The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity will be playing for the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) championship on Thursday afternoon versus the undefeated and heavily favored Richard Montgomery Rockets. Game time is 4:15 pm at the Laurel Ice Gardens. The championship will be a rematch of a game from early November won by the Rockets 5-2, in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.
Richard Montgomery has had an incredible season. Undefeated at 10-0 and outscoring opponents by a margin of 53-12, the Rockets appear to be unstoppable. However, lately during the playoffs, their games have become tighter. The Rockets will start junior netminder Ian Hutchinson in goal. Hutchinson gave up two goals in four regular season games playing to a paltry 0.83 gaa and a .952 save percentage. In the playoffs, he gave up two goals to Quince Orchard/Sherwood before shutting out Whitman. He has been a stalwart in net all season.
The Rockets will dress seven skaters who also play regular minutes for the Richard Montgomery varsity squad. The Rockets will dress four seniors, six juniors, and five sophomores. Led on offense by Nicholas Saffell (9 GP, 8 G, 4 A), Tyler Senko (8 GP, 5 G, 8 A), and Jaxson Hartle (8 GP, 5 G, 6 A) the Rockets led the MHC in goals with their 53 tallies. On defense, the Rockets have no shortage of talent in Noe Masurel (8 GP, 8 G, 1 A) and John Yang (7 GP, 5 G, 2 A). Jack Evans was second on the team with seven assists in seven games. Upper Montgomery is going to have to figure out a way to slow down this juggernaut.
The Lightning are coming into the championship game on a five game winning streak and have not lost since prior to the winter holiday when they lost to Wootton 1-0. It was a game in which Wootton played an ineligible varsity goalie. Key to the Lightning’s recent run has been a complete team defensive effort that has given up only seven goals in those five games. Landon Bernard has played very well in net of late. He has a Maryland Student Hockey League leading seven wins this season. He comes into the game with a 2.81 gaa and an .875 save percentage. He will need to play outstanding once again and outduel Hutchinson for the Lightning to have a chance at the upset victory.
On defense, the Lightning will have experience to go along with youth. George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Gean, and Stephen Shkeda will join regulars Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell on the blueline. The defense should be able to skate with the Rockets and should have no issues keeping up with the pace of play. The pairings will likely be Benedick with Sell, Hockey with Howerton, and Gean with Shkeda. In the semi-final game versus Rockville, Sell set an Upper Montgomery program record with four assists and tied the junior varsity program record with four points.
On offense the Lightning will likely start the game with the same line combinations as yesterday. Expect the coaching staff to shorten the bench late in the game as the score dictates. Brandon Bernard (12 GP, 6 G, 9A) will center Adam Levine and Henry Honacki. Bradley Cupples (9 GP, 6 G, 5 A) will center James Hyman (13 GP, 3 G, 3 A), and Joshua Miller (13 GP, 7 G, 4 A). Josh Nadler (11 GP, 5 G, 2 A) will center Adarsh Nair and Lucas Eyman/TJ Gottesman. All three lines scored yesterday, with the first and second line putting multiple goals behind Rockville/Blair goalie Sean Connelly. It may be an unlikely source from the forward group that provides the depth scoring that the team has needed all season.
The keys to the game may turn out to be special teams play. On the penalty kill the Lightning have excelled all season killing off 41 of 46 opponents’ powerplay opportunities, good for an 89.1% kill rate. The team has also scored five shorthanded goals matching the number of powerplay goals given up. As good as the penalty kill has been, the powerplay has been absolutely downright terrible. Upper Montgomery has converted just 3 of 42 powerplay opportunities for a 7.1% success rate. The team has given up four shorthanded goals this season, so they are a net minus one while playing with an additional skater.
Tomorrow’s game should be an exciting nail bitter. The Rockets will be looking to cap off an undefeated season with a championship. Upper Montgomery will be looking accomplish a first; going from last place in the league standings last season during its inaugural campaign to league champions in just its second season. The longer the game stays tight, the more confidence the Lightning will have. Getting the first goal will be ultra critical in what will likely be a low scoring and dramatic contest. Tune in tomorrow afternoon where a champion will be crowned.