The Upper Montgomery Lightning will play one of the most important games in program history on Friday evening when the team faces off against the Whitman Vikings. The matchup will be in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) playoffs with the winner advancing to the Maryland high school hockey state playoffs. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Whitman will be looking to return to the state playoffs again this season. The Vikings reached the quarterfinals last season after beating Leonardtown 4-0 in the sweet sixteen before losing to South River in the state quarterfinals by a score of 4-1. Upper Montgomery will be looking to make the state playoffs for the first time in program history. Last season, the Lightning were oh so close, losing to reigning state champion Churchill (winners of nine consecutive state titles) in this same round of the MHC playoffs. Upper Montgomery lost in a five round shootout (3-2 in the shootout) after a one all tie though regulation and overtime. If Upper Montgomery is able to prevail on Friday, it would be a historic accomplishment and the program would be celebrating for days if not weeks and months.
Friday will be the rubber match between the programs. These two teams have played many close games over the last four seasons. Whitman won the opening game this year by a score of 7-2, but the score was not indicative of how close the game really was. The teams were tied at one with one second left in the second period. Upper Montgomery turned the tables and beat the Vikings in mid-December by a score of 3-2. Last year, Whitman won 5-3. In 2022, Upper Montgomery won 2-1. In 2021, Upper Montgomery won 1-0. Both teams anticipate that it will be a low scoring game defined by puck battles all over the ice, the neutral zone being clogged up, lots of dump ins from the red line with forecheckers charging after the opposing defense, and then chip outs by the defensive side to clear the puck back out to neutral ice. This game will not be pretty to watch. It will be a grind for the full 45 minutes of regulation and maybe longer. An interesting twist to the game comes by way of an odd scheduling quirk. Whitman has played only once over the past five weeks. That game was a stellar effort in a one to one tie against top seeded Churchill.
Upper Montgomery’s play has evolved and transformed as the regular season progressed. The return of top defender, junior Andrew Botti has calmed the back end and provided additional confidence. At around the same time, Lightning senior goaltender Landon Bernard began playing much, much better in net. The Lightning are 6-1-1 over their last eight conference games. Further, Upper Montgomery played the top public high school team in the state, Oakdale, superbly leading 1-0 with under five minutes to play before Oakdale was able to prevail. Last week, against top private high school program Bullis, Upper Montgomery was tied with under one minute to play before succumbing. The Lightning must believe there is a chance to pull the upset and defeat Whitman, the third seed in the playoff tournament bracket.
The goaltending matchup will be same as in the team’s first two games this season. Landon Bernard will be in net for Upper Montgomery. He has posted terrific statistics in the MHC playoffs this season and last year. He enters Friday’s game with a .966 save percentage and a 0.98 goals against average in his three career playoff outings, never giving up more than one goal in a game. If Bernard again plays stellar, he can steal the game by himself. He would forever be known as the goalie who took Upper Montgomery to the state playoffs for the first time. Bernard also backstopped the Lightning junior varsity to the MHC junior varsity championship two years ago. He excelled in those playoffs as well giving up only four goals over three games, including posting a shootout victory. In net for Whitman will be Ryan Graf. Graf was recently named the first team MHC All Conference goalie. Graf is a solid netminder. He went 5-4-1 this season with a 2.64 goals against average and an .899 save percentage playing against the top teams in the county.
Whitman’s calling card is their team defense. The Vikings defensive structure and the forwards ferocious back checking are second to none in the league. The Lightning’s top forward line of senior co-captain and center Chris Hassett (16GP, 15G, 19A), playing between Nathan Cassel (15GP, 11G, 18A), and Philip Shkeda (16GP, 12G, 6A) will have their hands full trying to get into the high danger areas in the offensive zone. The team’s second line will be composed of senior co-captain and center Hunter Cameron (14GP, 5G, 4A) playing with Henry Honakci (17GP, 5G, 3A) and Olivia Robbins (9GP, 2G, 2A). Cameron scored two goals in the season opener against Whitman and missed the rematch as he was in Phoenix with his external travel team. The season ending loss of Ryan Jacobson (6GP, 4G, 1A) (out long term with a lower body injury) definitely has impacted the Lightning’s secondary offensive production.
Upper Montgomery’s third offensive line will be centered by senior Bradley Cupples (13GP, 2G, 7A) playing with Adam Levine (8G, 3A) including a career high two assist game in the opening round win over Blair last week and Josh Nadler. The objective of this line will be to provide energy and tireless effort on the forecheck and along the boards. Their focus will be on chipping pucks out of the defensive zone, dumping pucks in deep behind the Whitman net, and playing on the defensive side of the puck. Any offense provided by the third line is gravy. It will be up to the high powered first line to supply offense. The Vikings want to play low scoring, tight checking games and counter attack when their opponents try and rush up ice in hopes of generating more offensive chances. The Upper Montgomery game plan will counter the Vikings desired style of play.
On defense the return of top Upper Montgomery defender Andrew Botti really did stabilize the back end. He will log extensive minutes against Whitman and will play almost exclusively with 9th grade defender Miles Wendland. Wendland has a very bright future within the program as he gets stronger over the next several years. The other defensive pairing will feature a pair of AA external travel skaters, Brady Berkhammer and Brandon Bernard (17GP, 6G, 3A). Berkhammer (17GP, 1G, 7A) scored his first career high school goal last week against Blair in the playoff opener. Bernard is dropping back to play defense this week with the absence of Owen Robbins who will miss the game as he is out of town with his external travel team. Cole Howerton will play some to spell Wendland during the game. The defensive game plan will be simplified to allow the defenders to conserve energy.
Whitman is led in scoring by talented forward Andrew Fou who has (13 GP, 15G, 10A). He is the offensive dynamo for the Vikings and the rest of the forwards play off of his successes. He has torched the Lightning over the past two years totaling four goals. The second highest scoring forward on the team is Charles Ingis with (8GP, 8G, 2A). Ingis scored the back breaking goal for the Vikings in the season opener, a breakaway goal at the beginning of the third period where he fired top shelf high over Bernard’s glove hand. He has also scored four goals against the Lightning over the past two seasons. Jacob Lerman has (13 GP, 8G, 2A). From there, the rest of the Whitman scoring is spread throughout their lineup with no other skater having more than three goals on the season.
Defensively, the Vikings high level external travel skaters dominate their lineup. AAA defender Zach Kraus is the headliner (10GP, 3G, 9A). Morrison Cohen (12GP, 2G, 7A) and Rowen Miller both play AA and will play significant minutes. Upper A ninth grade defender Stephen Mah has come on strong over the last few games. The Whitman defense is not expected to provide offense. Their job is to limit the opposition and make it hard for the Lightning to get to the net and score.
The Lightning’s powerplay has come alive over the last two games, scoring goals in back to back contests. The team simplified their system and is getting more shots on net and traffic in front. Both powerplay goals have come off of puck retrievals of missed initial shots and then a secondary shot at the net with skaters in front. Upper Montgomery is now up to 3-46 on the powerplay for the season, 6.5%. A key powerplay goal in the playoff contest versus Whitman would be huge. Conversely, Whitman has scored eleven powerplay goals this season. Whitman has given up only six powerplay goals while the Vikings have scored six shorthanded goals of their own to even out the scoring while playing with one less skater.
Within the rules, Upper Montgomery must do everything possible to win this game. With a senior heavy lineup, the program has been looking toward this opportunity for the better part of four years. The game plan devised for this tilt against Whitman will match the Vikings style of play and will provide the team with a chance to pull the upset. Anticipate a low scoring, tight checking affair where Upper Montgomery focuses on defensive coverage and defensive zone clears. It will not be a visually pleasing game, but expect the Lightning to play committed team hockey where the students focus on neutralizing Whitman’s strengths. Can the Lightning push through and make history after being so close last year? It could be a lucky bounce that decides the game late. There could be an unsung hero who rises up with a key goal. We know for sure that there will be tears in the locker room after the game. The question is whether they will be tears of joy.
#Make States, #Continue the Streak, #Get it Done, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!