The start to the 2023 – 2024 high school hockey season has not gone as planned for the Upper Montgomery Lightning. With three consecutive losses to begin the season, the Lightning are at the exact same point they were last season. Upper Montgomery is now 0-3 after opening the season dropping close contests to highly regarded Whitman, a 3-1 defeat against the DC Stars, and falling 6-3 to private school non-conference foe Good Counsel this past Tuesday afternoon. In all three games, the third period has proven costly for Upper Montgomery as the team has been outscored 11-1 in the final stanza.
The major challenge this season for Upper Montgomery was going to be how to navigate all of the highly talented student athletes missing games when they were out-of-town with their external travel teams. When Andrew Botti went down injured playing with his external travel team, the Lightning’s depth on defense would be severely tested. Coupled with playing against all of the top teams in division one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference, the program knew there would be some challenging times throughout the season.
Two troubling trends developed over the first couple of games this season. One, a lack of goal scoring. Scoring three goals in the first two games is simply not acceptable for a squad as talented as the Lightning. Against Good Counsel, Upper Montgomery scored three times and fired 42 shots on goal. In the DC Stars game, 37 shots were put on goal and six additional shots clanged off the goal posts or the crossbar. Quality chances are there, the team must convert. The second issue is poor third periods. The Lightning had a minus seven goal differential in the third period as the team has tired throughout the first two games. Against Good Counsel, more student athletes were utilized throughout the game, but the team was still outscored by three goals in the third period. Upper Montgomery now has a putrid minus ten goal differential in the third period over just three games.
On Tuesday, Upper Montgomery will face Sherwood. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Sherwood opened its season with a lopsided loss to Walter Johnson, one of the best teams in the state. Sherwood played with a forward in net as their goalie, but that only accentuated the final score and did not determine the game’s outcome.
Sherwood’s entire success revolves around Junior center Noi Jonasson, the most talented skater in all of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. With the last line change, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff will be looking for shut down matchups as Jonasson can single handedly beat any team. He scored five points on three goals and two assists last season against the Lightning in the team’s division two semifinal matchup. Running aside Jonasson will be senior forward Grayson Winckler. Winckler is a very good skater who has had success against the Lightning in prior games. The rest of the Warriors lineup is young but speedy, Aidan Cook (who scored the Warriors only goal against Walter Johnson), Oz Sacks, and Cameron Calandro have some offensive pop if left unguarded.
Several Lightning student athletes have begun playing much better then they did in the season opening contest against Whitman. Ryan Jacobson has played especially well moving back to play defense against the DC Stars and Good Counsel. He has scored in consecutive games, including an impressive end to end rush goal against the Falcons. However, he will miss the Sherwood game. Chris Hassett and Nathan Cassel will be relied upon to turn up the offense. Getting depth scoring will be paramount to the Lightning coming away with their first win of the season. Brandon Bernard, Philip Shkeda, Bradley Cupples, Olivia Robbins, and Henry Honacki must come through and find the back of net.
In net for Upper Montgomery will be senior Landon Bernard who will be looking to get back on the winning track after finishing last season so strongly. In net for Sherwood will be Samuel Hutt. Hutt will be making his season debut against the Lightning, and he will need to play well to give the Warriors a chance to pull off the upset.
For Upper Montgomery the game is critical to getting right mentally. The team needs to fight through the adversity it is facing at the beginning of the season. Earning a win against Sherwood would be a welcome boost for morale. Simply put, the Lightning need to get their first win of the season and play a complete game, dominating from the start and through the final whistle. The third period collapses must end immediately. All games are winnable games for the Lightning, but only if Upper Montgomery plays as a team and plays the right way. The experienced student athletes need to lead by example, play the system, and put the puck in the back of the net.
#Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!