On Friday the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity plays their final Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season game of the season against the Whitman Vikings. The two teams are separated by one point in the conference standings. The winner of the contest will finish in fourth place in the conference standings and the loser will finish in sixth place in the standings. Finishing in fourth place guarantees a home playoff game against Churchill, while the sixth place finisher will host an opening round game against the non-competitive last place team in the league, almost certainly Richard Montgomery. Then, the sixth place team would advance and play the third seeded team which will be the loser of Friday’s game between Walter Johnson and BCC. Upper Montgomery lost to Churchill in overtime playing with a depleted roster. The Lightning also lost to BCC by a score of 4-3 as the Barons came back in the third period to win in a very evenly played contest.
In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U Lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a 3-2-2 record, a very low 1.98 goals against average, and an eye popping .928 save percentage. Stursrim-Lyons has allowed more than two goals in a game during regulation only two times this season. He also has two shutouts to his credit. The Vikings are expected to play sophomore Alex Minkoff in goal. Minkoff has been outstanding this season posting a 3-1 record, a miniscule 1.00 goals against average, and a .935 save percentage. To be fair, Whitman has played a very, very weak junior varsity schedule with all four of its wins coming against Blair, Northwest / Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery, and Rockville / Magruder. These are the bottom four teams in the county standings.
Because of the varsity game later in the evening, Upper Montgomery will play the junior varsity game against Whitman with a roster management rotation in place. Some of the more experienced students will be held out of the junior varsity contest or have their minutes severely restricted to rest them for the varsity game which begins just after the conclusion of the junior varsity game. In addition, the coaching staff will need to play certain students in order to have them meet the minimum game requirement to be junior varsity playoff eligible.
On defense the Lightning will play with four defenders. Cole Howerton, Miles, Wendland, and Lillian Robbins will likely sit out against the Vikings. Ninth grade 14U Lower A Matt Rivera (7GP, 5A) and sophomore Max Curtusan, who is fresh off his debut performance for the Lightning against Annapolis / Arundel, will play together. Senior Patrick Sell will play with 16U AA Avery Evans (4GP, 1G, 4A). Always a stout defensive squad, the Vikings are led by senior Mark Buckley. He is a hulking defender known for playing excellent defense. Sophomore Aaron Zhang is his likely defensive partner. Several ninth grade 14U Lower A defenders will also see action for Whitman; Jackson Klessman, Nicholas Naum, and William Betancourt. Bentancourt has lit it up offensively for the Vikings from the back line with (5GP, 3G, 5A). Anticipate a very low scoring game on Friday as Upper Montgomery will be looking to hang back and protect Stutsrim-Lyons and Whitman will play its usual tough defensive style of hockey. Overall, Whitman has given up only ten goals in their six games. Some of the lack of opposition scoring is due to the competition they have faced. Meanwhile, Upper Montgomery has given up only fourteen goals in its seven games for an average of two goals against each game.
On offense, the Lightning will be looking to see some depth scoring emerge on Friday. Several of the Lightning’s top scorers will be held out of action against Whitman; sophomore Jake Hudson (6GP, 5G, 3A), sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng (5GP, 5G, 1A), and ninth grade 14U Lower A Siddy Bhasin (5GP, 4G, 4A). Senior center AJ Marks who leads the team in scoring with (7GP, 4G, 6A) will center the top line playing along side Max Israfilbek, who scored his first career high school goal against Annapolis / Arundel, and Jason Woodman, who returns from a lengthy suspension to get back into game action prior to the start of the playoffs. The second line is likely to feature ninth grade forward Decklin Hughes centering sophomore Mason Jagoz and sophomore Jackson Schickler, who will be making his 2024 – 2025 season debut after returning from a long injury absence to rejoin the Lightning.
Sophomore forward Mason Brundige leads the Vikings in scoring with ten goals in six games. He scored five goals against Northwest / Quince Orchard. Ninth grade 14U AAA Grace Luo has faired well offensively this season having scored (4GP, 3G, 3A). Ninth grade 14U Upper A Dashiel Caruso has (3GP, 3G, 2A). Sophomore Henry Schadler has (4GP, 3G, 1A). Whitman’s other primary scorer is ninth grade 14U Lower A Atticus Davis who has scored four goals in five games played.
Friday’s game will be a good test for the depth of the Lightning junior varsity and an opportunity for several students to see extended game action. As the junior varsity regular season winds down, preparations for the playoffs are ramping up. A victory over the Vikings would guarantee the Lightning finish the 2024 – 2025 season with a winning record. It would be the second consecutive season the junior varsity would post a winning record after last year’s record breaking undefeated regular season. It is also a step up in competition for Upper Montgomery which always helps leading into the junior varsity playoffs which are expected to begin just after the turn of the new year.
#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!