The Upper Montgomery Lightning and their families are enjoying the winter holiday break. It is a well deserved rest for the team. The 2024 – 2025 high school ice hockey season has zoomed past with the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity and varsity squads right in the thick of the conference standings. Once the teams return from winter break, there will be four varsity regular season conference games remaining and the junior varsity will be looking for a long run in the junior varsity playoffs.
The Lightning junior varsity has received outstanding goaltending from ninth grade goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons coupled with some timely goal scoring to finish the regular season with a 4-2-2 record, 4-1-2 in conference play. A big win in the regular season finale over Whitman secured the number four seed in the conference playoffs and a home game against fifth seeded Churchill. The win advanced the Lightning directly into the quarterfinals and out of having to play an opening round game (Richard Montgomery at Whitman, Blair at the DC Stars, and Rockville / Magruder at Northwest / Quince Orchard).
Stutsrim-Lyons has posted two shutouts to go along with a 1.98 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. He has a chance over the remainder of the season to set junior varsity program records for goals against average and save percentage. He will need to play strong in net to help the Lightning advance deep in the playoff tournament.
The junior varsity’s leading scorer is senior forward AJ Marks (8GP, 5G, 7A). He is followed in scoring by two newcomers to the Lightning program ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin (6GP, 5G, 4A) and sophomore Jake Hudson (6GP, 5G, 3A). Sophomore Aiden Zheng has stood out offensively and with his hustle and effort. He scored a hat-trick versus Blair and has produced (6GP, 6G, 1A) leading the team in goals.
Defensively, the junior varsity has been led by senior defender and team captain Cole Howerton (6GP, 4G, 3A). Senior Patrick Sell is playing the best hockey of his high school career. Sophomore Miles Wendland (5GP, 3A) has provided a steadying influence for the younger junior varsity defenders, Avery Evans (5GP, 2G, 4A), Lillian Robbins (3GP, 1G, 4A), and Matt Rivera (8GP, 5A) all of whom have contributed while gaining valuable experience. The Lightning head into the playoffs with its entire roster healthy and ready to make a deep run similar to the 2021 – 2022 squad that won the junior varsity county championship.
The Upper Montgomery varsity is off to its best start in the last four seasons playing to a 5-3-1 record and 5-2-1 in conference play. The team’s only losses are against opponents ranked in the top fifteen in the state, Wootton twice and against Urbana. With a reasonable second half schedule, the Lightning have a chance to finish the 2024 – 2025 regular season with a winning record. It would be the first time since the 2018 – 2019 season that the Lightning could finish the season above .500.
In net sophomore Ilan Shterenberg has handled the majority of the goaltending duties. He has shined in some games making 49 saves in the Lightning’s 3-1 loss to Wootton early in the season and 44 saves in the recent overtime victory over the DC Stars. His play is typical for an underclass student athlete moving up from his staring role on the junior varsity where he set or tied numerous program records last season; tying for most wins in a season, and setting the lowest goals against average and highest save percentage in junior varsity program history. Shterenberg has a solid save percentage of .892. His goals against average is a strong 3.82 having been negatively impacted by the Lightning’s poor defensive performances against both Urbana and in the second Wootton game.
Defensively, junior 16U AA defender Brady Berkhammer has upped his game this season. He is providing much more offense (9GP, 2G, 8A) than in his first two seasons of varsity play. He had a four point game earlier in the season against Northwest / Quince Orchard with two goals and two assists. Sophomore defender Miles Wendland has played important minutes against the opposition’s top forward lines. He has accelerated his game from his ninth grade season. Senior Cole Howerton has stepped into a regular role on the varsity playing mostly with Wendland. Howerton has played some of his best hockey in his final high school season. His play stood out in the Lightning’s win over Richard Montgomery. Ninth grade AA defender Lillian Robbins has seen regular action this season and contributed three assists in the game against Richard Montgomery. She has played in five games and has dished out four assists. Senior Patrick Sell scored his first career high school varsity goal in the Northwest / Quince Orchard game. His size and presence on the blue line has caused problems for the opposition. Ninth grade Matt Rivera and sophomore Avery Evans have each gained valuable experience at the varsity level in their limited play. Getting time in varsity games now will help them in future seasons as they take on larger roles with the team.
Offensively, the Lightning knew they would have to replace Maryland Student Hockey League Hall of Fame standout Chris Hassett who graduated after last season. Unexpectedly, junior Ryan Jacobson left to play junior hockey in Michigan. Then, last season’s leading returning scorer Nathan Cassel (2GP, 3G, 1A) has missed most of the early portion of the season with an upper body injury. His hat-trick against Rockville / Magruder helped the Lightning to a 5-5 tie against the Rams. Cassel is expected back for the senior night game on Friday, January 3rd against Northwest / Quince Orchard.
The Upper Montgomery coaching staff moved AAA junior defender Owen Robbins to center as a means of generating additional offense. The move has paid off as Robbins authored a hat-trick in the Lightning’s season opening win over BCC and scored four times against Richard Montgomery. The Lightning’s season opening victory over BCC was the program’s first ever win against the Barons. The team followed that win up with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over BCC last week to complete the season sweep. Robbins has been near the top of the Lightning’s leading scorers the entire season with (7GP, 7G, 4A). He is just behind Upper Montgomery’s leading offensive threat senior center Henry Honacki who now leads the team in goals with (9GP, 9G, 2A). Honacki scored the game winning goal in the last two Lightning victories, beating the overtime buzzer by scoring with eleven seconds remaining in the extra period to defeat the DC Stars and scoring on the powerplay late in the third period against BCC. Honacki also leads the team in powerplay goals with four. His production on the powerplay is more than half of the teams powerplay goals (7 for 18, 38.9%). Junior forward Philip Shkeda has also been an offensive threat with (7GP, 4G, 6A).
A couple of sophomores have stepped in and filled important roles on the team. Returning forward Aiden Zheng has (9GP, 2G, 5A) continuing his assent from last season’s breakout during the Montgomery Hockey Conference varsity playoff tournament. Newcomer Jake Hudson has used his size well getting the puck out of the defensive zone along the boards leading to numerous rushes up ice. Several of the odd skater rushes have led to goals. He has (7GP, 6A) including dishing out three assists against Richard Montgomery. With depth an issue, several student athletes who have played the majority of their high school careers with the junior varsity team are receiving playing time this season with the varsity. Senior forward TJ Gottesman scored his first career varsity goal in the Northwest / Quince Orchard game and senior forward AJ Marks contributed an assist in that same game. Ninth grader Siddy Bhasin has dressed and played in several varsity games. His play is starting to ramp up and he has (6GP, 1G, 3A). Senior Josh Nadler missed the beginning of the season while he was out-of-the country. He is looking to elevate his game heading into the new year.
It’s time for the Lightning squads to go on runs in early 2025. The junior varsity will be looking to claim a spot in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game for the second time ever. While the varsity will be looking to finish the regular season strong to earn a preferred seeding in the Montgomery Hockey Conference varsity playoffs and once again advance to play for an opportunity to qualify for the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs for the first time ever.
#Make Some Noise, #Second Half Fury, #A Green and Gold 2025, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!