The Upper Montgomery Lightning will face a stiff test in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. Don’t be deceived by the Barons 3-4-1 record. The BCC program has a history of playing its true junior varsity student athletes during the regular season and then supplementing those students with more high end talent once the playoffs begin. Although Upper Montgomery finished the regular season with a program record 9-01- record, many throughout the conference have the Barons favored in the game. Game time on Friday is late night, 10:00 pm puck drop at Cabin John Ice Rink.
The game will be a rematch of an October clash between the two squads won by Upper Montgomery by a score of 3-2. It was a tight checking defensive game that was impacted more by which students did not play in the game rather than those that participated. Both BCC and Upper Montgomery used some roster management decisions in the regular season matchup choosing to scratch certain student athletes.
Friday’s playoff game will be determined in large part by the following factor; which student athletes will be out-of-town with their external travel teams? The Lightning will be missing two primary defenders in Jake Roth and Avery Evans, both of whom will be up north playing with their external travel team in tournaments over the holiday weekend. The Lightning may also be missing leading scorer TJ Gottesman who could be out of town as well. It is unknown if any of the Barons’ student athletes will likewise miss the game.
Ninth grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg who had a superb regular season will need to steal this game. He had fabulous individual statistics in his first high school season. His record was 8-0-1 with three shutouts, a 1.67 goals against average, and a .931 save percentage. He will have to come up huge for Upper Montgomery to prevail over the Barons. With a shortened bench, the Lightning will begin to tire as the game progresses causing the game to tilt toward the Barons over the latter portion of the game. Shterenberg will need to slam the door shut and prevent BCC from scoring. In net for the Barons is expected to be Tycho Narrod-Malcolm. Narrod-Malcolm is a big goalie and tough to score against. Upper Montgomery was able to poke three past him in October and will be looking to do so once again. Narrod-Malcom posted a 1-2-1 record with a 2.25 goals against average and an .895 save percentage. If unavailable, BCC’s other goaltender option would be Lucy Barron who had a 2-1 record, a 3.78 goals against average, and a .750 save percentage.
Upper Montgomery came alive offensively as the season progressed in large part because of a coaching decision. Midway through the season the coaching staff began playing Adam Levine at center separating him off of a line with high scoring center Josh Nadler. The change brought more balance to the lineup and Levine’s faceoff prowess has led directly to seven goals over the past several games. Expect Nadler (9GP, 11G, 1A) to center Jason Woodman (three assists recently against Oakdale) and Sean Levine (10GP, 2G, 5A). If Gottesman (9GP, 11G, 5A) is available for the game, he would play as the other wing with Nadler centering the line. Sean Levine would then drop back and play defense. It is anticipated that the other forward line will have Adam Levine (10GP, 3G, 8A) centering ninth grade forward Aiden Zheng (10GP, 4G, 2A) and AJ Marks (8GP, 3G 4A).
BCC will counter with two very good student athletes who both play on BCC’s varsity squad as well. Peter Lanpher led the Barons in scoring with (4GP, 6G, 5A). He is a smooth skater with good playmaking ability. Kiran Maltby has produced as well and was tied for second on the Barons in goals (7GP, 5G, 1A). The Barons have five other forwards with either two or three goals and four to six points.
Junior offensive minded defender Cole Howerton will lead a defensive corps that will likely only have four skaters. Howerton has played very well of late. His offensive contributions (9GP, 5G, 3A) and skating ability are huge assets for a team that has trouble scoring. He will likely pair with hulking defensive defender Patrick Sell. Sell has begun to use his body more to his advantage. His long reach often gets to pucks breaking up plays. Behr Schicker has been a nice surprise this season. Schickler looked more comfortable in his sophomore season. He will be paired with ninth grade defender Miles Wendland. Wendland is a steady defender that uses very good positioning and stick work to derail the opponent’s offensive chances. BCC has a very talented group on their backend. Sophomore standout Ben Lyons (7GP, 5G, 2A) leads the crew with Jeronimo Castano Tellez (8GP, 3G, 3A) and ninth grade defenders, Nick Sexton (8GP, 2G, 2A) and Ava Summerfield (8GP, 2G). A rotation of forwards may pick up some defensive shifts for the Barons or BCC could go with four defenders similar to the Upper Montgomery game plan.
Upper Montgomery has by far the most difficult quarterfinal matchup of the top four seeds. Something that you would not expect for the number two seeded Lightning. If Upper Mongomery wins, the team will almost certainly play Richard Montgomery in the semifinal round. Richard Montgomery should have no trouble getting past Whitman. The other side of the bracket has top seeded Wootton playing the winner of Churchill and Blair while Walter Johnson will host the DC Stars.
The Lightning will need to maintain focus throughout the entire game, something that will be even more critical in the latter stages of the game as the team begins to tire. Upper Montgomery played in so many close tight games this season that pressure should not be an issue. The penalty kill was outstanding during the regular season, 23 killed penalties out of 25 chances, a success rate of 92%. The two powerplay goals given up were in the one game Shterenberg did not play in. Special teams and faceoffs may play a big role in the outcome as they have all season for the Lightning. It is a win to keep playing game. A loss would end the Upper Montgomery season. It would be a shame for the Lightning’s season to end so early in the playoffs after an undefeated regular season.
#Get it Done, #Advance to Semis, #Remain Undefeated, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!