The Upper Montgomery Lightning begins the second half of the Montgomery Hockey Conference schedule this Friday evening when the team clashes with the DC Stars. Game time is 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Last season the Lightning dominated both games against the DC Stars only to be foiled by Stars goaltender Anton Tracy. Tracy outright stole game one and made countless saves in game two to snag important standings points for the Stars in a three all tie. Upper Montgomery has started the 2024 – 2025 high school hockey season in fine fashion with a 3-2-1 conference record (3-3-1 overall). All three losses have come against teams ranked in the top fifteen in the state; Wootton twice and Urbana. It will be the Lightning’s first game in three weeks since a very poor performance against Wootton. Meanwhile, the DC Stars have lost six games in a row since their program defining first ever victory against Churchill, a 1-0 overtime win back in October.
Once again Upper Montgomery will not be at full strength as last season’s leading returning scorer Nathan Cassel continues to recover from an upper body injury. His likely return of after the Thanksgiving holiday has been pushed back until the start of the new year. With this season’s leading scorer Owen Robbins (6GP, 7G, 3A) also missing the DC Stars contest as he is out-of-town with his external travel team, the young Lightning will need to step it up to be competitive against the Stars. The game is anticipated to be a very low scoring affair as Upper Montgomery will be missing its top two offensive threats and the DC Stars have managed to score only twelve goals over their first seven games of the season. Expect a lot of play in the neutral zone and along the boards with each team trying to threaten the high danger scoring areas.
Upper Montgomery’s goaltender, 16U AA sophomore Ilan Shterenberg has been sound this season with a 3-3-1 record, a 4.75 goals against average, and an .876 save percentage. Shterenberg will need to be exceptionally sharp to match Tracy in net at the other end of the ice. This is one of the few games where Upper Montgomery does not have a very distinctive advantage in goaltending. Shterenberg will again be backed up by 14U Lower A ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons is 3-1-2 on the season (two shutouts), with a 1.64 goals against average, and a .939 save percentage playing for the Lightning junior varsity.
In net for the DC Stars will be junior goalie Anton Tracy. The Lightning struggled last season to get the puck past Tracy who stopped 78 of 82 shots, .951 save percentage, and who was the first star of the game in both meetings against Upper Montgomery. Tracy is massive and covers much of the net. With his sound positioning, there is very little open net to shoot at when coming in on Tracy. This season he has not faired as well going 1-4, with a 4.80 goals against average, and an .868 save percentage. Let’s hope it takes him one more week to find his groove and that the Lightning fair far better than they did in both games last season.
On defense, the Lightning will be tested. The Lightning’s most experienced defender 16U AA junior Brady Berkhammer (7GP, 2G, 5A) will pair with ninth grade defender Matt Rivera and senior Patrick Sell. Anticipate that 16U Lower A sophomore defender Miles Wendland will skate with senior Cole Howerton. Howerton played the best game of his high school career recently against Richard Montgomery.
DC Stars most explosive skater is 18U AA senior defender Leo Nyberg. Nyberg leads the Stars in scoring (7GP, 4G, 1A). The rest of the Stars defenders are more defensively minded; 18U Upper A senior Benjamin Lust, his younger brother 16U Upper A sophomore Jonathan Lust, 18U AA senior Fletcher Lyttleton, 18U AA senior Anna Mayer, and junior Samuel Bensky. The Stars defense will be packed in very tight against their goalie making it difficult for the Lightning to generate good quality scoring chances. The Stars are a very well coached team. The Lightning will need to play a clean game and avoid giving the Stars odd skater rushes which could assist them in creating easy offensive chances.
Offensively, Upper Montgomery will be challenged to score with Cassel and Robbins both out of the lineup. Junior forward Philip Shkeda (6GP, 4G, 5A) and 18U Upper A senior center Henry Honacki (7GP, 5G, 2A) will each need to find the back of the net for Upper Montgomery to have a chance at victory. Honacki scored Upper Montgomery’s only goal in the blowout loss against the Patriots.
Sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng is averaging almost point a game (7GP, 2G, 4A) and seems more comfortable at the varsity level this season. Sophomore newcomer Jake Hudson has five assists in five games but is still looking for his first career varsity goal. Ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin is also looking for his first career varsity goal. Hudson and Bhasin are two of the top three scorers for the Lightning junior varsity with seven points each. After these five forwards, it is going to be important for any of the younger Upper Montgomery forwards to step up and provide some production. Getting some offense from the defense would be a bonus and could alter the game in the Lightning’s favor.
The Lightning have managed only thirteen powerplays in their first seven games of the season, less than two extra skater advantages per game. The Upper Montgomery powerplay has clicked at 30.8% in its limited opportunities. Potting a powerplay goal or two would also be a key to victory.
The Stars’ most accomplished forward is 16U Upper A junior Walter Bernstein. Bernstein is a quick shifty jitterbug who will push the pace of play up the ice. He has scored twice this season as has 16U AA ninth grade forward Gabriel Schon. The other fifteen forwards that have suited up for the Stars have scored a combined four total goals. Is it a lack of offense that is dooming the Stars? Or, is it simply playing a front loaded schedule that saw the Stars play Walter Johnson twice, Whitman, Churchill, and Sherwood before their squad had time to jell?
Coming out of the Thanksgiving break, the Lightning need to ramp up their game. As teams gear up for the end of season and playoffs the games have more meaning and the competition intensifies. Headed into Friday’s tilt with the Stars, the Lightning are hoping to jump a game over .500 and continue their best start to a season in several years. Let’s hope the outcome of Friday’s game is a springboard for the second half of the season and that good things are in store for the program as we move closer to winter break.
#Second Half Strong, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!