The Upper Montgomery Lightning face off against division one foe Wootton on Friday evening in a quarterfinal game in the division two playoffs. Game time is 6:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Upper Montgomery has never beaten Wootton but has a very good chance on Friday as Wootton is not nearly as formidable as they have been in past seasons. Expect a very close game as the Lightning try and advance to next week’s semi-final round against the winner of Blair versus Northwest, likely Blair.
Upper Montgomery will be looking to end a five game losing streak with each loss coming against a division one opponent or a higher caliber opponent in the case of the recent game against Washington County. All of the pressure is squarely on the Patriots who have never before played down in the division two playoff tournament. A loss to Upper Montgomery would render this season a total loss for the Patriots who are former three time state champions. The young Lightning should be able to play free and loose as all of the prognosticators are picking Wootton to easily win and advance to play Blair next week for a spot in the division two championship game. Wootton clearly boasts a more experienced lineup with 14 seniors, but something with the chemistry of the lineup has prevented the Patriots from excelling this season. The Patriots come into the game with a record of 4-8-2 after opening the season with three consecutive victories. Upper Montgomery enters the game with a record of 5-8-1.
The Lightning are expected to start Landon Bernard in net. Bernard is fresh off of leading the Upper Montgomery junior varsity to the Montgomery Hockey Conference championship. He has one career varsity win but has been playing the best hockey of his high school career. Wootton will start senior AA level travel netminder Julien Piche. Piche has a 4-3-1 record on the season and a 3.88 gaa. His play in net is much better than his individual statistics represent, and Upper Montgomery will need to work extremely hard create enough high quality scoring chances to beat Piche. Routine shots on goal will not be good enough.
On defense Upper Montgomery will need to be careful of Wootton’s speedy forwards. The Lightning defense can’t get caught flat footed or pinching in at the blue line. Wootton’s forwards are too fast and will skate around the defense into odd numbered rushes up ice. The defense will have to quickly pass the puck up to the forwards for quick zone exits with little individual stick handling or skating with the puck. The forwards will have to work hard and play complementary defense coming back into the defensive zone to help negate the Patriots’ scoring chances. If Upper Montgomery can muck up the game and smother the Patriots, it will even the age gap and talent difference. The Patriots have three main scoring threats; Nathan Barrow, a student athlete who plays AAA level travel hockey, (10 GP, 10 goals and 6 assists), Conor Harris, a student athlete who plays AA level travel hockey (13 GP, 10 goals, 6 assists), and IIhom Abdulaev, a student athlete who plays AA level travel hockey, (9 GP, 2 goals, 6 assists). Senior James Botti will be looking to extend his career with the Lightning and experienced defenders George Benedick and Ethan Hockey and 9th grade defender Andrew Botti will all see a lot of ice time. In a precursor of what might be next season, Stephen Shkeda will also play back on defense against Wootton.
In four of the last five games the Lightning’s offense has been non-existent, scoring a total of ten total goals in those five games. Breaking the scoring drought will be an even bigger task on Friday night as Upper Montgomery will be playing without high scoring forward Ryan Jacobson who will miss the game. The hope is that the Lightning are able to get a few more past Piche by pressuring the Patriots into turnovers or beating the back checking forwards up ice creating odd numbered rush situations. The top line will be Chris Hassett (14 GP, 15 goals, 16 assists), Nathan Cassel (11 GP, 11 goals, 6 assists), with maybe James Botti (12 GP, 4 goals, 10 assists) skating some shifts at forward…. The second line will feature Bradley Cupples (14 GP, 1 goal, 11 assists), centering Hunter Cameron (14 GP, 5 goals, 7 assists), and Olivia Robbins (10 GP, 1 goal, 3 assists). On the third line, expect Brandon Bernard to center Josh Nadler and a rotation of depth forwards. Depending upon the flow of the game, it is likely that the first and second lines may get double shifted with a few shifts picked up by other forwards.
An Upper Montgomery win versus Wootton would be a signature victory for the Lightning program. It would be a major upset and a breakthrough statement to all programs in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Good things are on the horizon for the program. The Lightning hope to continue to play smothering defense on Friday night in an effort that would move the team into the semi-finals of the division two championship tournament and another game next Friday night at Cabin John Ice Rink.