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.