chucklevine – Page 11 – UPPER MONTGOMERY LIGHTNING

Junior Varsity Oakdale Game Preview

December 28, 2023December 28, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Tuesday, January 2nd against the Oakdale Bears. Game time is 8:35 pm. The program historically schedules a non-conference game against a challenging opponent just prior to the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament. Scheduling a high quality opponent late in the season helps prepare the junior varsity squad for the rigors of the county playoff tournament, and Oakdale is a very accomplished team. After the Oakdale game, the Lightning finish off the conference portion of the regular season against the Blair Blazers on Thursday evening with plenty on the line.

Over the next two games, the team (7-0-1 record) will be looking to tie the junior varsity program record for wins in a season (eight set during the 2021 – 2022 season). The path to success for Upper Montgomery every game is to rely on the team’s strengths, its trademark team defense, full out hustle, and playing ugly hockey. The Lightning will have to bring their compete level up a notch against the Bears. The Frederick County teams are permitted to play student athletes that play at a higher level than what is allowed in Montgomery County junior varsity games. Thus, the Bears will be permitted to play students that would not be eligible for the contest if the game was a Montgomery Hockey Conference sanctioned game.

Making the game even more challenging is that super talented 9th grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg will miss the game with pre-scheduled family travel plans. In addition, junior defender Cole Howerton, third on the team with four goals, will miss the game dealing with a short-term medical issue. Upper Montgomery is led offensively by junior T.J. Gottesman (7GP, 6G, 3A), senior co-captain Adam Levine (8GP, 2G, 7A), and junior co-captain Josh Nadler (7GP, 7G). Junior AJ Marks (6GP, 2G, 3A) had his best game of the season last time out against the Churchill Bulldogs with a goal and two assists. He will be looking to show consistency and that level of production once again. Sean Levine has played against this higher level of competition before. He is coming off a pretty backhanded goal to finish off a breakaway in the team’s recent victory over the DC Stars. Ninth grade forward Aiden Zheng is coming on strong and now has (8GP, 3G, 1A). Avery Evans is the team’s top defender in points with (6GP, 4A).

Filling in for ninth grade netminder will be Chris Hassett, dropping down from the varsity. Not a goalie, Hassett filled in last season to help manage Landon Bernard’s games played restriction and won two junior varsity games posting a 3.89 goals against average and an .800 save percentage. If Hassett can limit the Bears to just four goals, the team will be ecstatic and will have a chance for an uplifting victory. There is no doubt that the team will miss Shterenberg and his 1.50 goals against average, .937 save percentage, and three shutouts.

In net for the Bears will be Zachary Sanford. Sanford has been solid in net authoring a 4-2 record, a 4.83 goals against average, and a .805 save percentage. He has had some very good games, and in other games the Bears defense has let the team down. Depending upon which skaters the Bears dress for the non-conference game, Oakdale may rely on some forwards dropping back to play on defense.

Offensively, the Bears have a host of Upper A and AA level travel skaters in their lineup. These skaters will pose problems for the Lightning with their speed and skill level. Oakdale’s top scorer is Micah Venezie (5GP, 10G, 2A). His brother Morgan leads the Bears in assists (6GP, 5A). Daniel King has played in four games and has scored almost two points per game (4GP, 5G, 2A). Tyler Yuhas has six points in two games (2GP, 3G, 3A). Gavin Timberlake has five goals in three games. It will be quite a challenge for the Lightning on the defensive side of the ice. With Hassett in net, a position skater filling in as goalie, the Bears high powered offense may have a field day.

On defense the Lightning will likely have a rotation of Avery Evans paired with Jake Roth and Patrick Sell paired with Miles Wendland. Anticipate that Behr Schickler will see time in the rotation as the fifth defender. Upper Montgomery will need to maintain its defensive focus throughout the entire game. The Lightning defense can’t get caught pinching at the offensive blue line or the Bears will constantly skate right past them into breakaways and two on one rushes. The Lightning have been perfect on the penalty kill this season and currently sit at 21 for 21 while playing a skater short. This unprecedented success has definitely helped in all of the close games Upper Montgomery has been a part of. Absent a penalty free game, it will be challenging for the penalty kill to remain perfect again on Tuesday evening.

The Upper Montgomery junior varsity will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to a program record nine straight games to open the season with a victory over the Bears. It will be very tough to achieve another win or a tie against Oakdale. Upper Montgomery has grown accustomed to playing in tight games, something that should be of benefit as the season winds down towards the playoffs. The stretch run continues for the junior varsity on Tuesday evening with only two more regular season games before the start of the playoffs.

#Extend the Streak, #Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Lightning Junior Varsity Bemoans Missed Chances in Tie with Bulldogs

December 25, 2023December 25, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faced off on Thursday afternoon against the Churchill Bulldogs. Instead of facing the Bulldogs regular junior varsity squad, the Lightning played against three quarters of the Bulldogs varsity two team. All of the Churchill student athletes were eligible to compete at the junior varsity level, and many would say that the Churchill two varsity team is really a junior varsity team competing against varsity competition. Maybe it was the fear of facing off against one of the best junior varsity teams in the county in the Lightning. Maybe it was respect for Upper Montgomery and wanting to put forth a more challenging game, but the Lightning played a vastly different Churchill junior varsity team than the rest of the teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference had faced. AND, Upper Montgomery should have easily won the game. The Lightning played one of their most frustrating games of the season before settling for a 4-4 tie.

If nothing else, the game was entertaining with rushes up and down the ice. Unfortunately for the Lightning, that is not a style of play that is most effective for the team. Upper Montgomery needs to defend well, clog up the neutral zone and the defensive side of the ice, and make it hard for the opposition to score goals. The game against Churchill turned out to be just the opposite with free flow skating up and down the ice and too many offensive chances.

The first period was up and down the ice. Both teams had chances. Most of Upper Montgomery’s shots were directed right into the pads of Bulldog netminder Lucas Petrosyan who played a stand up style of goaltending. He was credited with twelve saves in the first period, with many of the Lightning shots simply hitting off of him rather than Petrosyan making good saves. At the other end of the ice, Lightning netminder Ilan Shterenberg made eight saves of his own. Each team had a powerplay opportunity in the scoreless period with Upper Montgomery failing to score when Ahmed Elkousy was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the 9:30 mark of the period. Churchill failed to score when Upper Montgomery forward AJ Marks was called for slashing with 2:30 remaining in the period. For the Lightning it was the team’s 21 straight successful penalty kill to begin the season.

It was during the second period when the fireworks began. Just one minute and eight seconds into the middle period the Bulldogs would jump in front. Churchill defender Samuel Lifsey cleared the puck in his defensive zone up the right wing boards. A missed pinch by the Lightning defense at the offensive blue line allowed Churchill center Joseph Ahn to head up ice unimpeded along the right wing boards. Elkousy joined the rush and made it a two on one chance with Lightning defender Jake Roth the only defender back. When Ahn reached the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone, Roth pressured and closed on him. Ahn was able to slide the puck past Roth to Elkousy charging down the slot with no other Lightning defender able to get back into the play. Elkousy deked and went to his forehand to tuck the puck around the right leg pad of Shterenberg for the breakaway goal.

On the next shift the Lightning would answer right back. Off of a faceoff to the left of Petrosyan, Adam Levine pushed the puck forward attempting a step through play. The Bulldog defense got to the puck first but under pressure from Levine, did not get enough on the clearing attempt to clear the zone. Lightning defender Patrick Sell kept the puck in at the right point. His long range shot was blocked with the puck deflecting down into the right corner right onto the stick of Lightning forward TJ Gottesman. Gottesman’s pass to the slot was behind Levine, with Levine able to touch drag the puck further into the low slot to Marks. Marks’ shot was low along the ice and Petrosyan made a stick save. The puck bounded up in the air behind the net where Gottesman captured the puck exiting the corner. Gottesman continued around the net from right to left and sent a pass into the slot that was collected by Marks. Marks’ second shot of the sequence was a backhand shot that was also stopped by Petrosyan’s stick, but not covered. Gottesman continuing around the net was right there at the left post to shovel the puck over Petrosyan’s right leg pad and into the net to even the score. For Gottesman it was his career high fifth goal of the season. For Levine, it was his team leading seventh assist of the season.

Six minutes later, the Bulldogs would jump back in front. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the Lightning defensive zone, Upper Montgomery got the puck to center ice. Bulldog defender Michael Dong banked the puck off the right wing boards at his defensive zone blue line. The puck was collected by Ahn coming over the offensive blue line. Ahn fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. The harmless shot looked like it was going to be an easy save for Shterenberg, but the puck deflected off the stick of Lightning defender Avery Evans and quickly changed directions, fluttering higher and to the left of its original flight path. The puck settled over Sheterenberg’s blocker and into the top left corner of the net.

Three and a half minutes later, the score would be deadlocked at two. Churchill pressured in the Lightning defensive zone with Roth defending on the puck. The Bulldog forward attempted a pass toward the net from the left corner which clicked off Roth’s skate over to Marks deep along the red goal line extended. Marks flung a well timed clearing attempt / pass out of the defensive zone in the direction of Gottesman on the left wing. Gottesman raced after the puck crossing the offensive blue line just ahead of the Churchill defender trying to hustle back to slow him down. With no one between him and Petrosyan, from the mid-slot area, Gottesman fired low far side past Petroysan’s glove to again knot up the contest, this time at two. The pretty evenly played period ended with each team firing eight shots on goal and each team scoring twice.

The third period started exactly as the second period had, with an early Elkousy goal. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to the Bulldog defensive line. Churchill defender Adam Klewans banked the puck up the left wing boards to Elkousy in the neutral zone. Elkousy skated into the Lightning defensive zone and approached the top of the left faceoff circle. His snap shot ramped up off of Evans stick and launched higher than Shterenberg expected finding its way into the top corner of the net short side over Shterenberg’s catching glove. Upper Montgomery was now down one goal with 12:42 left to go in the game.

Two minutes later the score would be tied for the third time in the game. Levine won a neutral zone faceoff to the right wing boards for Gottesman. Gottesman lost control of the puck, but it was recovered by Roth and shot into the offensive zone. The Churchill defense arrived at the puck first and rimmed the puck around the boards to their right wing inside the defensive zone. The puck took a strange bounce off the boards and caromed into the area of the ice between the top of the left faceoff circle and the blue line. Levine was first to the puck, and he gathered possession of the puck. He stickhandled through and around three Bullddog defenders into the high slot where he fired a low wrist shot back across the direction he had just skated in from. His shot went along the ice past Petrosyan’s right skate and into the far side of the net.

With six and a half minutes left in the third period, the Lightning would take their only lead of the game. Churchill had possession of the puck in their defensive zone. The Bulldog defender shot the puck off the boards into the neutral zone where it was picked up by Marks. Marks skated down the right wing and from the lower portion of the right faceoff circle fired a wrist shot short side high past Petrosyan’s left shoulder for the unassisted goal.

All that remained was for the Lightning to play lock down defense over the remainder of the third period to walk away with their eighth straight victory to begin the season. It was not to be. On the very next shift Churchill would tie the score on a goal that Shterenberg felt he should have saved. Churchill defender Jacob Wiederhorn skated the puck out of his defensive zone into neutral ice. Along the right wing at the benches, Wiederhorn skated into Marks and the puck was left behind. Churchill forward Tye Glazer snagged the puck. Glazer continued the rush up ice and crossed over the offensive blue line before launching a long range slap shot on net. The puck hit a crouching Shterenberg low and continued over his stick and body into the air behind him before settling into the net to once again tie the game with just under six minutes remaining.

The action did not stop. Instead of each team playing solid defense to earn points for a tie, the game opened up with Upper Montgomery having half a dozen incredibly high quality chances to win the game. With just over four minutes left in regulation, Churchill forward Victor Levonenko was called for tripping. The Lightning had several grade A chances on the powerplay around the net with two Levine deflections hitting an unsuspecting Petrosyan and somehow staying out of the net. Just after Levonenko’s penalty expired and the Bulldogs returned to equal strength, Levine sprung Marks with a nifty pass. From the inside edge of the lower left faceoff circle, Marks’ hard wrist shot hit Petrosyan who did not move. The puck just rebounded off the netminder and into the slot.

Upper Montgomery caught another break when they ended regulation and began overtime on the powerplay after Ahn was called for interference with 22 seconds remaining in regulation time. Levine won the faceoff too strongly and the puck leaked out of the offensive zone concluding regulation play knotted at four apiece. Starting overtime with a four on three powerplay, there was lots of open ice. Upper Montgomery controlled play while on the powerplay with Levine having two more good looks at the doorstep. The first was a deflection in front that hit Petrosyan’s leg pads. The second was a shovel shot with Petrosyan trying to cover the puck that also would not go over the goal line. After the powerplay ended, each team had possessions with the puck to suddenly end the game. As time ticked out in overtime, the Lightning’s unbeaten streak remained intact, 7-0-1. The chance to win the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season junior varsity championship took a hit, but other more lofty goals remain.

Next up for the Lightning junior varsity is a game against the highly touted Oakdale Bears. The coaching staff intentionally scheduled this game to allow the junior varsity students to get a sense of what the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament will be like. The Lightning will be an underdog in the Oakdale game and will likely play without two key components, Shterenberg and junior defender Cole Howerton. With a first round bye secured for the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs, Upper Montgomery awaits the results of the opening round of action before their quarterfinal opponent will be determined. Expect that most teams who have varsity student athletes eligible for junior varsity action to drop those student down to participate in the junior varsity playoffs. This tactic is allowed if a student athlete has played in four of the seven junior varsity league games. To prepare for the more talented skaters that the team will face in the playoffs, Upper Montgomery intentionally scheduled the Bears as a means of preparation. The Frederick County junior varsity teams have different rules regarding who may play in junior varsity games. The Lightning expect the non-league contest will feature some very talented Bears upper level skaters.

Game Notes:

Adam Levine scored a goal and added an assist for the second straight game. He now has points in five straight games.
Adam Levine leads the team in assists with seven.
AJ Marks set a career high in points in one game with three against the Bulldogs.
TJ Gottesman took over the team lead in points with nine on six goals and three assists. His six goals are a career high.
The four goals given up by the Lightning were the most allowed in a game this season. Prior to the Churchill game, the Lightning had given up only eight goals on the season in seven games, with only two of those goals allowed during the third period of games.
Shots on goal for the game were basically even, Upper Montgomery with 34 and Churchill with 29.
Upper Montgomery killed off their only shorthanded situation in the game and remain a perfect 21-21 on the season.
Upper Montgomery failed on two key powerplay opportunities late in the game and during overtime.
The Lightning need to win their final conference game of the season to secure a top two seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Tuesday evening, January 2nd for a non-conference game against top junior varsity program Oakdale. Game time is 8:35 pm at Skate Frederick.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—AJ Marks—Upper Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Second Star—Ahmed Elkousy—Churchill Forward—2 Goals
Third Star—TJ Gottesman—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 Goals

Junior Varsity Churchill Game Preview

December 21, 2023December 28, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity has a prime opportunity and several goals to achieve over the closing games of the regular season. However, to earn those accomplishments the team will have to bear down over the last three regular season games. First up is a pivotal league matchup against the Churchill Bulldogs. An Upper Montgomery victory will secure a first round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs which kick off in early January.

If the Lightning should prevail on Wednesday afternoon, they will be well positioned for the playoffs, with a top two seed within reach. Thus far, the 2023 – 2024 season has been a welcome change for the program rebounding from last season’s 4-5-2 record. The team’s seven game winning streak is the longest in program history and the team has a very good chance to run that streak to eight against Churchill. There are two very winnable games upcoming on the Lightning’s schedule. With a deep playoff run, the team could threaten the junior varsity record for wins in a season, eight, set during the 2021 – 2022 junior varsity championship season (8-4-2 overall record).

The path to success for Upper Montgomery on Wednesday will be to continue its trademark team defense, full out hustle, and playing ugly hockey. If the Lightning bring their compete level and are able to lock down the Bulldogs, they should be able to score enough to once again emerge victorious. The return of two of the team’s top three leading scores, junior co-captain Josh Nadler (6GP, 7G) and junior T.J. Gottesman (6GP, 4G, 3A) will be a boost for the team. Senior co-captain Adam Levine has points in four straight games and leads the team in assists (7GP, 1G, 6A). His highlight reel (and amazing) goal against the DC Stars last time out is sure to raise his confidence. Junior Cole Howerton has also been a key component of the team’s offense (7GP, 4G, 2A). Sean Levine scored a pretty backhanded goal to finish off a breakaway in the victory over the DC Stars (7GP, 2G, 3A). Ninth grade forward Aiden Zheng is coming on strong and now has (7GP, 3G, 1A). Avery Evans is the team’s top defender in points with (5GP, 4A). For the first time in a while, Upper Montgomery will have its entire roster available for the game minus long-term injured ninth grade forward Jackson Schickler. Expect Howerton to remain at forward for the rest of the season to give the Lightning an additional offensive threat.

Ninth grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg began his high school career authoring two shutouts. He followed up the strong start by allowing only two goals against in each of his next four outings. In last Wednesday’s contest against the DC Stars, he posted yet another shutout. Shterenberg owns the junior varsity program record for shutouts in a season with three. His personal statistics over the first seven games of his junior varsity career are a 7-0 record, an eye popping, minuscule 1.16 goals against average, and a .950 save percentage. He will again need to remain sharp to allow the notoriously slow starting Lightning to get on track offensively.

In net for the Bulldogs will be Angelina Duke. She has had a trying season playing behind a porous Bulldog defense. Churchill may drop down some of their second team varsity rostered student athletes to provide support and assistance for the younger less experienced skaters. Duke’s season statistics are a 1-4 record, an 8.95 goals against average, and a .731 save percentage. Upper Montgomery should have a distinct advantage in net during the game. Upper Montgomery is averaging just over three goals scored per game, while the Bulldogs have given up an average of eight goals per game. It would seem that the game lines up nicely for the Lightning to have an offensive breakout.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by forward Cash Levenberg who has (2GP, 3G, 2A). Three other forwards have four points, Ahmed Elkousy (4GP, 3G, 1A), Tye Glazer (5GP, 3G, 1A), and Adam Klewans (4GP, 4G). Depending upon how much Churchill utilizes their varsity student athletes called down for the game, these students may or may not play significant minutes.

On defense the Lightning will likely have a rotation of Avery Evans paired with Jake Roth and Patrick Sell paired with Miles Wendland. Anticipate that Behr Schickler will see time in the rotation as the fifth defender. Upper Montgomery will need to maintain its defensive focus throughout the entire game. The team can’t get caught up ice cherry picking for offense and allow the Bulldogs to get into a transition offensive game. The Lightning are a perfect 20 for 20 on the penalty kill for the season and that unprecedented success has helped in all of the close game Upper Montgomery has been a part of. It would also not be surprising for the Lightning to score a shorthanded goal during the game as the Bulldogs have given up ten shorthanded goals on the season.

With Adam Levine’s face off success so far this season (73% win rate), the Lightning should have total control of the faceoff dots, enabling clean defensive zone exits while on the offensive end many good scoring chances as a result of sustained zone pressure. If the team competes in the dirty areas across the ice the extra puck possession in the offensive zone will create additional scoring opportunities. Likewise, winning defensive zone draws will limit the Bulldogs offensive zone time. Expect Levine to take the majority of the high danger faceoffs especially if the game is close late or if the Lightning find themselves on the penalty kill. The dominating faceoff performances have led directly to five Upper Montgomery goals over the last three games.

Upper Montgomery has been terrific late in games preventing the opposition from scoring. The Lightning have given up only two third period goals all season while playing with slim leads in most games. Upper Montgomery has grown accustomed to playing in tight games, something that should be of benefit as the season winds down towards the playoffs. The Upper Montgomery junior varsity will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to a program record eight straight wins to open the season with a victory over the Bulldogs. The stretch run continues for the junior varsity on Wednesday afternoon with a sprint towards the start of the playoffs.

#Extend the Streak, #Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Lightning Junior Varsity Run Streak to Seven, Shuts Out DC Stars

December 19, 2023December 24, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity had yet something more to prove on Wednesday evening. Although undefeated to start the season winning its first six games, the Lightning would be shorthanded against the DC Stars having to play without its top two scorers. Josh Nadler was serving his one game supplemental discipline for his fight in the Richard Montgomery game, and TJ Gottesman missed the game for undisclosed reasons. Between the two forwards, they had scored eleven of the 21 goals tallied by Upper Montgomery. Even though shorthanded, Upper Montgomery played ‘its’ style of hockey, and the complete team effort propelled the Lightning to a thrilling 3-0 shutout victory. With the win, the Lightning need to win one of their final two conference games to secure a first round bye in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. The victory also puts the team in sight of setting the Upper Montgomery junior varsity single season record for wins in a season.

From the outset it was clear that Upper Montgomery was going to lean on Shterenberg to shut down the Stars. The team focused on the defensive side of the game and rarely penetrated into the Stars offensive zone. The Lightning protected the high danger regions in front of Shterenberg. The team settled for clearing the puck out of the zone and making quick line changes to stay as fresh as possible. The DC Stars played their system well and kept up the pressure for the entire period. With three minutes to go in the frame, Lightning forward Jason Woodman was called for cross checking a DC Stars skater prone on the ice. It was not a good penalty to take as the play was not anywhere near the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. As the team has done all season long, the Lightning penalty kill snuffed out the late first period DC Stars powerplay. Although outshot badly in the first period, eight to one, the teams entered the first intermission scoreless.

The first twelve minutes of the second period were a repeat of the first period. The DC Stars controlled the tempo and pace of the game, and Upper Montgomery throttled the Stars in the defensive zone. Shterenberg was there to make timely saves when needed. He finished with seven in the period. The Stars had another crack at the powerplay when Lightning defender Patrick Sell was called for tripping at the twelve minute mark of the second period. Again, the strong Lightning penalty kill prevailed and ran its season long kill streak to a perfect twenty for twenty on the season. With three minutes left in the second period Upper Montgomery had increased its shots on goal total to three. Upper Montgomery had begun to generate a few more chances, but Cole Howerton kept firing wrist shots wide of the net.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the period, Upper Montgomery’s patience and defensive tenacity paid dividends. Lightning defender Avery Evans held the neutral zone along the left wing boards. A DC Stars attempted dump into the Lightning zone ricocheted back toward the DC Stars defensive zone. Lightning forward, senior Sean Levine, coming off the bench on a line change found himself behind the Stars defense. He came in all alone on Stars netminder Liam Parkinson from the blue line in. He faked a shot, and then moved left to his backhand elevating the shot over Parkinson’s right leg pad. It was a sweet finish and the nicest junior varsity goal scored to that point of the season. It also gave the Lightning a lead in yet another tight defensive contest.

Sean Levine’s goal gave the Lightning a jolt of energy. On the very next shift Upper Montgomery would push the lead to two with an amazing highlight reel goal scored by Lightning center and senior co-captain Adam Levine, no relation. A failed Stars clearing attempt up the right wing boards was kept in at the point by Evans. She pushed the puck forward a few feet into open space. Levine tracked the puck from behind the goal, secured the puck, and then curled toward the net from high in the offensive zone. As he neared the top of the left faceoff circle, he faked as if he was going down the slot. He then curled the puck back to the outside of the circle and pushed the puck through the onrushing Stars defender. The juke completely faked out the Stars defender who twirled wildly past Levine. The moment Levine was clear of the defender, he snapped a shot from the bottom of the left circle far side high. The puck whizzed above Parkinson’s glove hand into the crux of the corner of the net. The Lightning bench erupted in hoots and hollers with the varsity student athletes in attendance also celebrating the goal.

With a two goal lead heading into the third period and with tired legs, the Lightning seemed to relax. It was a mistake as the DC Stars upped the pressure around Shterenberg. He made several strong saves to keep the Stars at bay. The first five minutes of the period looked like the Lightning were stuck in quicksand with the Stars getting to every loose puck and continuing to apply pressure. It was an effort for the Lightning just to get the puck to neutral ice and clamber to the bench for a line change.

With nine minutes remaining in the game, Stars forward Eli Schwartz was called for holding. Upper Montgomery had its first powerplay of the game. The penalty took some of the momentum away from the Stars as they focused on the penalty kill rather than continuing to attack offensively. It would eventually be their downfall. A faceoff play originating from just outside the Lightning defensive zone along the right wing boards put Upper Montgomery up three to nothing. Adam Levine, who once again killed it on faceoffs in the game (15-5), intentionally won the puck to the open wing to Aiden Zheng. Zheng received the puck and began racing up ice. As he hit the offensive blue line, he cut toward the slot inside the left defender. As he found space, he unloaded a wrist shot that went far side past Parkinson’s blocker. The Lightning powerplay goal took the steam out of the Stars. The Lightning just needed to hold on over the final eight minutes of the game to remain undefeated.

With the three goal lead Upper Montgomery just sat back and played defense. With seven minutes to go in the game, a checking from behind boarding penalty to Stars forward Adam Chilbert put Upper Montgomery back on the powerplay. With the three goal lead and an incredibly tired group of skaters, the Lightning played safe hockey. They focused on keeping the Stars from skating the puck into the defensive side of the ice. As time wound down, each defensive zone clear provided a chance to stream for the bench and a line change to get more rested skaters back onto the ice surface. Over the last two minutes of the game, the Lightning barely moved outside their defensive blue line clogging up the ice and limiting the Stars from entering the offensive zone. At last, the final buzzer sounded. The worn out Lightning skaters slowly moved around Shterenberg to offer congratulations while hunched over. It was an excellent team effort to gut out yet another win.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is a game against the Churchill Bulldogs. The game is one where Upper Montgomery will be favored, but will only win if the team plays hard, aggressive defensive hockey. A win will earn the team a first round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs and a top two seeding. Upper Montgomery will see the return of its top two scorers for the contest and if the squad is focused on the task at hand, the team should be able to pull through and earn another victory. As he has been all season long, Shterenberg is the difference maker that the team will lean on once again. A win will keep the Lightning in striking distance of winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season title which would be a first in program history.

Game Notes:

The victory over the Stats was the junior varsity’s seventh consecutive victory to start the season.
Ilan Shterenberg set a program record with his third shutout of the season. Shterenberg’s personal statistics are a 7-0 record, a 1.16 goals against average, and a .950 save percentage.
The Lightning have given up only eight goals on the season in seven games, with only two goals allowed in the third period of games.
Shots on goal for the game were lopsided in favor of the DC Stars, 25-10. Upper Montgomery had only three shots on goal with three minutes remaining in the second period.
Upper Montgomery’s top two leading scorers, Josh Nadler and TJ Gottesman both missed the game.
Upper Montgomery again went 2-2 on the penalty kill and remains a perfect 20-20 on the season.
Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay and increased is powerplay success rate to 25.0%.
The Lightning need to win one of their final two conference games to secure an opening round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Thursday afternoon, December 21st against the Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is 4:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Adam Levine—Upper Montgomery Center—Highlight Reel Goal, 1 Assist, 15-5 on Faceoffs
Second Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—25 Save Shutout Victory
Third Star—Sean Levine—Richard Montgomery Forward—Game Winning Goal

Varsity Whitman Game Preview

December 16, 2023December 16, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday evening against the Whitman Vikings in a rematch of the team’s season opening contest, a game won 7-2 by Whitman. The lopsided score does not represent how close the contest was, as with one second left in the second period, the score was tied at one. An emotionally draining goal at the very instant before the horn expired to end the second period started a free fall that the Lightning could not recover from. The loss to the Vikings to open the season started Upper Montgomery on a run of poor play that carried over the first half of the season with Upper Montgomery losing its initial six games.

Recently, the team has played better. An upset victory over the Walter Johnson Wildcats and last week’s non-competitive victory over an overmatched Churchill 2 team, have the Lightning sitting at 2-7 on the season with every opportunity to still make the state playoff tournament. If the Lightning have any hope of turning the season around, the team will need to find a way to push past Whitman and continue a winning streak to close the season.

The goaltending matchup will be similar to the team opening night game. Landon Bernard will be in net for Upper Montgomery. He will be looking to get on track and turn his season around. The program knows how well he can play as evidenced by last season’s playoff run. This year has been a different story as Bernard has been fighting the puck seemingly from the outset. He enters the game with an 0-6 record, a 6.58 goals against average and a .798 save percentage. Statistics well below his or the team’s expectations. In net for Whitman will be Ryan Graf. Graf is a solid netminder who has provided confidence and security for the Vikings. He has a 3.02 goals against average and an .880 save percentage playing against the top teams in the county.

Whitman’s calling card is their team defense. The defensive structure and the forwards ferocious back checking are second to none in the league. The Lightning’s top forward line of Nathan Cassel (8GP, 4G, 10A), Chris Hassett (7GP, 5G, 8A), and Philip Shkeda (8GP, 5G, 1A) will have their hands full trying to get into the high danger areas of the offensive zone. The team’s second line will be composed of Brandon Bernard, Bradley Cupples, and Henry Honakci. Each of these student athletes will need to provide depth scoring as the team will be without Hunter Cameron (in Phoenix with his external travel team), Olivia Robbins (in Providence with her external travel team), and Ryan Jacobson (out long term with a lower body injury). Upper Montgomery’s depth forwards (Josh Nadler, Adam Levine, and Aiden Zheng) will all play and they will need to perform as they have all season long for the Lightning junior varsity squad. Their focus will be on chip pucks out of the defensive zone, dumping pucks in deep behind the Whitman net, and playing on the defensive side of the puck. Any offense provided by the second and third lines will be gravy. It will be up to the high powered first line to supply offense. The Vikings want to play low scoring, tight checking games and counter attack when their opponents try and rush up ice in hopes of generating more offensive chances. The Upper Montgomery game plan will counter the Vikings desired style of play.

On defense the return of top Upper Montgomery defender Andrew Botti really stabilized the back end last week against Churchill 2. He will log extensive minutes against Whitman and will play almost exclusively with 9th grade defender Miles Wendland. Wendland has a very bright future as he gets stronger over the next several years. The other defensive pairing will feature a pair of AA external travel skaters, Owen Robbins and Brady Berkhammer. Cole Howerton will play some to spell Wendland during the game. The defensive game plan will be simplified to allow the defenders to conserve energy.

Whitman is led in scoring by talented forward Andrew Fou who has (10 GP, 14G, 8A). He is the offensive dynamo for the Vikings and the rest of the forwards play off of his successes. He has torched the Lightning the last two games, totaling four goals. Second on the team in scoring is Charles Ingis with (8GP, 8G, 2A). Ingis scored the back breaking goal for the Vikings in the season opener, a breakaway goal at the beginning of the third period where he fired top shelf high over Bernard’s glove hand. Jacob Lerman has (10 GP, 7G, 2A). From there, the rest of the Whitman scoring is spread throughout their lineup with no other skater having more than three goals on the season.

Defensively, the Vikings high level external travel skaters dominate their lineup. AAA Zach Kraus is the headliner. Morrison Cohen and Rowen Miller who both play AA will play significant minutes. Upper A 9th grade defender Stephen Mah has come on strong over the last few games. The Whitman defense is not expected to provide offense. Their job is to limit the opposition and make it hard for the Lightning to score.

One area that needs to immediately improve is the Lightning’s powerplay, or lack thereof. Upper Montgomery remains 0 for the season, 0-20. The only ‘powerplay’ goal scored by the Lightning this season has been a converted penalty shot by Cassel. The lack of success with the extra skater is unacceptable with the level of talent the Lightning have on the ice. Although there will likely be very few powerplay opportunities in this game, if the powerplay continues to falter, anticipate that the coaching staff is going to make changes. Several student athletes who do not normally receive powerplay time will get an opportunity.

Upper Montgomery needs to use this game to gain confidence and as a springboard to go on a run over the second half of the season. Qualifying for the state playoffs is still a realistic goal for the program, but only if the student athletes come together as a team and play for each other. The game plan devised for this tilt against Whitman will match the Vikings style of play and will provide the team with a chance to pull the upset. The Lightning will be without both primary coaches for the game on Friday night. Anticipate a low scoring, tight checking affair where Upper Montgomery focuses on defensive coverage and defensive zone clears. It will not be a visually pleasing game, but expect the Lightning to play committed team hockey where the students focus on neutralizing Whitman’s strengths and their top scorer Fou.

#Continue the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Junior Varsity DC Stars Game Preview

December 13, 2023December 28, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning face an uphill battle on Wednesday evening against the DC Stars. The team’s leading scorer and co-captain, forward Josh Nadler will miss the game serving his one game supplemental disciplinary action. The team’s standout goalie, Ilan Shterenberg will be returning from a school sponsored trip to New York. Emergency backup netminder Chris Hassett will be on standby in case there is a travel delay with Shterenberg getting back to the DC area. The team’s second leading scorer, TJ Gottesman will also miss the game. And, with illness traveling around the DC Metropolitan area, the number of available skaters could decrease further before puck drop.

If the Lightning should prevail on Wednesday evening, they will all but certain need just one more victory over their final two games to secure a bye in the opening round of the junior varsity playoffs. Receiving a top seed in the playoffs is certainly something to shoot for. It has been a welcome change this season for the Lightning junior varsity rebounding from last season’s 4-5-2 record to record wins in each of their first six games this season. There are two very winnable games upcoming on the schedule. With a deep playoff run, the team could threaten the junior varsity record for wins in a season, eight, set during the 2021 – 2022 junior varsity championship season (8-4-2 record).

The path to success for Upper Montgomery on Wednesday evening will be its trademark team defense, hustle, and playing ugly hockey. The team’s effort will need to be extraordinarily high as Nadler will not be available to skate the puck out of harm’s way. If the Lightning are able to lock down the Stars, they may be able to score just enough (one or two goals) to emerge victorious. The team is a perfect 18 for 18 on the penalty kill and that unprecedented success surely has helped in all of the close game Upper Montgomery has been a part of.

Ninth grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg began his high school career authoring two shutouts. He has followed up allowing only two goals against in each of the last four outings. He will be counted on to continue his strong play to give Upper Montgomery any chance at a victory over the Stars. Shterenberg’s statistics over his first six junior varsity games are an eye popping 1.36 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. A case can be made that Shterenberg, along with Nadler are two of the most valuable student athletes on the roster. In net for the DC Stars will be Gabriel Sokol. Sokol has had a very good start to the season as well and has a 2.14 goals against average and an .895 save percentage. If both netminders play up to their capabilities, scoring goals may be very difficult on Wednesday night. The goaltenders strong play coupled with the trouble each team has scoring goals, Upper Montgomery is averaging 3.5 goals per game and the DC Stars are averaging 2.6 goals per game, could make this a very low scoring affair.

Offensively, the Stars are led by forward Kai-Handy Kanegis who has three goals and an assist in five games. Harry Fishman and Nicholas Rosenberg have each scored twice. Usually, Upper Montgomery is led on offense by junior co-captain Josh Nadler. Nadler has scored in each of the team’s six games this season and has scored seven goals. However, he will be unavailable for the game. Also unavailable will be junior forward, TJ Gottesman. Gottesman has an uncanny ability to rack up points by being in the right place at the right time. His four goals and three assists will be missed. Junior Cole Howerton will likely play offense against the DC Stars. He has scored four goals and added two assists over the first six games of the season. Senior co-captain Adam Levine leads the Lightning with five assists in six games having set up Nadler multiple times on nice give and go passing plays and helping generate key goals off of faceoff wins. Howerton and Levine are likely to play on the same line on Wednesday as the team looks to generate offense without its top two points leaders.

If the Lightning can control the faceoff dot and get clean zone exits, and if the team competes in the dirty areas across the ice the extra puck possession in the offensive zone may create additional scoring opportunities. Likewise, winning defensive zone draws will limit the DC Stars offensive zone time. Expect Adam Levine to take the majority of the high danger faceoffs especially if the game is close late. Levine, shifted to center by the coaching staff for the Urbana game, is coming off of winning 20 of 24 faceoffs against the Hawks and 11 of 19 faceoffs versus Richard Montgomery. The dominating performances have led directly to four Upper Montgomery goals including the last two game winning goals.

The Upper Montgomery junior varsity will be looking to extend their unbeaten record to seven with a victory over the Stars. It will not be easy playing without two key contributors. As has been the case all season long, Shterenberg will need to be a difference maker and stonewall the Stars. If he does, and if the team’s stout defense shows up, the Lightning can remain competitive deep into the game. Upper Montgomery has been terrific late in games preventing the opposition from scoring. The Lightning have given up only two third period goals all season while playing with slim leads in most games. Upper Montgomery has grown accustomed to playing in tight games, something that should be of benefit as the season winds down towards the playoffs. The stretch run continues for the junior varsity on Wednesday with a sprint towards the playoffs.

#Extend the Streak, #Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Lightning Junior Varsity’s Hot Streak Continues, Upper Montgomery Defeats Top Ranked Rockets

December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity had something to prove on Friday evening. Although undefeated to start the season winning its first five games, the Lightning had not played an arduous schedule. That changed on Friday night facing the top ranked Richard Montgomery Rockets. Upper Montgomery played its style of hockey, and the complete team effort propelled the Lightning to a thrilling 3-2 victory. With the win, the Lightning need to win two of their final three games to secure a first round bye in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs. The victory also guarantees that the Lightning will finish the season with a winning record.

From the outset it was clear that the Rockets possessed the more talented individual skaters. Richard Montomery rushed the puck up ice and Upper Montgomery was forced to defend. This type of game is familiar for the Lightning junior varsity as they have come to rely on the strong goaltending of 9th grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg to backstop the team. Upper Montgomery’s defensive system of keeping play to the outside, chipping pucks out of the defensive zone, icing the puck to slow down play, and getting the puck to the center red line and dumping it into the zone has nullified the play of the opposition’s top skaters. Timely goal scoring has not hurt either.

With just over six minutes remaining in the first period, the Rockets would jump out in front. Richard Montgomery senior defender Jack Evans took control of the puck in neutral ice along the Lightning blue line. He entered the offensive zone on the left wing. When he reached the left faceoff circle, he fired a pass across the crease to a streaking Connor Myers who had slipped inside of the Lightning defense. Myers was ahead of the Upper Montgomery defense, and he tapped the puck in from the back post past Shterenberg who had to make sure that Evans did not unleash a shot on net.

A minute later the Lightning were forced to kill a roughing penalty to forward Jason Woodman. As they have all season long, the Upper Montgomery penalty killers did an outstanding job and prevented the Rockets from extending their lead. Sheterenberg was strong on the penalty kill making three saves while Richard Montgomery had the extra skater. The opening period concluded with Richard Montgomery outshooting the Lightning by a thirteen to five margin with Upper Montgomery never really testing Rockets goaltender Gregory Saffell.

The second period started similar to the first. Richard Montgomery controlling pace of play and Upper Montgomery defending and executing on the defensive side of the puck. Just over halfway through the period, Upper Montgomery broke through and tied up the game. Lightning junior co-captain Josh Nadler dumped the puck from neutral ice down into the left wing corner. The puck was played by Saffell behind his net. Lightning forward Aiden Zheng crashed in hard on the forecheck. Zheng swung his stick and smacked at the puck making contact. The puck ramped up the stick of the Richard Montgomery defender and popped into the air. The flight of the puck tumbled up over the back side of the cage, hit the netting on top of the goal, and caromed forward. The puck banked off Saffell’s back and landed across the goal line. It was a fortuitous flight path the puck took to settle into the back of the net. In Upper Montgomery’s case, it was par for the course as the ugly, gritty goal was right up its alley and fitting for its style of play. The second period ended tied with the Rockets firing eleven shots at Shterenberg and Upper Montgomery being credited with four shots on Saffell. The two period shots on goal total was 24-9 in favor of the Rockets and was a true indication of how the game was playing out.

The third period became fifteen minutes to determine the top of the conference standings. With the score tied at one, Upper Montgomery was in a very familiar position. A low scoring tight game in the third period. In five of the six games this season, the Lightning junior varsity have either been tied or in one goal games. The flow of the first half of the third period was similar to the opening two frames. Then, Upper Montgomery’s only rush sequence of the game broke the tie. At his own blue line, Lightning forward TJ Gottesman stopped the defensive zone exit pass. He knocked the puck over a few feet to Cole Howerton. Howerton exited the zone and then skated diagonally across the ice to the right wing boards entering the offensive zone. He carried the puck wide and skated around the Rockets defender. From the bottom of the right circle he sent a pass into the slot for Nadler. Nadler wasted no time sweeping a wrist shot from the low slot five hole on Saffell. The Lightning had battled all evening on the defensive side of the puck and now had the lead with eight minutes remaining in the game.

With just over five minutes left in the game, a key insurance goal would prove critical for Upper Montgomery. Off of a missed pass which caused a Richard Montgomery icing, the faceoff came back into the Rockets defensive zone. Adam Levine, who crushed Urbana in the faceoff dot leading to three Upper Montgomery goals last game, was at it again. He won the faceoff back behind him, but not deep enough for either Lightning defender to reach the puck. He fought off a Rockets defender and pushed the puck back to Behr Schickler at the right point. With the puck on its way to the point, Levine pivoted and headed toward the high slot area. Schickler’s slapshot was deflected by Levine out front at the inside edge of the right faceoff circle. The puck changed directions hitting into Gottesman’s skate and ricocheting past Saffell’s right leg pad. For Gottesman, it was what has become a regular refrain, being in the right spot at the right time to collect points. It was also Upper Montgomery’s fourth goal off of a faceoff play over the past two games.

The Lightning had five minutes to continue to stifle Richard Montgomery to walk out with the victory. It took only thirty seconds for the game to once again become a nailbiter. A failed clear by the Lightning defense was kept in at the right point by Evans. He skated down into the right corner stepping around the Upper Montgomery defender. His pass out front to the slot was blocked but bounced directly back to him. His second pass evaded the Lightning skaters and settled into the slot where high scoring forward Aaron Hwang shot from in front while being checked. The puck beat Shterenberg to close the score to 3-2 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

Far from out of the woods, Upper Montgomery had to sweat through a difficult close to the game. First, Nadler and Rockets forward Edward Bernard got into a skirmish along the end boards behind the Lightning goal. The referees determined that both skaters engaged in a fight which disqualified each skater from the remainder of the game and automatically comes with a three game suspension under USA Hockey’s supplemental discipline system. After the game, league officials subsequently determined that the skirmish was not a fight, and the student athletes will only miss one additional game not three.

In addition to the fight, the referees called a fictitious cross checking penalty on Nadler. The Lightning were forced to kill a Rockets powerplay with 3:30 remaining in the game. Kudos to Levine, Zheng, Howerton, and defenders Miles Wendland, Jake Roth, Patrick Sell, and Avery Evans for clearing pucks, blocking shots, getting in shooting lanes which forced shots wide of the net, and getting the puck out of the zone. But, the job was still far from done. With 1:23 remaining in the game and an offensive zone faceoff, Richard Mongomery pulled Saffell their goalie creating a six on five skater advantage. The final minute of action was a scramble of action as Richard Montgomery controlled the puck in the Lightning defensive end sending shot attempt after shot attempt at Shterenberg to try and tie the score. Upper Montgomery did a terrific job not giving the Rockets any high danger chances and survived until a defensive zone clear with five seconds remaining sealed the victory for Upper Montgomery.

Up next for the Lightning junior varsity is going to be a tough game against an improved DC Stars squad. The Stars have a 3-2 record this season. The Stars play a low scoring grind it out type of game, a style similar to the Lightning’s. Upper Montgomery will be playing without its top goal scorer in Nadler and will need all of the student athletes to step up and contribute. It will likely be a low scoring affair, a game that Upper Montgomery needs to continue their undefeated season. As always, Shterenberg will need to make some huge saves, and the Lightning will have to commit to stopping the Stars with all five skaters playing with incredible effort and hockey IQ in order to defeat a well coached opponent. A win will keep the Lightning in striking distance of winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season title.

Game Notes:

The victory over the Rockets was the junior varsity’s sixth consecutive victory to start the season.
Shots on goal for the game were lopsided in favor of Richard Montgomery, 37-13.
Josh Nadler scored for the sixth consecutive game. He has scored in each game this season and leads the Lightning junior varsity with seven goals.
Upper Montgomery went 2-2 on the penalty kill and remains a perfect 18-18 on the season.
Upper Montgomery did not have a powerplay opportunity in the game.
Nadler will be suspended for the Lightning’s next junior varsity game as he will serve a one game suspension as supplemental discipline for his fight at the end of the game.
The Lightning need to win two of their final three conference games to secure an opening round bye in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
The Upper Montgomery junior varsity returns to game action on Wednesday night, December 13th against the DC Stars. Game time is 8:00 pm at Wheaton Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Ilan Shterenberg—Upper Montgomery Goalie—Win, 2 GAA, 35 Saves, .941 Save %
Second Star—Jack Evans—Richard Montgomery Defense—2 Assists
Third Star—Brody Evans—Richard Montgomery Defense

Varsity Churchill 2 Game Preview

December 8, 2023December 8, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday evening against the Churchill Bulldogs Team Two. Game time is late night at Rockville Ice Arena, a 10:00 pm start. Unlike Monday’s game against Churchill’s main varsity team, an 8-0 Upper Montgomery defeat, the game against Churchill Two will be even more lopsided in the Lightning’s favor. Upper Montgomery should never be threatened in this contest.

The Bulldogs enter the contest ranked last in the county standings with an 0-6 record. They have scored ten goals in six games. Defensively, Churchill Two has given up 57 goals in six games, an average of 9.5 goals per game, and Churchill Two has mainly played against the bottom teams in the county standings. Quite simply, Churchill Two would be more appropriately rostered at the junior varsity level, and even then, several of the better junior varsity teams in the county would beat Churchill Two, Upper Montgomery included.

Friday’s game will be similar to a working scrimmage. Upper Montgomery will jump out front early in the game and will use the rest of the game to sharpen their play heading into next week’s important rematch against the Whitman Vikings. Expect the coaching staff to provide many student athletes who do not play significant minutes with lots of playing time.

An encouraging sign for the Lightning is that junior defender Andrew Botti is expected to make his first appearance this season. Botti’s return from a preseason injury that has kept him out of the Lightning’s first eight games should be a jolt of confidence for the team on the defensive side of the puck. His leadership and calming ability should settle down a defensive corps that has been underwhelming thus far over the first half of the season.

Churchill Two is led in scoring by Adam Klewans who has 5GP, 2G, 3A. No other Bulldog skater has more than three points. In goal for the Bulldogs will be either Nick Nelson who has a 7.36 goals against average and a .730 save percentage or Lucas Petrosyan who has a 13.20 goals against average and a .585 save percentage. Upper Montgomery is likely to play both goalies, Landon Bernard and Ilan Shterenberg in the game.

One area that needs to immediately improve is the Lightning’s powerplay, or lack thereof. Upper Montgomery remains 0 for the season, 0-20. The only ‘powerplay’ goal scored by the Lightning this season has been a converted penalty shot. The lack of success with the extra skater is unacceptable with the level of talent the Lightning have on the ice. Although there will likely be very few powerplay opportunities in this game, if the powerplay continues to falter, anticipate that the coaching staff is going to make changes. Several student athletes who do not normally receive powerplay time will get an opportunity.

Upper Montgomery needs to use this game as a springboard to go on a run over the second half of the season. Qualifying for the state playoffs is still a realistic goal for the program, but only if the student athletes come together as a team and play for each other.

#Start the Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Varsity Churchill Game Preview

December 2, 2023December 2, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

Fresh off their first win of the season over third ranked Walter Johnson, the Upper Montgomery Lightning finish the first half of the season schedule against perennial state champion Churchill on Monday evening at Cabin John Ice Rink. Puck drop is at 6:30 pm. The Bulldogs have won eight of the last ten Maryland high school ice hockey state championships. The two years that Churchill did not win the state title were last season when they lost in the championship game, and during the COVID health crisis when the Bulldogs were prevented from competing in the state playoffs. Monday’s game will be the first time that the teams have played since their epic Montgomery Hockey Conference quarterfinal matchup last winter. With the winner advancing to the state playoffs, Churchill outlasted the Lightning in a five round shootout by a three to two margin after a one all tie through regulation and overtime.

This year is no different for Churchill. The Bulldogs enter the contest ranked first in the county standings with a 6-0-1 conference record. The Churchill roster is stacked with high-end talent. The Bulldogs trot out a variety of AAA and AA external travel team level skaters. While Upper Montgomery will have very close to its full lineup for the game, keeping up in the game will still be a challenge. Unlike in last year’s playoff game, Churchill will not be overlooking the Lightning this season.

In this game, Upper Montgomery’s success will be defined by how well the team defends and clears the puck out of high danger zones. To be competitive, the Lightning will need to muck up the game and prevent Churchill’s speed from overpowering Upper Montgomery’s inexperienced defenders. Although Andrew Botti is close to returning for the Lightning, he is not yet cleared for participation. The lower scoring the game, and the uglier that the game looks visually, the more of an opportunity Upper Montgomery will have to pull off the massive upset. Last year’s tie in the playoff game before succumbing in the shootout was the first ever points Upper Montgomery has earned against Churchill. In fifteen seasons, the Lightning have never beaten the Bulldogs. The Lightning have also never beaten a team ranked number one. Last year’s victory over second ranked Quince Orchard is the team with the highest ranking that the Lightning have ever beaten.

On offense, the Lightning seem to have progressed from the beginning of the season. When close to the full team is in attendance, the Lightning have scored seven, five, and eight goals in their most recent three games. This is a far cry from the start of the season when goals were non-existent. Nathan Cassel continues to lead the team in points with 7GP, 4G, 10A. He is coming off of a three assist effort versus Walter Johnson. Chris Hassett’s production has ramped up over his last couple of games and he is now second on the team in scoring with 6GP, 5G, 8A. He is also coming off of a multi-point effort over the Wildcats with two goals and four assists. Hassett’s next assist will be a milestone, his 50th career varsity assist. Philip Shkeda is heating up having scored in four straight games. His two goals against the Wildcats helped propel the Lightning to victory. He is tied with Hassett for the team lead in goals with five.

Ryan Jacobson has scored four goals in five games, bouncing back and forth between centering the second line and playing defense. Henry Honacki has begun to get into the heavy traffic areas and his point totals have increased as a result. Honacki now has 7GP, 3G, 3A. Bradley Cupples chipped in with two goals against Walter Johnson and is clustered with Hunter Cameron and Brandon Bernard with two goals and several assists each. The depth scoring from the second and third lines which had been missing early in the season has really helped the Lightning’s offensive production improve. One area that has not improved has been the Lightning’s powerplay. It has been simply putrid. The stink has now reached 18 extra skater advantages to begin the season with no powerplay goals. The streak includes three different five on three extended powerplay chances. The team’s only ‘powerplay’ goal was a penalty shot converted by Cassel against Mount St. Joseph.

Defensively, and in goal, the team must be significantly better. Yes, the team has had to patch together the defensive pairings while working through the injury to Botti, but the defensive blunders have been plentiful and massive. Most of the miscues have led directly to key opposition goals against. The forwards need to do a better job on the backcheck and with breakouts, controlling the game with puck possession and management. The defense must be more physical and not allow the opposing forwards down low beneath them and the goal.

Churchill’s offensive output is led by 18U AA forward, Zachary Silver. Silver has tallied over and over this season. He has 8GP, 12G, 4A. Not too far behind has been Joshua Wong, with 8GP, 6G, 3A and 18U AAA forward Joshua Potenti, 5GP, 6G, 2A. Daniel McNelis has four goals in five games. He plays 16U AAA. Asher Wang, 18U AA leads the Bulldogs in assists. He has 8GP, 2G, 7A. On defense, Churchill has 9th grade 14U AA Alexander Bazyluk with six assists in eight games. Dalton Esko-Himmelfarb has 5GP, 1G, 3A. He plays with the Lightning’s Hunter Cameron on the Little Caps 18U AAA team.

In net for Upper Montgomery is expected to be Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg battled to his first career high school varsity victory last time out making enough saves to hold off Walter Johnson. As the team’s goaltending has been spotty this season, the coaching staff is looking for either Shterenberg or senior Landon Bernard to grab the reins on the top goaltender spot. Shterenberg has been lights out at the junior varsity level with six wins, two by shutout, a 1.36 goals against average, and a .941 save percentage. The step up in competition at the varsity level has impact his statistics. Not unexpected for a 9th grade student athlete. Landon Bernard played fantastic last year against Churchill in the playoffs. He stopped 34 of 35 shots and was critical to almost pulling off the greatest upset in the history of Maryland high school hockey. He was also outstanding last year in the opening round playoff game against St. Johns. This year has been a struggle. There have been stretches of nice play sprinkled in with goals that he wishes he had back. In net for Churchill is expected to be 16U AA Macallister Glazer. Glazer splits time with senior Cameron Shure, but receives the starts in goal when Churchill faces stronger competition. Glazer is 3-0-1 on the season with a 3.00 goals against average and a .867 save percentage.

Upper Montgomery desperately needs a good showing to begin moving back up the conference standings and rankings. The team started the season ranked with its highest ranking ever, fifth spot, and then promptly plummeted down the rankings to where it is currently, tenth. Finishing seventh or tenth is preferred rather than landing in eight or ninth spot and having to likely once again face Churchill in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. The win over Walter Johnson was a step forward. Now the team needs to continue to ascend with a very good performance against a very tough opponent.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Junior Varsity Richard Montgomery Game Preview

November 29, 2023December 13, 2023 chucklevine Leave a comment

On Friday evening just before midnight, the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoff seedings will begin to take shape. Even though only halfway through the season, Friday night’s prime time showdown, a show me game so to speak, between the Upper Montgomery Lightning and the Richard Montgomery Rockets will be enlightening. The 5-0 Lightning will play host to the 4-0 and top ranked Rockets. Game time is late, 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Upper Montgomery will need a superior team effort to come out victorious as the strength of the teams the Lightning have beaten to date are not of the caliber of the high flying Rockets. The team defense and Ilan Shterenberg’s goaltending will need to be incredibly sharp, and the forwards will need to provide much more offense than has been generated thus far to propel Upper Montgomery to victory.

Ninth grade netminder Ilan Shterenberg began his high school career authoring two shutouts. He has followed up allowing only two goals against in each of the last three outings. He will be counted on to continue his strong play to give Upper Montgomery a punchers chance at the upset. Shterenberg’s statistics over his first five junior varsity games are an eye popping 1.23 goals against average and a .939 save percentage. Shterenberg will be tested as most of the Richard Montomery junior varsity skaters also play for the Rockets’ varsity squad. In net for Richard Montgomery will be Gregory Saffell. Saffell also has outstanding statistics in the three games he has played, with a 1.07 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. He also has two shutouts this season, against Rockville and the DC Stars. If both netminders play up to their capabilities, scoring goals may be very difficult on Friday night.

Offensively, Richard Montgomery has run through both Churchill and Rockville scoring 21 of their 26 goals in those two games. The Rockets are led by senior forward Jack Evans who has nine goals in three games and 9th grade forward Aaron Hwang who has scored eight goals in four games. Against better competition the Rockets have been held to four goals against BCC and only one goal in their shutout win over the DC Stars. Richard Montgomery has received evenly distributed offensive production from the rest of their lineup with eight other skaters having scored between five and three points each. Upper Montgomery is led on offense by junior co-captain Josh Nadler. Nadler has scored in each of the team’s five games this season and has scored six goals. Junior Cole Howerton has scored four goals over the first five games of the season playing mostly on defense. Junior TJ Gottesman has chipped in with five points on three goals and two assists. Senior Sean Levine has four points. Senior co-captain Adam Levine leads the Lightning with four assists having set up Nadler multiple times on nice give and go passing plays. Against Urbana in the Lightning’s most recent game, the defense chipped in nicely, Miles Wendland scored, and Avery Evans had two assists.

On defense the Lightning’s experienced defenders are beginning to jell. Senior Jake Roth will see extensive action likely paired with Patrick Sell. Ninth grade defenders Miles Wendland and Avery Evans have played together for much of the season. Both have bright futures with the program. Depending upon game flow, Behr Schicker should cycle through the defensive pairings. With the return of AJ Marks to the lineup, Cole Howerton may drop back and play the entire game on defense. Upper Montgomery will need to maintain its defensive focus throughout the entire game to stay competitive versus the Rockets.

If the Lightning can control the faceoff dot similar to how they dominated Urbana, the extra puck possession in the offensive zone may create additional scoring opportunities. Likewise, winning defensive zone draws will limit Richard Montgomery’s offensive zone time. Expect Adam Levine to take the majority of the high danger faceoffs especially if the game is close late. Levine, shifted to center by the coaching staff for the Urbana game, is coming off of winning 20 of 24 faceoffs against the Hawks. It was a dominating performance that led directly to three Upper Montgomery goals and nullified the Hawks’ two separate two skater powerplay advantages.

The Upper Montgomery junior varsity will be looking to extend their unbeaten record to six with a victory over the Rockets. It will not be easy when two of the three marquee teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference battle it out on Friday night. The victor will all but guarantee a spot in the top three seeds for next month’s Montgomery Hockey Conference’s junior varsity playoffs. The loser will still have an opportunity at finishing in the top three in the standings but will need to accrue more wins over the second half of the season. Shterenberg will need to be a difference maker and stonewall the Rockets. If he does, and if the team’s stout defense shows up, the Lightning can remain competitive deep into the game. Upper Montgomery has been terrific late in games preventing the opposition from scoring. The Lightning have given up only one third period goal all season. Playing with a slim lead for the majority of its games, Upper Montgomery has grown accustomed to playing in tight games, something that should be of benefit as the season winds towards the playoffs. The stretch run begins on Friday with a sprint towards the playoffs.

#Show Me, #Our Time, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!