Late Friday evening, the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity looks to keep the momentum going when the team faces off against the BCC Barons. Game time is 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Both teams enter the early season matchup looking to separate themselves from the rest of the junior varsity programs in the league. BCC won their opening game 2-1 over Churchill. Upper Montgomery has started the season very strongly after smashing the Richard Montgomery Rockets 8-0 and then taking last season’s top regular season team, the Wootton Patriots to overtime, before eventually falling 3-2. The overtime loss extended the Lightning junior varsity’s undefeated streak to sixteen regular season outings (12-0-4). The Lightning junior varsity has also killed off their past 33 shorthanded situations. The meeting between the two programs will be a rematch of last season’s junior varsity quarterfinal game won by BCC 4-1. Upper Montgomery won the regular season matchup 3-2 early in the season.
In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a fine 22 save shutout performance in the win over Richard Montgomery followed up by making 47 saves to keep the team in the game against Wootton. He currently sports a 1.43 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. BCC will start a ninth grade goalie of their own, 16U lower A Blake Schoenebeck. Schoenebeck was solid in net for the Barons making 18 saves in their 2-1 victory over Churchill.
On defense look for the Lightning to play a more regular defensive lineup. Playing against both Richard Montgomery and Wootton with only four defenders in the lineup was not ideal. Missing on Friday will be ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins (one goal and one assist versus the Rockets) and sophomore defender Max Curtusan. However, two defenders are expected to return to the Lightning lineup. Senior Cole Howerton and sophomore Avery Evans. Senior Patrick Sell returned to the Lightning lineup against Wootton after having served his one game game suspension for a major game misconduct penalty he received in the third period of last season’s playoff game against these same Barons. Howerton has played some at the varsity level over the past two seasons and will be looked upon to take on a bigger role this season. At the junior varsity level Howerton (10GP, 5G, 4A) last year will be looked upon for offensive output and to use his smooth skating to assist with defensive zone breakouts.
Sophomore 16U lower A defender Miles Wendland, the Lightning’s most sound defender, will again likely be paired with ninth grade defender Luke Hudson. Matthew Rivera (two assists against Richard Montgomery) will likely play with Avery Evans. Howerton and Sell will likely play against BCC’s top offensive skaters. BCC will counter with sophomore Nick Sexton and ninth grade defender Jacob Reitz 16U lower A paired together. Junior Jeronimo Castano Tellez (one goal and one assist versus Churchill) will pair with sophomore Zach Leblanc. BCC may also use a rotation of forwards to help out on the blue line.
Offensively, the Lightning have had balanced scoring. Sophomore Jake Hudson and ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin both lead the junior varsity in scoring (2GP, 2G, 2A). Newcomer, sophomore Mason Jagoz has contributed (2GP, 1G, 2A). Aiden Zheng who only played in the season opening game against Richard Montgomery is the other skater with two goals. All of the Lightning skaters dressed for the game against Richard Montgomery registered at least one point. Senior forward AJ Marks has scored as has ninth grade forward Decklin Hughes. Defenders Wendland and Rivera have both recorded two assists. BCC will employ a nice mix of returning forwards and incoming ninth grade forwards. The experienced forwards are senior Michael Kambouris, juniors Nick Hartnett-Mueller, David High, Kiran Maltby, and Nick Mencher, and sophomores Ramin Jacobs, Brady Page, and Ava Summerfield. They will be joined by a bevy of new student athletes; Camille Boyle, Ryan Duffy, Sam Lane, Juliana Langley, Hannah Moss, and Julia Reitz. Mencher scored with 38 seconds remaining in the contest to record the game winning goal last Friday in BCC’s season opening win against Churchill.
The 2024 – 2025 junior varsity season was thought to be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. While those primary expectations remain, the early season success that the Lightning have experienced have somewhat lifted expectations. Upper Montgomery is able to compete with all of the junior varsity teams in the county. The team’s success will come down to how well the team plays in the defensive zone each game and whether the forwards are able to clear the zone getting the puck out of danger. The recent game against the Patriots provided the coaching staff with a tremendous amount of knowledge of what the team will be focusing on to get better as the season progresses. Friday night should be another hard fought close contest that could be won by either team. The winner will likely be assured of a high finish in the regular season league standings when the season concludes several months from now.
#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!, #Continue the Streaks