blair. Experienced upperclass defenders, Jake Williams, Alex Elias, and Sebastian Harrison round out a solid core that has only allowed three goals through the two games. The BCC defense is tall and difficult to move around because of their size and length.

On offense, the Lightning need a full lineup to play in the game to fully evaluate line combinations and if they are more potent on offensive this season. Against both Walter Johnson and Urbana, the team was missing so many student athletes it was hard to judge the offense. As the games progressed the team tired in each game and affected the outcomes of each game. Ryan Jacobson leads the team with four goals through two games, scoring two goals in both games. It is clear that he is better utilizing his speed this season which is causing trouble for opposing defenders. Upper Montgomery also has goals from Olivia Robbins, Brad Cupples, and Philip Shkeda, who scored his first career high school goal to open the scoring against Urbana. With illness and injury moving through the Lightning lineup over the past week, the coaches are hoping to have close to a full roster when facing the Barons.

BCC’s offense goes through its team leader, senior Henry Caldicott. Caldicott is coming off of a two goal performance against Blair. His running mates are Hank Blumberg, Matthew Duffy, and Alexsander Talty, all of whom are off to fast starts with multiple points in the Blair game. Having played against BCC in spring league hockey, the Lightning should be familiar with the talent of some of the BCC student athletes.

Special teams are an area where the Lightning need to improve really fast or the season will quickly get away. In fairness, the team having only half a lineup for both the Walter Johnson game and the Urbana game certainly has contributed to the penalty killing difficulties. The opposition has scored on three out of four powerplay opportunities in each game. On the powerplay, the Lightning have only found the net one time.

The Lightning are hoping to spook the Barons on Halloween evening and come away with their first victory of the season. The team keeps improving through the rankings by playing competitive games against the top tier teams. Now it’s time to take one of the top teams down to the wire, or better yet, spring the upset and announce the program’s arrival.