As the month of September comes to a close, the Upper Montgomery Lightning are itching to begin regular season action. The schedule makers gave the Lightning a bye in week one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity schedule, thus the team did not participate in last week’s traditional opening weekend.
To gear up for the competition this season, Upper Montgomery had two scrimmages during the middle of September. The scrimmages were decidedly different. In the first scrimmage against BCC, Upper Montgomery’s student athletes did very little according to the game plan and the new defensive systems being installed during this pre-season’s training camp. The result was BCC’s student athletes skating around at will peppering the Lightning’s younger goalies with way, way too many high quality scoring chances. From the end of that initial scrimmage moving forward, the team’s practices have been more up tempo and physical. The result was a much, much better performance in a 7-3 victory over Richard Montgomery. Two of the Rockets three goals were the direct result of Upper Montgomery’s top experienced defender falling down on the ice allowing breakaway chances.
Upper Montgomery is transitioning from a high scoring offensive team to a smothering defensive structure. This defensive structure has been regularly used by the junior varsity over the past few seasons with significant success; winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship four seasons ago, going undefeated through the regular season two years ago, and returning to the junior varsity semifinals last year holding a lead with ten minutes left in the game.
While the 2025 – 2026 season is anticipated to be one of development for the green and gold’s many first year high school students, the team does have some very high end and experienced student athletes. Time will tell if these older students are able to take over and control games by themselves. Some of the younger students are showing that they deserve playing time in varsity games this season. The team has only four seniors after graduating sixteen members of the program over the past two seasons. If the Lightning can come together as a true team, playing with grit and tenacity, the coaching staff expects that Upper Montgomery will be more competitive than the rest of the league believes. It should be an exciting and rewarding season for the program as the younger students grow and develop. The goals for the program remain the same, to qualify for the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs for the first time in program history. For the junior varsity, to compete for and win the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship.
#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!