Category: Lightning Strike Blog

The Upper Montgomery Lightning face off against the Rockville / Magruder Rams in a very important matchup Friday evening at Rockville Ice Arena. Game time is 9:00 pm. The winner of Friday’s matchup will have an easier road in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. It is the final regular season conference game for both teams, and on paper they appear to be evenly matched. The Lightning have been playing much better of late. Upper Montgomery is 4-1-1 in its last six conference games advancing up the conference standings and rankings to the middle of the pack.

In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard. Bernard has played very well of late culminating with Monday’s senior night shutout of Blair. His goals against average for the season is shrinking. He has posted a 2.16 goals against average over his last six appearances. His save percentage is climbing. Over his past six games Bernard has a stalwart .916 save percentage. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the upcoming conference playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team. The Rams will play Sean Connelly in net. He has a 3.59 goals against average and an .848 save percentage. His record is 7-3, however, that is skewed by the weak conference opponents Rockville has faced playing against mainly lower level division two competition.

Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout its lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (13GP, 10G, 14A) and Cassell (12GP, 8G, 15A) have alternated the team lead in assists and points throughout the season. Shkeda (14GP, 10G, 3A) is tied for the team lead in goals. The season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in nicely with (11GP, 5G, 3A). He has scored two goals in two different games, and Cameron scored the tying goal late in the third period against the DC Stars. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard (14G, 5G, 3A) with goals in his past two games, Bradley Cupples (11GP, 2G, 5A), Olivia Robbins (7GP, 2G, 1A), and Henry Honacki (14GP, 5G, 3A) have each played well in a few games where they have accumulated the majority of their points on the season.

The Rams are led offensively by 18U AAA star defender senior Drew Pfeufer (7GP, 15G, 6A). Pfeufer plays on the same external travel team (The Washington Little Capitals) as the Lightning’s Cameron. The top scoring forward for the Rams is senior Brendan Iliff (11GP, 7G, 12A). His linemate Lukas Gold has (8GP, 10G, 6A). Rounding out the Rams scoring threats is another defender, Aiden Ward (7GP, 8G, 6A). There is then a drop off to the Rams depth scorers, Toyin Okunseinde (10GP, 4G, 2A), Cole Cohen (7GP, 5G), and Brendan Kalinock (10GP, 2G, 3A).

On defense the Lightning have played better lately after struggling through the early portion of the season. With top defender Andrew Botti out for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. With Botti back, the team has given up far fewer goals, and only two while he has been on the ice at even strength. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. With a full compliment of defenders available on Friday evening, anticipate that Cameron will play forward. Sophomores Brady Berkhammer and Owen Robbins will see substantial playing time against the Rams. Ninth grade defender Miles Wendland and junior Cole Howerton will also see game action. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and fourteen assists in 59 combined games played. Getting shots through from the points and contributions offensively from the defense will definitely help Upper Montgomery.

With all but one student athlete expected to be in attendance on Friday night, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff can use their full bench including its depth skaters against Rockville. This will provide sufficient rest for the team’s top student athletes. If the team’s second and third lines do not produce early against the Rams or if a student tries to do too much individually, expect the coaching staff to sit skaters and use students who will follow the system and play hockey the Lightning way.

This past Tuesday’s game against top non-conference foe Urbana helped identify the areas that Upper Montgomery needs to shore up heading into the final regular season games and the upcoming playoffs. The Lightning have begun to show much more fight and desire as the season has progressed. These traits have led to better results. The team’s play needs to be cohesive, with the students playing for one another. The Lightning have played more focused and with more belief in each other, but will need to ramp up their play to another level if they want to have playoff success. While not an elimination game, Friday night’s matchup will go a long way towards putting the remainder of the season into focus.

#Extend the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

With the recent inclement weather in the Washington DC area, the Upper Montgomery Lightning will play on back-to-back days when taking on the Urbana Hawks on Tuesday afternoon at Skate Frederick. Game time is early, a 3:40 pm puck drop. Fresh off the annual senior night celebration against Blair on Monday evening, the Lightning have a quick turnaround. It is an important non-league contest for the Lightning who are looking to keep building on their recent better play of late. The team is 3-1-1 in its last three conference games and is coming off of a terrific effort last Monday against the top high school team in the state, Oakdale. The Lightning held a 1-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the game before succumbing. Upper Montgomery has also beaten two highly regarded teams in Walter Johnson and Whitman during the stretch. Urbana is the second highest ranked team in the Monocacy Valley Conference. The Hawks lost to Oakdale in overtime on Friday after staging a third period rally to force the overtime session. It was an emotionally draining game which saw Oakdale prevail on a shorthanded goal in the extra frame.

In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard. Bernard has played very well of late. His goals against average is shrinking and is under three over his last four appearances. His save percentage over his past four games is a stalwart .915. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the upcoming conference playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team. The Hawks will play Abby Tanner in net. She has a miniscule 1.91 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. She has given up only 19 goals in the ten games she has played in. If unavailable, Chloe Hanson will step in and backstop the Hawks.

Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout the lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (11GP, 9G, 13A) and Cassell (11GP, 7G, 15A) have alternated the team lead in assists and points throughout the season. Shkeda (12GP, 9G, 2A) is tied for the team lead in goals. From there the season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in nicely with (9GP, 5G, 3A). He has two different games where he scored two goals, and Cameron scored the tying goal late in the third period against the DC Stars. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, Olivia Robbins, and Henry Honacki have each played well in one or two games where they have accumulated the majority of their points on the season.

The Hawks are led offensively by 18U AA star forward Cody Keegan. Keegan has (11GP, 18G, 11A). His linemates, 16U AA Zachary Thayer (11GP, 12G, 16A) and Max Dubruzzo (12GP, 9G, 16A) have really benefitted from Keegan’s presence on the ice. There is a sizeable drop off to the Hawks second line with ninth grade forward Alexander Cheves (10GP, 6G, 3A) leading the way. Be on the lookout for the Hawks defenders to join the rush with Seamus McGee (12GP, 6G, 4A), Thomas Alexander (12GP, 2G, 4A), and Brady Gardiner (12GP, 2G, 4A) contributing as well.

On defense the Lightning have struggled all season. With top defender Andrew Botti out for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. With Botti back, the team has given up only six goals in three games, none while he has been on the ice at even strength. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. Sophomore Brady Berkhammer will again see substantial playing time against the Hawks after playing every other shift against the DC Stars and Oakdale. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and twelve assists in 49 combined games played.

In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was going to be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. After Adam Levine and Aiden Zheng performed admirably against the DC Stars and Oakdale, expect that these two student athletes to play a more prominent role over the closing games of the season. As a senior, Levine may receive a regular shift on Tuesday. If the team’s second and third lines do not produce early against Urbana, expect the coaching staff to begin whittling down ice time and inserting additional student athletes into the game.

The game against Urbana will help identify where Upper Montgomery will need to focus heading into the final regular season conference game against Rockville. The Lightning have begun to show much more fight and desire as the season has progressed. These traits have led to better results. The team’s play is becoming more cohesive and the total team effort has been better. The Lightning have played more focused and with more belief in each other. If the Lightning continue to play this way, they may have an outside shot to beat Urbana.

#Extend the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning will celebrate a large senior class in style Friday evening before what should a triumphant victory over the Blair Blazers. It is an important league contest for the Lightning who are looking to keep building on their recent better play of late. The team is 3-1-1 in its last three conference games and is coming off of a terrific effort last Monday against the top high school team in the state, Oakdale. The Lightning held a 1-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the game before succumbing. Upper Montgomery has also beaten two highly regarded teams in Walter Johnson and Whitman during the stretch. Friday’s tilt is important for playoff seeding as the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament begins in two weeks. Blair is the second lowest ranked team in the conference having only beaten the lowest ranked team (Churchill 2) three times and edging past Northwest/Quince Orchard (third lowest ranked team) playing without its starting goalie.

In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard. Bernard has played very well of late. His goals against average is shrinking and is under three over his last four appearances. His save percentage over his past four games is a stalwart .915. It should be a nice memory winning on senior night. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team. The Blazers will play Lily Ben David in net. She has a 5.79 goals against average and a .724 save percentage. She plays behind a porous defense and does well just to provide her team a chance to win against the lower competition Blair has faced this season.

Upper Montgomery may be dangerous while shorthanded as Ben David has been beaten ten times while Blair has been on the powerplay. On the flip side, Blair has done a nice job on the penalty kill giving up just two powerplay goals on the season. This does not bode well for the Lightning who have a ghastly powerplay currently sitting at 0-33 on the season. Anticipate major changes to the Upper Montgomery powerplay including personnel changes to try and spark the dormant Lightning powerplay. To say Upper Montgomery has been challenged all season long while on the powerplay is certainly an understatement. The team’s only powerplay goal was scored on a penalty shot converted by Nathan Cassell against Good Counsel.

Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout the lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (11GP, 9G, 13A) and Cassell (11GP, 7G, 15A) have alternated the team lead in assists and points throughout the season. Shkeda (12GP, 9G, 2A) is tied for the team lead in goals. From there the season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in nicely with (9GP, 5G, 3A). He has two different games where he scored two goals, and Cameron scored the tying goal late in the third period against the DC Stars. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, Olivia Robbins, and Henry Honacki have each played well in one or two games where they have accumulated the majority of their points on the season.

The Blazers are led offensively by Jackson Martindill (8GP, 7G, 4A). Chen Chen-Ye is next with (8GP, 4G, 5A). Long-time agitator Ari Garnder leads the team in goals (7GP, 8G, 1A). The Blazers defense has chipped in offensively. Joseph Killebrew (10GP, 4G, 4A), Wyatt Bakalis (8GP, 2G, 2A), and Danilo Azcarate (9GP, 3G, 1A) have provided some complementary scoring. BUT, it is hard to judge these offensive figures as most of the games Blair has played is against very weak competition. Against stronger competition Blair has been involved in one sided games, with the Blazers getting destroyed and scoring two or fewer goals.

On defense the Lightning have struggled all season. With top defender Andrew Botti out for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. With Botti back, the team has given up only six goals in three games, none while he has been on the ice at even strength. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. Sophomore Brady Berkhammer will again see substantial playing time against the Blazers after playing every other shift against the DC Stars and Oakdale. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and twelve assists in 49 combined games played.

In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was going to be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. After Adam Levine and Aiden Zheng performed admirably against the DC Stars and Oakdale, expect that these two student athletes to play a more prominent role over the closing games of the season. As a senior, Levine may receive a regular shift on Friday against Blair. If the team’s second and third lines do not produce early against the Blazers, expect the coaching staff to begin whittling down ice time and inserting additional student athletes into the game.

The game against Blair will help identify where Upper Montgomery will be seeded in the upcoming county playoff tournament. The Lightning have begun to show much more fight and desire as the season has progressed. These traits have led to better results. The team’s play is becoming more cohesive. The total team effort has been better. The Lightning have played more focused and with more belief in each other. If they continue to play this way, and not down to Blair’s level, the Lightning should prevail easily.

#Extend the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning enter Monday’s non-conference matchup against the Oakdale Bears a little salty after Friday night’s 3-3 tie against the DC Stars. It was a game that the Lightning came back from a goal down on two separate occasions in the third period to reach overtime, then dominated the five minute extra session. Although the first portion of the regular season did not go as anticipated, the Lightning have earned points in four of their past five games with a 3-1-1 record. Upper Montgomery has beaten two highly regarded teams in Walter Johnson and Whitman during the stretch.

Upper Montgomery will be looking to continue its stronger play of late on Monday evening in Frederick. Game time is 8:20 pm. In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard. Bernard played very well in the team’s last game before winter break. He was one of the primary reasons for Upper Montgomery’s upset win against Whitman stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal (.938 save %) and looking as comfortable in net as he has all season. Bernard was solid against the DC Stars playing behind a lineup that had only one defender dressed for game action. It was a carousel of forwards playing defense in front of Bernard. While his individual statistics have taken a step back this year, if the Whitman performance is any indication, he may be back in the groove. He is aiming for redemption over the final regular season games and in the playoffs. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team.

The Bears will play all state nominee Devin Brown in net. Brown sports sparkling numbers this season coming into the game with a 6-1 record, the loss to private school foe Landon. He has a 1.69 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Brown has cat quick reflexes and uses his agility and athletic ability to prevent goals. It will be very difficult for Upper Montgomery to score. Of note, the Bears have given up ZERO powerplay goals this season. This does not bode well for the Lightning who have failed to score a power play goal all season, now sitting at 0-24 with the extra skater. To say Upper Montgomery has been challenged all season long while on the powerplay is certainly an understatement. The team’s only powerplay goal was scored on a penalty shot converted by Nathan Cassell against Good Counsel. Which team wins on special teams may determine who wins the game.

Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout the lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (10GP, 9G, 13A) and Cassell (11GP, 7G, 14A) have alternated the team lead in assists and points throughout the season. Shkeda (11GP, 9G, 2A) is tied for the team lead in goals. From there the season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in nicely with (8GP, 5G, 3A). He has two different games with two goals scored and he scored the tying goal late in the third period Friday night against the DC Stars. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, Olivia Robbins, and Henry Honacki have each played well in one or two games where they have accumulated the majority of their points on the season.

Oakdale has dominated the Monocacy Valley Conference all season long with a 9-1 record with their only loss against Landon. The Bears have played many close one or two goal games all season. Oakdale has averaged six goals per game, but that total is skewed with a couple of lopsided games where Oakdale prevailed easily. Where the Bears have shined is defensively and Brown has really helped. Oakdale has given up only 18 goals in their ten games, an average of 1.8 goals per game. Churchill, one of the top teams in the state, played Oakdale tough in a 2-1 loss. The Bears are led offensively by 16U AA level travel forward Kyle Metzler. Metzler has (9GP, 13G, 7A) including three shorthanded goals. Cameron Horan, plays 18U AA, has complemented Metzler and has scored (9GP, 11G, 8A). Tyler Yuhas has (9GP, 6G, 10A).

On defense the Lightning have struggled all season. With top defender Andrew Botti out for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. Paired with subpar goaltending, the Lightning suffered a pile of losses. With Botti back, the team has given up only three goals in two games, none while he has been on the ice. Botti is expected to return to the lineup after he missed Friday’s game as he was out of town with his external travel team. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. Sophomore Brady Berkhammer will again see substantial playing time against the Bears after playing every other shift against the DC Stars. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and twelve assists in 46 combined games played.

Oakdale has received significant offensive production from their defense. Gavin Timberlake, another 16U AA skater has (10GP, 6G 8A). His travel team teammate Thomas Farley has (9GP, 4G, 8A). The rest of the Oakdale defenders play for the Frederick Freeze travel hockey program at the A level. The Bears have a talented and well coached team as evidenced by the very miniscule number of goals they have given up this season.

In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was going to be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. After Adam Levine and Aiden Zheng performed admirably against the DC Stars, expect that the Lightning will lean heavily on the core of their varsity roster against Oakdale. Getting contributions from up and down the lineup will take pressure off of the top line and allow them to receive sufficient rest on the bench between shifts. If Upper Montgomery’s scoring continues to be centralized amongst only the top four skaters, the coaching staff will be forced to constantly rely on just those few top end offensive skaters. This is not a recipe for success as their performance will deteriorate as the game progresses and they become fatigued. If the team’s second and third lines do not produce against the Bears over the first half of the game, expect the coaching staff to begin whittling down ice time and inserting additional student athletes into the game.

The game against Oakdale was intentionally scheduled to prime the club for the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. Playing very good non-conference opponents late in the season gets the team prepared to play faster and compete harder heading into a top level playoff matchup against one of the top teams in Montgomery County. The Lightning have begun to show much more fight and desire as the season has progressed and these traits have led to better results. The team’s play is becoming more cohesive, and the total team effort has been better. The Lightning have played more focused and with more belief in each other. Let’s see how that continues to play out on Monday night against a very good opponent.

#Extend the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity enter the last month of the regular season with all of its pre-season goals still within reach. Although first portion of the regular season did not go as anticipated, the Lightning have won three of their past four games. The team comes into the final three regular season conference games having won two straight games including an upset of the third ranked Whitman Vikings. The Lightning also hold a victory over the second ranked team in the conference, the Walter Johnson Wildcats. The team enters the final stretch of regular season games with an overall record of 3-7 while being 3-5 in conference play.

Upper Montgomery’s goalies have struggled in net all season long. Senior Landon Bernard played very well in the team’s last game before winter break and was one of the primary reasons for Upper Montgomery’s upset win against Whitman stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal (.938 save %) and looking as comfortable in net as he has all season long. Bernard’s individual statistics (1-6 record, 5.51 goals against average, and an .823 save percentage) have taken a step back this year but if the Whitman performance is any indication, he may be back in the groove. He is aiming for redemption over the final regular season games and into the playoffs. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the county playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team. Ninth grade goalie Ilan Shterenberg has a bright future in the program. He has played in four varsity games this season after dominating at the junior varsity level. He has two wins, including his first career victory over the Walter Johnson Wildcats. His personal statistics are similar to Bernard’s (5.17 goals against average and an .833 save percentage).

With an experienced core of returning student athletes, Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout the lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (9GP, 7G, 13A) and Cassell (10GP, 7G, 13A) share the team lead in assists and points. Shkeda (10GP, 9G, 2A) leads the team in goals. The season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in with (7GP, 4G, 3A) with two different two goal games. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard (10GP, 3G, 3A), Bradley Cupples (9GP, 2G, 4A), Olivia Robbins (5GP, 1G, 1A), and Henry Honacki (10GP, 3G, 3A) have each played well in one or two games where they have accumulated the majority of their points. The top junior varsity student athletes called upon to play in varsity game action, junior Josh Nadler and senior Adam Levine, have not received sufficient game action to have made any contributions.

On defense the Lightning have struggled all season. The team has been awful defensively at times leaving the goalies out to dry. With top defender Andrew Botti injured and unavailable for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. Paired with subpar goaltending, the Lightning suffered a pile of losses (six) to begin the season. With Botti back, the team has given up only three goals in two games, none while he has been on the ice. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. Sophomores Brady Berkhammer and Owen Robbins, and 9th grade defender Miles Wendland have seen substantial playing time. Expect another forward to also play back on defense over the remainder of the season. The Lightning have received next to nothing offensively from the defensive corps. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and eleven assists in 45 combined games played.

In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was going to be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. Anticipate those lesser experienced skaters to receive more playing time as a way to balance out the line combinations. Getting contributions from up and down the lineup will take pressure off the top line and allow them to receive sufficient rest on the bench between shifts. If Upper Montgomery’s scoring continues to be centralized amongst only the top four skaters, the coaching staff will be forced to constantly rely on just those few top end offensive skaters. This is not a recipe for success as their performance will deteriorate as games progress and they become fatigued. If the team’s second and third lines do not begin producing more, expect the coaching staff to begin whittling down ice time.

The other achilles heel for the team has been the dreadfully awful powerplay. The Lightning have not scored at all this season when on a traditional powerplay with the extra skater, currently sitting at 0-21 on the season. The team’s only ‘powerplay’ goal was scored on a penalty shot converted by Nathan Cassell against Good Counsel.

The Lightning have a month left in the regular season before the program defining Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs begin at the start of February. The Upper Montgomery program had very high expectations for this season after the conclusion to last year and with so many highly talented student athletes returning. Fortunately, the team’s primary goal remains attainable. The Lightning still have a great opportunity to make the state playoffs, but it will take complete team dedication, playing hockey the right way, dogged puck support all over the ice, a 1000% commitment to team defense, and making good decisions that will put the team on the precipice of history.

Going into the season, the junior varsity was expected to be better than last year with the team needing talented 9th grade goaltender Ilan Shterenberg to be a difference maker in net. The junior varsity games were expected to be lower scoring as the team used its defensive strength to focus on preventing the opposition from scoring. This is exactly how the season has played out. Shterenberg has played excellent for the junior varsity this season. His season statistics are a 7-0-1 record with three shutouts. He has given up more than two goals in a game only one time (when playing against Churchill 2’s varsity squad). Shterenberg has a .937 save percentage and a 1.50 goals against average. His play in net will ultimately determine how successful the team is and how far the Lightning junior varsity advances in the junior varsity county playoffs. He has the talent and ability to steal any game by himself.

The other core reasons for the junior varsity’s 7-0-1 undefeated start to the season has been the team’s leadership and team defensive play. Unlike what may be occurring with the varsity, the junior varsity is not worried about who scores and how the game looks visually. The junior varsity has worked hard each game and has focused on defense only giving up twelve goals in the first eight games of the season. The penalty kill has been a perfect 21-21 on the season including a couple of long 5-3 kills.

With a few junior varsity games throughout the league left to play, the Upper Montgomery junior varsity has earned a bye in the opening round of the junior varsity playoffs as well as a home game in the quarterfinal round. If the team beats Blair in its final regular season conference game in early January and receives some additional help, the Lightning junior varsity has an outside chance at winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season championship. It would a truly deserving reward for how well the team has played this season. Another obtainable goal is to tie or set the junior varsity program record for wins in a season. The team currently sits one win behind the 2021 – 2022 Lightning squad which finished the season with an 8-4-2 record.

Offensively, the coaching staff knew it would be a mixed bag. Some games it was anticipated that the junior varsity squad would generate offensive much more capably than last season. Other games, mounting much of an attack would be challenging. This is because the team has no one individual skater that can take over a game by themselves and propel the team to victory. It was going to be a success by committee approach and that is what has played out.

The offense has been scoring just enough with the team averaging 3.5 goals per game. Junior TJ Gottesman (7GP, 6G, 3A) and senior co-captain Adam Levine (8GP, 2G, 7A) lead the team in points with nine. Levine’s seven assists pace the team in helpers. Josh Nadler leads the team in goals with (7GP, 7G), scoring in each of the first six games of the season. The team has received plenty of depth scoring with junior Cole Howerton (8GP, 4G, 2A), senior Sean Levine (8GP, 2G, 3A), junior AJ Marks (6GP, 2G, 3A), and 9th grade forward Aiden Zheng (8GP, 3G, 1A) chipping in and contributing. Sean Levine scored a pretty breakaway goal against the DC Stars deking to his backhand before lifting the puck. It was a highlight reel goal. A minute later Adam Levine’s dazzling push through, walk around, far side, top shelf marker could be the goal of the season for the program. Adam Levine has also set up Nalder with a few nifty give and go pretty passing plays. He has an outside chance over the conclusion to the season at setting the program record for assists and points at the junior varsity level.

Defensively, the Lightning’s experience and team defense has stood out. Jake Roth, Cole Howerton, Patrick Sell, Miles Wendland, Avery Evans (6GP, 4A), and Behr Schickler have limited the opposition’s quality scoring chances. When breakdowns occur, the forwards have been in position defensively to clear the high danger areas and get pucks out of the defensive zone. This combination has allowed the Lightning to play with the lead or tied for most of the entire season. The team has competed with maximum effort, commitment to each other, and with stellar defensive play. This execution must continue for the junior varsity to reach its goals. It has been a nice regular season thus far, but the end of the season needs to be strong against stronger competition to put the squad in position for a long run in the season ending conference playoffs.

#Extend the Streaks, #Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning enter the last month of the regular season with all of its pre-season goals still within reach. Although first portion of the regular season has not gone as anticipated, the Lightning have won three of their past four games. The team comes into Friday’s rematch against the DC Stars having won two straight games including an upset of the third ranked Whitman Vikings. The Lightning will have revenge in mind against the DC Stars having thoroughly outplayed the Stars in October but not getting the result they deserved. The Stars prevailed 3-1, a game in which the Lightning had 37 shots on net with six additional shots clanging off the posts or the crossbar. Stars goalie Anton Tracy stole the show with his 36 save effort often leaving the Lightning skaters shaking their heads in frustration.

Upper Montgomery will be looking to continue its stronger play of late on Friday in Reston. Game time is 9:40 pm. Both teams desperately need the game to advance up the conference standings. Each team also holds out hope of hosting a first round playoff game in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament.

In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard. Bernard played very well in the team’s last game before winter break. He was one of the primary reasons for Upper Montgomery’s upset win against Whitman stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal (.938 save %) and looking as comfortable in net as he has all season. Bernard’s individual statistics have taken a step back this year but if the Whitman performance is any indication, he may be back in the groove. He is aiming for redemption over the final regular season games and into the playoffs. Upper Montgomery will only go as far in the playoffs as Bernard’s play takes the team.

The DC Stars will again play sophomore Tracy against the Lightning. Tracy looks imposing taking up a lot of the net. He is a big netminder and Upper Montgomery will need to get him to move laterally and open up spaces for pucks to get through. Traffic in front of the net, deflections, rebounds, and greasy goals will be necessary to beat Tracy. He brings a 2-4-1 record into the contest, with a 3.86 goals against average, and an .819 save percentage. Of note, the DC stars have given up only two powerplay goals this season, while they have given up seven shorthanded goals. Special teams may be an area of the game that determines the outcome. Upper Montgomery has been challenged all season long while on the powerplay. The Lightning have not scored at all when on a traditional powerplay with the extra skater. The team’s only powerplay goal was scored on a penalty shot converted by Nathan Cassell against Good Counsel.

Upper Montgomery had hoped this season for balanced goal scoring throughout the lineup. Last season’s top line of Chris Hassett, Nathan Cassel, and Philip Shkeda has continued to produce again this season. Unfortunately, it has been a continual search for other student athletes to step up and match last year’s offensive production. Hassett (9GP, 7G, 13A) and Cassell (10GP, 7G, 13A) share the team lead in assists and points. Shkeda (10GP, 9G, 2A) leads the team in goals. From there the season ending injury to Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) has drastically impacted the Lightning’s secondary offense. Hunter Cameron has chipped in with (7GP, 4G, 3A) with two different two goal games. Each of the team’s other forwards, Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, Olivia Robbins, and Henry Honacki have each played well in one or two games where they have accumulated the majority of their points on the season.

The DC Stars have had trouble scoring goals, having moved the twine only 18 times in their eight games. A paltry average of just 2.25 goals per game. The Stars are led offensively by Thomas Cooperman (8GP, 4G, 5A). Cooperman scored twice in the third period to help beat the Lightning in the team’s first matchup earlier in the season. Senior forward Eli Rubin (6GP, 3G, 2A) is second on the team in points tied with sophomore Walter Bernstein (8GP, 2G, 3A).

On defense the Lightning have struggled all season. With top defender Andrew Botti out for the first eight games of the season, Upper Montgomery had difficulty keeping teams out of the high danger areas. Paired with subpar goaltending, the Lightning suffered a pile of losses. With Botti back, the team has given up only three goals in two games, none while he has been on the ice. Botti will miss Friday’s game as he will be out of town with his external travel team. Also missing will be sophomore defensive defender Owen Robbins. He will also be out of town with his external travel teams. Senior co-captain Cameron has played several games on defense to help anchor and provide stability on the back end. Sophomore Brady Berkhammer and 9th grade defender Miles Wendland will see substantial playing time against the Stars. Expect another forward to also play back on defense for this game. The Lightning have received next to nothing offensively from the defensive corps. Outside of Cameron’s production in October’s season opener against Whitman where he scored both Upper Montgomery goals, all other Upper Montgomery defensive skaters have contributed no goals and eleven assists in 45 combined games played.

Most of the DC Stars upper level talent is on the defensive side. Junior Leo Nyberg is the leader on the back line for the DC Stars. He is the DC Stars top defensive skater and has (8GP, 1G, 4A). Senior defender Rodrigo Mattioli (8GP, 3G, 2A) has also chipped in from the blue line for the Stars. They will both see extensive action against the Lightning hoping to replicate the Stars defensive performance in the team’s initial game where Upper Montgomery struggled to score.

In almost every game this season, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff was going to be forced to supplement the usual varsity squad with several student athletes called up from the junior varsity. This week, anticipate those lesser experienced skaters to receive more playing time as a way to balance out the line combinations. With Jacobson out injured and Botti and Owen Robbins also missing the game, Upper Montgomery will play with a short bench. Getting contributions from up and down the lineup will take pressure off the top line and allow them to receive sufficient rest on the bench between shifts. If Upper Montgomery’s scoring continues to be centralized amongst only the top four skaters, the coaching staff will be forced to constantly rely on just those few top end offensive skaters. This is not a recipe for success as their performance will deteriorate as the game progresses and they become fatigued. If the team’s second and third lines do not produce against the Stars, expect the coaching staff to begin whittling down ice time.

For Upper Montgomery it is a critical game. The Lightning need to get closer to the .500 mark in conference play. The team needs to pick up valuable standing points in winnable games. The DC Stars game is a winnable game for the Lightning, but only if Upper Montgomery brings a complete team focused style of play. All of the student athletes must support each other positionally and with good decision making to continue to grind out victories. Upper Montgomery does not need to play pretty, just pretty effectively.

#Extend the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday evening against the Whitman Vikings in a rematch of the team’s season opening contest, a game won 7-2 by Whitman. The lopsided score does not represent how close the contest was, as with one second left in the second period, the score was tied at one. An emotionally draining goal at the very instant before the horn expired to end the second period started a free fall that the Lightning could not recover from. The loss to the Vikings to open the season started Upper Montgomery on a run of poor play that carried over the first half of the season with Upper Montgomery losing its initial six games.

Recently, the team has played better. An upset victory over the Walter Johnson Wildcats and last week’s non-competitive victory over an overmatched Churchill 2 team, have the Lightning sitting at 2-7 on the season with every opportunity to still make the state playoff tournament. If the Lightning have any hope of turning the season around, the team will need to find a way to push past Whitman and continue a winning streak to close the season.

The goaltending matchup will be similar to the team opening night game. Landon Bernard will be in net for Upper Montgomery. He will be looking to get on track and turn his season around. The program knows how well he can play as evidenced by last season’s playoff run. This year has been a different story as Bernard has been fighting the puck seemingly from the outset. He enters the game with an 0-6 record, a 6.58 goals against average and a .798 save percentage. Statistics well below his or the team’s expectations. In net for Whitman will be Ryan Graf. Graf is a solid netminder who has provided confidence and security for the Vikings. He has a 3.02 goals against average and an .880 save percentage playing against the top teams in the county.

Whitman’s calling card is their team defense. The defensive structure and the forwards ferocious back checking are second to none in the league. The Lightning’s top forward line of Nathan Cassel (8GP, 4G, 10A), Chris Hassett (7GP, 5G, 8A), and Philip Shkeda (8GP, 5G, 1A) will have their hands full trying to get into the high danger areas of the offensive zone. The team’s second line will be composed of Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, and Henry Honakci. Each of these student athletes will need to provide depth scoring as the team will be without Hunter Cameron (in Phoenix with his external travel team), Olivia Robbins (in Providence with her external travel team), and Ryan Jacobson (out long term with a lower body injury). Upper Montgomery’s depth forwards (Josh Nadler, Adam Levine, and Aiden Zheng) will all play and they will need to perform as they have all season long for the Lightning junior varsity squad. Their focus will be on chip pucks out of the defensive zone, dumping pucks in deep behind the Whitman net, and playing on the defensive side of the puck. Any offense provided by the second and third lines will be gravy. It will be up to the high powered first line to supply offense. The Vikings want to play low scoring, tight checking games and counter attack when their opponents try and rush up ice in hopes of generating more offensive chances. The Upper Montgomery game plan will counter the Vikings desired style of play.

On defense the return of top Upper Montgomery defender Andrew Botti really stabilized the back end last week against Churchill 2. He will log extensive minutes against Whitman and will play almost exclusively with 9th grade defender Miles Wendland. Wendland has a very bright future as he gets stronger over the next several years. The other defensive pairing will feature a pair of AA external travel skaters, Owen Robbins and Brady Berkhammer. Cole Howerton will play some to spell Wendland during the game. The defensive game plan will be simplified to allow the defenders to conserve energy.

Whitman is led in scoring by talented forward Andrew Fou who has (10 GP, 14G, 8A). He is the offensive dynamo for the Vikings and the rest of the forwards play off of his successes. He has torched the Lightning the last two games, totaling four goals. Second on the team in scoring is Charles Ingis with (8GP, 8G, 2A). Ingis scored the back breaking goal for the Vikings in the season opener, a breakaway goal at the beginning of the third period where he fired top shelf high over Bernard’s glove hand. Jacob Lerman has (10 GP, 7G, 2A). From there, the rest of the Whitman scoring is spread throughout their lineup with no other skater having more than three goals on the season.

Defensively, the Vikings high level external travel skaters dominate their lineup. AAA Zach Kraus is the headliner. Morrison Cohen and Rowen Miller who both play AA will play significant minutes. Upper A 9th grade defender Stephen Mah has come on strong over the last few games. The Whitman defense is not expected to provide offense. Their job is to limit the opposition and make it hard for the Lightning to score.

One area that needs to immediately improve is the Lightning’s powerplay, or lack thereof. Upper Montgomery remains 0 for the season, 0-20. The only ‘powerplay’ goal scored by the Lightning this season has been a converted penalty shot by Cassel. The lack of success with the extra skater is unacceptable with the level of talent the Lightning have on the ice. Although there will likely be very few powerplay opportunities in this game, if the powerplay continues to falter, anticipate that the coaching staff is going to make changes. Several student athletes who do not normally receive powerplay time will get an opportunity.

Upper Montgomery needs to use this game to gain confidence and as a springboard to go on a run over the second half of the season. Qualifying for the state playoffs is still a realistic goal for the program, but only if the student athletes come together as a team and play for each other. The game plan devised for this tilt against Whitman will match the Vikings style of play and will provide the team with a chance to pull the upset. The Lightning will be without both primary coaches for the game on Friday night. Anticipate a low scoring, tight checking affair where Upper Montgomery focuses on defensive coverage and defensive zone clears. It will not be a visually pleasing game, but expect the Lightning to play committed team hockey where the students focus on neutralizing Whitman’s strengths and their top scorer Fou.

#Continue the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday evening against the Churchill Bulldogs Team Two. Game time is late night at Rockville Ice Arena, a 10:00 pm start. Unlike Monday’s game against Churchill’s main varsity team, an 8-0 Upper Montgomery defeat, the game against Churchill Two will be even more lopsided in the Lightning’s favor. Upper Montgomery should never be threatened in this contest.

The Bulldogs enter the contest ranked last in the county standings with an 0-6 record. They have scored ten goals in six games. Defensively, Churchill Two has given up 57 goals in six games, an average of 9.5 goals per game, and Churchill Two has mainly played against the bottom teams in the county standings. Quite simply, Churchill Two would be more appropriately rostered at the junior varsity level, and even then, several of the better junior varsity teams in the county would beat Churchill Two, Upper Montgomery included.

Friday’s game will be similar to a working scrimmage. Upper Montgomery will jump out front early in the game and will use the rest of the game to sharpen their play heading into next week’s important rematch against the Whitman Vikings. Expect the coaching staff to provide many student athletes who do not play significant minutes with lots of playing time.

An encouraging sign for the Lightning is that junior defender Andrew Botti is expected to make his first appearance this season. Botti’s return from a preseason injury that has kept him out of the Lightning’s first eight games should be a jolt of confidence for the team on the defensive side of the puck. His leadership and calming ability should settle down a defensive corps that has been underwhelming thus far over the first half of the season.

Churchill Two is led in scoring by Adam Klewans who has 5GP, 2G, 3A. No other Bulldog skater has more than three points. In goal for the Bulldogs will be either Nick Nelson who has a 7.36 goals against average and a .730 save percentage or Lucas Petrosyan who has a 13.20 goals against average and a .585 save percentage. Upper Montgomery is likely to play both goalies, Landon Bernard and Ilan Shterenberg in the game.

One area that needs to immediately improve is the Lightning’s powerplay, or lack thereof. Upper Montgomery remains 0 for the season, 0-20. The only ‘powerplay’ goal scored by the Lightning this season has been a converted penalty shot. The lack of success with the extra skater is unacceptable with the level of talent the Lightning have on the ice. Although there will likely be very few powerplay opportunities in this game, if the powerplay continues to falter, anticipate that the coaching staff is going to make changes. Several student athletes who do not normally receive powerplay time will get an opportunity.

Upper Montgomery needs to use this game as a springboard to go on a run over the second half of the season. Qualifying for the state playoffs is still a realistic goal for the program, but only if the student athletes come together as a team and play for each other.

#Start the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Fresh off their first win of the season over third ranked Walter Johnson, the Upper Montgomery Lightning finish the first half of the season schedule against perennial state champion Churchill on Monday evening at Cabin John Ice Rink. Puck drop is at 6:30 pm. The Bulldogs have won eight of the last ten Maryland high school ice hockey state championships. The two years that Churchill did not win the state title were last season when they lost in the championship game, and during the COVID health crisis when the Bulldogs were prevented from competing in the state playoffs. Monday’s game will be the first time that the teams have played since their epic Montgomery Hockey Conference quarterfinal matchup last winter. With the winner advancing to the state playoffs, Churchill outlasted the Lightning in a five round shootout by a three to two margin after a one all tie through regulation and overtime.

This year is no different for Churchill. The Bulldogs enter the contest ranked first in the county standings with a 6-0-1 conference record. The Churchill roster is stacked with high-end talent. The Bulldogs trot out a variety of AAA and AA external travel team level skaters. While Upper Montgomery will have very close to its full lineup for the game, keeping up in the game will still be a challenge. Unlike in last year’s playoff game, Churchill will not be overlooking the Lightning this season.

In this game, Upper Montgomery’s success will be defined by how well the team defends and clears the puck out of high danger zones. To be competitive, the Lightning will need to muck up the game and prevent Churchill’s speed from overpowering Upper Montgomery’s inexperienced defenders. Although Andrew Botti is close to returning for the Lightning, he is not yet cleared for participation. The lower scoring the game, and the uglier that the game looks visually, the more of an opportunity Upper Montgomery will have to pull off the massive upset. Last year’s tie in the playoff game before succumbing in the shootout was the first ever points Upper Montgomery has earned against Churchill. In fifteen seasons, the Lightning have never beaten the Bulldogs. The Lightning have also never beaten a team ranked number one. Last year’s victory over second ranked Quince Orchard is the team with the highest ranking that the Lightning have ever beaten.

On offense, the Lightning seem to have progressed from the beginning of the season. When close to the full team is in attendance, the Lightning have scored seven, five, and eight goals in their most recent three games. This is a far cry from the start of the season when goals were non-existent. Nathan Cassel continues to lead the team in points with 7GP, 4G, 10A. He is coming off of a three assist effort versus Walter Johnson. Chris Hassett’s production has ramped up over his last couple of games and he is now second on the team in scoring with 6GP, 5G, 8A. He is also coming off of a multi-point effort over the Wildcats with two goals and four assists. Hassett’s next assist will be a milestone, his 50th career varsity assist. Philip Shkeda is heating up having scored in four straight games. His two goals against the Wildcats helped propel the Lightning to victory. He is tied with Hassett for the team lead in goals with five.

Ryan Jacobson has scored four goals in five games, bouncing back and forth between centering the second line and playing defense. Henry Honacki has begun to get into the heavy traffic areas and his point totals have increased as a result. Honacki now has 7GP, 3G, 3A. Bradley Cupples chipped in with two goals against Walter Johnson and is clustered with Hunter Cameron and Brandon Bernard with two goals and several assists each. The depth scoring from the second and third lines which had been missing early in the season has really helped the Lightning’s offensive production improve. One area that has not improved has been the Lightning’s powerplay. It has been simply putrid. The stink has now reached 18 extra skater advantages to begin the season with no powerplay goals. The streak includes three different five on three extended powerplay chances. The team’s only ‘powerplay’ goal was a penalty shot converted by Cassel against Mount St. Joseph.

Defensively, and in goal, the team must be significantly better. Yes, the team has had to patch together the defensive pairings while working through the injury to Botti, but the defensive blunders have been plentiful and massive. Most of the miscues have led directly to key opposition goals against. The forwards need to do a better job on the backcheck and with breakouts, controlling the game with puck possession and management. The defense must be more physical and not allow the opposing forwards down low beneath them and the goal.

Churchill’s offensive output is led by 18U AA forward, Zachary Silver. Silver has tallied over and over this season. He has 8GP, 12G, 4A. Not too far behind has been Joshua Wong, with 8GP, 6G, 3A and 18U AAA forward Joshua Potenti, 5GP, 6G, 2A. Daniel McNelis has four goals in five games. He plays 16U AAA. Asher Wang, 18U AA leads the Bulldogs in assists. He has 8GP, 2G, 7A. On defense, Churchill has 9th grade 14U AA Alexander Bazyluk with six assists in eight games. Dalton Esko-Himmelfarb has 5GP, 1G, 3A. He plays with the Lightning’s Hunter Cameron on the Little Caps 18U AAA team.

In net for Upper Montgomery is expected to be Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg battled to his first career high school varsity victory last time out making enough saves to hold off Walter Johnson. As the team’s goaltending has been spotty this season, the coaching staff is looking for either Shterenberg or senior Landon Bernard to grab the reins on the top goaltender spot. Shterenberg has been lights out at the junior varsity level with six wins, two by shutout, a 1.36 goals against average, and a .941 save percentage. The step up in competition at the varsity level has impact his statistics. Not unexpected for a 9th grade student athlete. Landon Bernard played fantastic last year against Churchill in the playoffs. He stopped 34 of 35 shots and was critical to almost pulling off the greatest upset in the history of Maryland high school hockey. He was also outstanding last year in the opening round playoff game against St. Johns. This year has been a struggle. There have been stretches of nice play sprinkled in with goals that he wishes he had back. In net for Churchill is expected to be 16U AA Macallister Glazer. Glazer splits time with senior Cameron Shure, but receives the starts in goal when Churchill faces stronger competition. Glazer is 3-0-1 on the season with a 3.00 goals against average and a .867 save percentage.

Upper Montgomery desperately needs a good showing to begin moving back up the conference standings and rankings. The team started the season ranked with its highest ranking ever, fifth spot, and then promptly plummeted down the rankings to where it is currently, tenth. Finishing seventh or tenth is preferred rather than landing in eight or ninth spot and having to likely once again face Churchill in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. The win over Walter Johnson was a step forward. Now the team needs to continue to ascend with a very good performance against a very tough opponent.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The start of the 2023 – 2024 high school ice hockey season has been one to forget for the Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity squad and pleasantly surprising for the Lightning junior varsity squad. The Upper Montgomery program had very high expectations for this season after the conclusion to last year and with so many highly talented student athletes returning. Unfortunately, qualifying for the state playoffs for the first time in program history seems like a distant vision unless the team comes together, plays as a team, and goes on an epic run. There has been too much individual play, too much worrying about everything but winning, and the team’s performance has suffered as a result.

The Lightning varsity squad sits winless at 0-6 on the season. There have been some stretches of good play, but overall, the only consistency to the season has been the limited amount of student athletes available each game due to external travel team commitments and Andrew Botti’s injury. Upper Montgomery has had its full complement of offensive forward lines for only two games this season. Being able to run three full lines allows the student athletes sufficient rest to compete hard over the entire game. Not surprisingly then, the third periods have been Upper Montgomery’s downfall with the team having a minus twelve goal differential in the final period over the first six games of the season.

Three troubling trends have developed over the first portion of the season. One, a lack of goal scoring. This seems to have been rectified in two of the past three games, a 9-7 loss to Sherwood and a 7-5 loss to Mount St. Joseph. The second issue is the poor finishes mentioned above. Not having a full roster has placed a burden on the student athletes present at each game and they have run out of steam deep into the games. The third issue and the most glaring have been the defensive breakdowns. This may be a result of the top skaters having to play excessive minutes each game as the team has played with a short bench throughout the season. It may be playing without top defender Andrew Botti for the entire season. It may be that the defensive skaters have just not been good enough. It is no secret that the top teams in the county prevent goals. A look at the standings this season as well as last season show a dramatic difference in all teams’ records when giving up three or fewer goals in a game. Quite simply, the Upper Montgomery defensive lapses and breakdowns have been awful and are the leading contributor to the 0-6 start.

Upper Montgomery’s offensive success can be defined by how well the offensive leaders of the team perform. Nathan Cassel leads the team with 6GP, 4G, 6A. He is coming off of a three point effort versus Mount St. Joseph, including converting on a penalty shot goal. Chris Hassett’s production has led the Lightning program for the past two seasons, and he is once again contributing. He is second on the team in scoring with 5GP, 3G, 4A. Ryan Jacobson has scored three goals in four games, bouncing back and forth between centering the second line and playing defense. Philip Shkeda is heating up having scored in three straight games. The difficulty for the Lightning has been getting the offense going especially against the top teams in the conference, scoring twice against Whitman, once against the DC Stars, and twice against BCC. Depth scoring from the second and third lines has been very limited with many of the team’s forwards either underperforming or having all of their scoring centralized in the Sherwood game. Consistent depth scoring would dramatically advance the Lightning’s chances over the second half of the season.

Defensively, and in goal, the team must be significantly better. Yes, the team has had to patch together the defensive pairings while working through the injury to Botti, but the defensive blunders have been plentiful and massive. Most of the miscues have led directly to key opposition goals against. The forwards need to do a better job on the backcheck and with breakouts, controlling the game with puck possession and puck management. The defense must be more physical and not allow the opposing forwards down low beneath them with unobstructed looks at the goal.

If the poor performances do not change quickly expect the coaching staff to provide more playing time to the younger student athletes that have thus far historically played the majority of their high school hockey career at the junior varsity level. When the back half of the varsity schedule flips and the Lightning are facing less talented opposition, the lower portion of the roster will be more capable of receiving playing time and will push the top skaters for playing time. While the depth of the Lightning’s roster should have been able to handle one or two student athletes missing a game here or there, the team has not stepped up and performed.

In net for Upper Montgomery Landon Bernard has had stretches of nice play this season sprinkled in with goals that he wishes he had back. The team knows what Bernard is capable of with last season’s playoff performance as a benchmark of how good he can play. The Lightning will need to see more of that shut down goaltending to have a successful back half of the season.

Going into the season, the junior varsity was expected to be better than last year with the team needing 9th grade goaltender Ilan Shterenberg to be a difference maker in net. The junior varsity games were expected to be lower scoring as the team used its defensive strength to focus on preventing the opposition from scoring. This is exactly how the season has played out. Shterenberg has played very well for the junior varsity this season having won all four of his starts and having posted two shutouts to begin his high school career. His season statistics are a .940 save percentage and a 1.03 goals against average. In limited action last week against Mount St. Joseph at the varsity level he stopped 16 of 18 shots on goal. Anticipate Shterenberg seeing additional varsity game action as the coaching staff gets him experience as preparation for next season. His play in net will ultimately determine how successful the team is and how far the Lightning junior varsity advances in the junior varsity county playoffs. He has the talent and ability to steal any game by himself.

The core reason for the junior varsity’s 4-0 undefeated start to the season has been the team’s leadership and team defensive play. Unlike what may be occurring with the varsity, the junior varsity is not worried about who scores and how the game looks visually. The junior varsity has worked hard each game and has focused on defense only giving up four goals over the first four games of the season. The penalty kill has been a perfect 13-13 on the season including a couple of long 5-3 kills.

Offensively, the coaching staff knew it would be a mixed bag. Some games it was anticipated that the squad would generate offensive much more capably than last season. Other games, it was thought to still be extremely difficult to mount much of an attack. This is because the team has no one individual skater that can take over a game by themselves and propel the team to victory. It was going to be more of a success by committee approach and that is what has played out.

Josh Nadler has led the way scoring in each of the first four games of the season. He leads the team with five goals. Cole Howerton has scored three goals in the first four games of the season. TJ Gottesman also has four points on two goals and two assists. Sean Levine has three points, and the depth scoring has started to come through. AJ Marks and Aiden Zheng have played better over the past couple of games, and both have two points. Adam Levine has chipped in with two assists, both on nice passing plays with Nadler finishing on each occasion. The offense has been just enough with the team averaging 3.5 goals per game.

Defensively, the Lightning’s experience and team defense has stood out. Jake Roth, Cole Howerton, Patrick Sell, Miles Wendland, Avery Evans, and Behr Schickler have limited the opposition’s quality scoring chances. When breakdowns occur, the forwards have been in position defensively to clear the danger areas and get pucks out of the defensive zone. The combination has allowed the Lightning to play with the lead or tied for all but 8:30 of game actions this season. The maximum effort displayed so far and the commitment to each other combined with the stellar defensive play must continue for the team to reach its goals. It’s been a nice start, but the middle of the season needs to be strong against stronger competition to position the squad well for the season ending conference playoffs.

#Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!