The Upper Montgomery Lightning are gearing up to host the Northwest / Quince Orchard Jaguars for the third time this season on Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference season ending Varsity Tournament. Upper Montgomery will be looking to repeat as champions after blowing though the field last year to earn the most coveted championship that the program has ever accomplished. Coincidentally, last year’s varsity tournament began with the same matchup in the quarterfinal round. A game easily won by Upper Montgomery 14-1.
This season, Upper Montgomery should once again easily advance to the tournament semifinals. The Lightning 6-8-1 seem to have lots of wiggle room to work past last place Northwest / Quince Orchard which enters the game with a 1-12 record having scored only 31 goals while giving up 114. The Lightning were victorious in both of the earlier meetings by scores of 7-3 and 7-4. Both games were not stupendous performances from the Lightning which kept the games tighter than they should have been.
In net for the Lightning will be sophomore 16U AA goalie Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg has handled the majority of the goaltending duties this season for Upper Montgomery. He has shined in some games such as making 49 saves in the Lightning’s 3-1 loss to Wootton early in the season and making 44 saves in the overtime victory over the DC Stars. He has been left out to dry far too many times by the skaters in front of him as costly defensive zone turnovers have negatively impacted his personal statistics. His play has been typical for an underclass student athlete moving up from his staring role on the junior varsity last season. Some games have been very good. Other games there are goals that he wishes he had another chance at.
At the end of the regular season, Shterenberg had a solid save percentage of .874. His goals against average was 5.04, having risen by nearly a goal over the last month due to the Lightning’s poor play. Shterenberg missed last week’s varsity playoff game against BCC due to illness. His replacement ninth grade 14U Lower A goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons was excellent in the game against the Barons, and again later that evening playing back to back in the junior varsity’s semifinal playoff game. Although both games resulted in losses, it was not the play of Stutsrim-Lyons that was at fault. If the game on Friday against the Jaguars is out of hand in the third period, the Upper Montgomery coaching staff may play Stutsrim-Lyons in the third period as a reward for his recent great play.
In goal for the Jaguars is expected to be senior Joseph Dean who is likely playing in his final game in silver and black. Dean was exceptional in goal during the team’s last meeting in early January on Upper Montgomery’s senior night. His personal statistics are poor simply because Northwest / Quince Orchard is such a prohibitive underdog in each game. While help is likely on the horizon for the Jaguars next season, they will simply be outclassed once again on Friday by Upper Montgomery.
Defensively, junior 16U AA defender Brady Berkhammer will not be available for the rest of the season. It is a big loss for the Lightning, not so much for this game but for moving forward in the tournament. Berkhammer finished his junior season with (15GP, 4G, 15A), all personal career highs in each offensive category. Berkhammer leads the team with his fifteen assists. Sophomore defender Miles Wendland has played important minutes against the opposition’s top forward lines. Expect that Wendland will see additional time on ice due to Berkhammer’s absence. 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. Ninth grade 14U AA defender Lillian Robbins has seen regular action this season and has contributed five assists. Senior defender Patrick Sell scored his first career high school varsity goal early in the season against this same Northwest / Quince Orchard squad. His size and presence on the blue line has caused problems for the opposition especially on the penalty kill. Ninth grade defender Matt Rivera will see regular shifts on defense in the game.
Northwest / Quince Orchard has two reasonably competent defenders in senior 18U Upper A Drew Blurton (13GP, 2G, 2A) and senior 18U AA Roman Martin (11GP, 4G, 5A). After those two skaters, there is a massive drop off in talent to the rest of the Northwest / Quince Orchard defenders. Anticipate that the Jaguar’s two better defenders will play with each other on the powerplay and at any crucial moments in the game. But, they will likely be split up and play with other defenders for most of the game in an attempt to keep at least one of them on the ice at all times. Junior Andrew Isaacson will also be heavily featured on the Jaguars back line. Look for Upper Montgomery to take advantage of the Jaguars inexperienced defenders and overload to that side of the ice on offensive zone entries.
Last season’s leading returning scorer Nathan Cassel (8GP, 7G, 5A). He is nearing the individual statistics necessary for inclusion in the Maryland Student Hockey Hall of Fame. For his career, Cassel has produced the following 83 points on (47 GP, 40G, 43A). The Upper Montgomery coaching staff moved 16U AAA junior defender Owen Robbins to center as a means of generating additional offense. The move paid off early in the season as Robbins authored a hat-trick in the Lightning’s season opening win over BCC and he also scored four times against Richard Montgomery. Robbins has been near the top of the Lightning’s leading scorers the entire season with (10GP, 7G, 4A). He is second on the team in goals behind Upper Montgomery’s leading offensive threat, senior center Henry Honacki.
Honacki has had an offensive explosion in his final high school season. He currently leads the team in goals and points with (15GP, 12G, 7A). H onacki was on a tear recently having scored in five consecutive games before the loss to Churchill. Honacki scored the game winning goal in two important Lightning victories, beating the overtime buzzer by scoring with eleven seconds remaining in the extra period to defeat the DC Stars. It was Honacki who scored on the powerplay late in the third period against BCC in the team’s prior meeting. He leads the team in powerplay goals with four. His production on the powerplay has helped the Lightning immensely. The team has more powerplay goals already this season (10 for 33, 30.3%) than all of last year’s dismal performance with the extra attacker. So, his absence on Friday would be felt against any other opponent. Honacki will miss the game serving his one game supplemental disciplinary suspension for a major boarding penalty and game misconduct late in the BCC playoff game last week.
Junior forward Philip Shkeda has been an offensive threat as well this year with (13GP, 5G, 12A) playing alongside Honacki and Cassel. Shkeda is second on the team to Berkhammer with his twelve assists. A couple of sophomores have stepped in and filled important roles on the team this season. Returning forward Aiden Zheng has (15GP, 3G, 6A) continuing his assent from last season’s breakout during the Montgomery Hockey Conference varsity playoff tournament. Newcomer Jake Hudson has used his size well to get the puck out of the defensive zone along the boards leading to numerous scoring rushes up ice. He has (12GP, 2G, 6A). 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 at the varsity level; seniors TJ Gottesman, AJ Marks, and ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin. Bhasin’s ice time has steadily increased throughout the season and his play is starting to ramp up (11GP, 1G, 4A). Senior Josh Nadler missed the beginning of the season while he was out-of-the country and had been looking to find his groove all season long. In scoring last week against BCC, Nadler seems to have finally found his game
Northwest / Quince Orchard has only one offensive scorer of note, and he is an excellent student athlete, junior 16U AA center Ethan Custudio (12GP, 19G, 9A). He has potted three points in each of the two prior meetings with the Lightning. His individual production is simply not enough to change the Jaguars’ trajectory in any game. The key to limiting Northwest / Quince Orchard is to stop or contain Custudio. If Upper Montgomery handles Custudio, it will be a long, long night for the Jaguars. The Upper Montgomery rout will be on. Northwest / Quince Orchard’s only other forward with more than one goal is ninth grader Gabriel Carlos (13GP, 3G, 1A). Carlos had his breakout game of the season scoring twice in the January meeting with the Lightning.
The 2024 – 2025 season will conclude with the Lightning once again playing in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament. The team is left looking to repeat as varsity tournament champions with qualifying for the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs now no longer a possibility. The Lightning need to play well against Northwest / Quince Orchard to get rid of the taste of the current five game losing streak. The hope is that a win on Friday night will extend the season and provide more hockey for the Lightning student athletes.
#More Hockey, #Advance, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!