The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action this upcoming Thursday afternoon, December 22nd versus Rockville/Magruder. Game time is 4:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. For Upper Montgomery, it will be the final conference game of the season and the last opportunity to earn important conference standing points. A Lightning win would guarantee a top six seed for the team and Upper Montgomery would then avoid having to play an opening round junior varsity playoff game.
Upper Montgomery enters the game having played better over the past few games. The team fought hard this past weekend to earn a tie against Northwest/Quince Orchard. In the Montgomery Hockey Conference, there is no overtime in junior varsity regular season games. Down a goal on three separate occasions in the second and third periods, the team clawed back each time to tie the game. The Lightning have played much better over the past four games and cannot be overconfident heading into the game versus Rockville/Magruder. A Lightning win would give the team a winning record in regular season conference games at 3-2-1.
Rockville/Magruder enters the game in second to last place in the conference standings. The Rams have earned just a tie in three games played. Rockville/Magruder has scored seven goals and has given up fifteen over their three games. The Rams will play their fourth game of the season on Wednesday afternoon and will turn around and play the Lightning the next day. Rams’ defender Wyatt Bakalis leads the team in goals and points with his three goals. No other skater on the Rams’ roster has scored more than one goal.
As has been said many times this season, quite simply, Upper Montgomery needed to score more and generate more offensive chances. Against Churchill and Northwest/Quince Orchard the team has done just that. With the additional goals have come better game results, a win and a tie. TJ Gottesman continues to lead the team with twelve points (6GP, 4G, 8A) despite missing the Northwest/Quince Orchard game. Henry Honacki continues to lead the junior varsity in goals with six (8GP, 6G, 3A). Over the past two games, Josh Nadler, Adam Levine, Cole Howerton, and Sean Levine have picked up the scoring pace. It is no coincidence that the performance of these experienced student athletes has contributed to the team’s overall better performances.
In goal, Landon Bernard will look to continue his excellent play. He has been really, really good over the past three weeks at the varsity and junior varsity levels. With Bernard in net, the Lightning will have a distinct advantage over whoever the Rams decide to start in net. After playing well the past several games, Upper Montgomery cannot play down to the level of the Rams. The team needs to continue to build momentum by playing well. Upper Montgomery needs to demonstrate it knows how to handle teams that are a lower quality and beneath them in the standings. It is this growth and maturity that will be better known after Thursday afternoon’s contest.