Author: chucklevine

St. Johns Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning play their final regular season game of the 2021-2022 season this coming Friday night versus the St. Johns Cadets. The Cadets are a deep and experienced team and could pose matchup problems for the Lightning. St. Johns comes into the game with a 5-4 record on the season having very tightly played the top teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. St. Johns is riding a three game winning streak and has won five of their last six games after a slow start to the season. St. Johns is coming off a come from behind win against Northwest in which they scored three goals in the third period. It will be another stiff challenge for the young Lightning, but one that the team is very much looking forward to as they look to rebound from Monday’s loss in Hagerstown against Washington County.

Will Mellen gets the start in net for the Lightning. He will be looking to bounce back from his toughest two outings of the season. Mellen enters the game with a 4-3-1 record on the season, a 2.13 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage. Prior to his two most recent games, he had been stellar in net. Upper Montgomery will need to play a hard, physical, defensive style to limit St. Johns’ scoring chances and take away time and space so that the Cadets do not control the tempo and pace of the game.

This weekend is a big weekend for travel team tournaments. St. Johns will be missing several key student athletes. When all members of the team are present, the Cadets are led by junior defender John Carney who has seven goals in five games. St. Johns has multiple AAA level travel team student athletes and a bunch of AA level travel team student athletes. After Carney, the Cadets have evenly dispersed scoring depth. In goal for the Cadets is expected to be senior Julian Goodfellow who has played well this year with a 2-2 record, a 2.50 goals against average, and a .884 save percentage.

The Upper Montgomery defense should have a full complement of skaters for the game. With the entire lineup available to the coaching staff, expect the defensive pairings to be shuffled so that different pairing combinations can be evaluated as the team gears up for the playoffs. A constant for the team this season has been an outstanding penalty kill which needs to continue to excel. Upper Montgomery has killed off 28 straight shorthanded situations and has killed off 40 of 43 chances on the season, 93%. The Botti brothers, James and Andrew, George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, and Andrew Gean will need to play aggressively to take away time and space from the Cadets forwards. They must play the body to impede and frustrate the Cadets forwards. However, they will need to be careful not to pinch at the offensive blue line giving the Cadets odd skater rushes up ice. The Lightning forwards will need to help out the defense and bust back defensively to cover open skaters.

Upper Montgomery will be missing two key contributors on offense with Ryan Jacobson and Nathan Cassel both out of the lineup with their travel teams out-of-town. Losing this offensive firepower (Ryan Jacobson ’10 GP, 7 G, 9 A’, and Nathan Cassell ’10 GP, 11 G, 6 A’) will present opportunities for other forwards to grab additional ice time based upon their performance in the early portion of the game. Expect the coaching staff to tinker with the lines to find line combinations that provide chemistry and are effective against the Cadets. The lack of scoring depth this season has hurt the team’s ability to separate in games. With Jacobson and Cassel absent, expect much to be asked of top line center Chris Hassett to lead the way (12 GP, 13 G, 15 A). Hunter Cameron (12 GP, 5 G, 6 A) and Bradley Cupples (12 GP, 1 G, 11 A) will need to shoulder more of the load against St. Johns. Depending upon the flow of the game, James Botti may see shifts at forward if the offense has a hard time getting started and generating chances. Getting offensive contribution from the defense could be the difference in this game as goals may be tough to come by.

With the final conference rankings expected to be released late Monday evening, Upper Montgomery should find out on Tuesday which team it will face in the first round of the division one Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament. The opening round game is anticipated to be played on Friday, February 4th with the time and location to be determined. A win or tie versus the Cadets could change the Upper Montgomery’s ranking enough to avoid having to play one of the top teams in the conference in the opening round of the tournament. Tournament seeding is at stake. Qualifying for the division one playoffs had been the one goal for the team this season and doing so is an accomplishment of which the team is proud of. But now that they have qualified for the playoffs, the team is not satisfied. Going toe to toe with St. Johns will open the eyes of the voters who determine the league’s rankings and will help solidify the team’s reputation as an up and coming team in future seasons.

You are invited to join the Lightning program for Senior Night on Friday where seniors James Botti, Adarsh Nair, and Joshua Miller will be honored. The ceremony will begin at approximately 8:45 pm just before puck drop.

Rockets Pull Away Late, Defeat Lightning

chucklevine Leave a comment

In its first major test of the 2021 – 2022 regular season, the Upper Montgomery Lightning went toe to toe with the Richard Montgomery Rockets for the better part of two periods, before eventually succumbing in a 4-1 loss Friday night at Rockville Ice Arena. The game against the Rockets was a step up in competition against a division one team in the middle of the conference standings. Upper Montgomery was able to generate several extremely high quality scoring chances including two breakaway opportunities that they were unfortunately unable to convert. The offensive chances were there even without having two of their top five offensive weapons for the game in James Botti and Nathan Cassel. With the loss, the Lightning fall to 4-4-1 on the season in conference play and 5-4-1 overall.

The beginning of the first period was a feeling out process with both teams unable to generate much offense and very few shots on goal. For the Lightning, junior defender George Benedick stood out by blocking three shots in the first seven minutes of the game. He controlled play with his ability to win pucks in the corners and lead strong breakouts. Halfway through the first period Upper Montgomery would jump in front on a goal by Josh Nadler. For Nadler it was the second consecutive game in which he tallied. The play began in the defensive zone. Olivia Robbins took control of the puck in the Lightning defensive zone along the left wing boards. She skated a few strides to the top of the faceoff circle and fired a rink wide pass to Bradley Cupples. Cupples gathered the puck at full speed and rushed into the Rockets defensive zone along the right wing boards. He stopped abruptly and sent a pass into the middle of the ice in the high slot where Nadler fired a quick wrist shot while in stride and beat Rockets netminder Henry Darko five hole for a 1-0 Lightning lead.

The lead would not last long, just three and a half minutes. Mitchell Bobys would dump the puck into the Lightning defensive zone from the red line. Dylan Goetz would win the puck in the left corner. He battled the Lightning defense and came away with the puck. He fed in front from the side of the goal to a wide open Lester Benitez. Benitez had time and space in the lower part of the slot to send a quick shot past Lightning goalie Will Mellen’s glove hand to even the score at one. Just before the end of the first period Upper Montgomery would go on the penalty kill for the first time in the game after a roughing penalty was called on Henry Honacki. The Lightning would kill off the penalty continuing a streak of 23 consecutive penalty kills that would grow to 25 before the end of the game.

Five minutes into the second period, Benedick was called for checking from behind. A checking from behind penalty automatically comes with a ten minute misconduct penalty. Losing Benedick for twelve minutes of game action was a defining moment in the game as it forced the coaching staff to break up the offensive lines to provide additional defensive coverage. It also left the Lightning without a key contributor on the powerplay. The Lightning would kill off the penalty to Benedick. With six minutes left in the second period and the score still tied 1-1, the Lightning would earn their first powerplay of the evening when the Rockets were called for too many skaters on the ice. It was on the powerplay where the absence of Benedick would prove costly.

Luke Gutmann took possession of the puck for the Rockets. He beat a pinching Lightning defender and sent the puck up the right wing boards to Daniel Martella. Martella skated in on a two on one with Goetz. Getting the defender to commit to him, Martella sent a pass to the left finding Goetz in stride and all alone. Goetz fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle far side and past Mellen’s catching glove. With the shorthanded goal, Goetz gave the Rockets a 2-1 lead, a lead that they would not relinquish.

With two minutes to go in the second period, Martella would score a goal similar to Goetz’s goal. Martella skated up ice by himself into the bottom of the left wing circle and uncorked a wrist shot, again far side and high past Mellen’s catching glove for an unassisted goal. The goal energized the Rockets faithful providing them a measure of relief that their team had finally separated from the Lightning. Just after Martella’s goal, the Lightning would again go on the penalty kill as Adarsh Nair was called for tripping.

The third period saw the Lightning in scramble mode as the Rockets began to ride the momentum gained at the end of the second period and exert their offensive firepower. In several sequences in the Lightning zone Mellen made multiple saves in close on Rockets’ chances. Mellen would make 19 saves in the period, only allowing a goal mid-way through the period on a shot by Gutmann from the high slot. While the Lightning came up short in this game, playing the game as close as they did without two of their most important skaters; James Botti and Nathan Cassel (who were both out-of-town with their travel teams) gave the team an understanding of both how close they are to competing with the upper division teams and also how much work remains to be done to beat the higher quality upper division teams.

Game Notes:

  • The loss was the Lightning’s first defeat since November 5th against the Blair Blazers.
  • The loss to Richard Montgomery snapped the Upper Montgomery unbeaten streak at six games, 5-0-1.
  • The Lightning were outshot by the Rockets 44-20.
  • Will Mellen gave up the most goals he has allowed all season (four). He made 40 saves on the night.
  • The Lightning penalty kill smothered all three Rockets’ powerplay opportunities. The Upper Montgomery penalty kill is now 37 of 40 on the season, 92.5%.
  • The Lightning gave up a shorthanded goal for the fourth time this season. They have lost all four games in which they have given up a shorthanded goal.
  • The Lightning are next in action on Friday, January 21st at 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Area for a home game against the Sherwood Warriors.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Dylan Goetz—Richard Montgomery Forward—1 Goal, 1 Assist
Second Star—Daniel Martella—Richard Montgomery Center–-1 Goal, 1 Assist
Third Star—George Benedick—Upper Montgomery Defense—4 Blocked Shots

Washington County Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning travel to Hagerstown on Monday night to face off against the Washington County Northstars. Game time is 7:00 pm at the Hagerstown Ice and Sports Complex. The Nortstars are one of the top teams in the Maryland Student Hockey League and come into the game with a 9-0 record overall, and a 7-0 record in the Monocacy Hockey Conference. This season, the Northstars have outscored their opponents by a margin of 61-9, and no team has scored more than two goals in a game against Washington County. It will be an extremely tough challenge for the young Lightning, but one that the team is very much looking forward to.

Coming off two consecutive losses against Richard Montgomery and Sherwood, Upper Montgomery will be looking to break its mini two game losing streak. The game against Washington County was intentionally scheduled to prepare the team for the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference division one playoffs where the Lightning will likely face a very high caliber team in the opening round. Washington County’s roster is littered with AAA and AA level travel student athletes and the team is very experienced with five seniors and five juniors likely to play in the game.

The Lightning may share the net minding duties in this non-conference game. Will Mellen who has started a majority of the varsity games in net, may get a break in this game. He had been stellar in net until the last two games where he has given up four and six goals in back-to-back games against higher level competition. In fairness, several of those goals have come off of odd numbered rushes up ice or turnovers directly in front of the goal. Landon Bernard who has played solid in net for the junior varsity may see some action in the game as well. The Northstars are averaging 6.78 goals a game and Upper Montgomery will need to play a hard defensive style to limit Washington County’s scoring chances. Washington County can get up and down the ice in a hurry and the Lightning will need multiple forwards skating hard and helping back on defense. The Lightning will also need to play a physical brand of hockey to take away time and space so that the Washington County student athletes do not have the opportunity to create fancy, dangling scoring opportunities.

Washington County is led on offense by a defender, junior Lucas Karlsson who has lit up the Maryland Student Hockey League. He plays AAA level travel hockey for the Little Caps and has (9 GP, 17 G, 6 A) to lead the Northstars in scoring. Next is Klayton Barr (9 GP, 10 G, 10 A), then Sammy Caesar (7 GP, 9 G, 7 A), Zane Hill (9 GP, 7 G, 9 A), Drew Glines (9 GP, 8 G, 8 A), Tyler Bjerklie (8 GP, 8 G, 5 A), and Ville Schoenborg who also plays AAA level travel hockey for the Little Caps (7 GP, 6 G 4 A). The Lightning will need to do everything possible to limit these high powered student athletes. In goal for the Northstars will be either Zachary Ciucci or Bryce Zeoli-Luisi. With the talent in front of them, it is hard to gauge their ability as the Northstars average only giving up 14 shots on goal and one goal against a game.

The one aspect to keep in mind is that the Northstars play very few good teams so some of their statistics are built up against much weaker competition. The two best teams the Northstars have faced, Oakdale (a 2-1 victory) and Walter Johnson (a 4-0 victory) were competitive games. A fair amount of stat building has occurred against the three teams at the bottom of the Monocacy Hockey Conference.

The Upper Montgomery defense should have a full complement of skaters for the game. With the entire lineup available to the coaching staff, expect the defensive pairings to be shuffled so that different pairing combinations can be evaluated as the team gears up for its final regular season conference game and then the playoffs. A constant for the team this season has been an outstanding penalty kill. Going into the box against the Northstars could be a game changer with the talent that Washington County will put out on their powerplay. The Botti brothers, James and Andrew, George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, and Andrew Gean will need to play aggressively to take away time and space and play the body to impede the Northstars forwards. However, they will need to be careful not to pinch at the offensive blue line and miss and turn the Northstars lose on odd skater rushes. The forwards will need to help out the defense and bust back defensively to cover open skaters. The speed of the Northstars will make things very difficult for the Upper Montgomery defense if Washington County can make the game a back and forth rushing up and down the ice affair.

Key for the Lightning this week will be having all three forward lines contributing. In the game against Sherwood on Friday night, all four goals were produced once again by the top line. The lack of scoring depth this season has hurt the team’s ability to separate in games. Against higher quality opponents in division one, having a full lineup is paramount to being able to match lines and compete with an evenly balanced lineup. Expect the top line to once again lead the way Chris Hassett (11 GP, 12 G, 15 A), playing center between Ryan Jacobson (9 GP, 7 G, 9 A), and Nathan Cassell (10 GP, 11 G, 6 A). The top line has been very effective creating turnovers in the offensive zone and converting those turnovers into high quality scoring chances. The second line will likely be Bradley Cupples (11 GP, 1 G, 10 A) playing center between Hunter Cameron (11 GP, 5 G, 5 A), and Olivia Robbins (8 GP, 1 G, 3 A). Depending upon how the game is progressing, Brandon Bernard and James Botti may also see shifts at forward on the second line as the coaching staff gets creative with line combinations to jump start the team’s offensive production. Getting offensive contribution from the defense by creating turnovers in the neutral zone, making quick, on target breakout passes, and by firing low hard shots on net while in the offensive zone will help generate additional offensive chances.

Upper Montgomery will make the division one Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament. This is a first for the organization and an accomplishment which the team is proud of. But, the team should not be satisfied. Tournament seeding is at stake over the final two games of the season. Gaining the best seeding possible is now the goal. Playing a competitive game against Washington County will open the eyes of the voters who determine the league’s rankings and playoff seedings and will help solidify the team’s reputation as it grows and matures in future seasons.

Sherwood Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

After suffering their first loss since early November, the Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday, January 21st versus the Sherwood Warriors. Game time is 8:45 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Lightning will be looking to bounce back from a tough 4-1 loss to a very good Richard Montgomery team and return to the win column. Friday’s game will be the second to last conference game of the season and provides an opportunity for the Lightning to quickly put last week’s game behind them. Sherwood started the season with eight consecutive losses before winning their last two games against weaker competition. The Lightning will need to play a complete game to thwart Sherwood and gain valuable standings points with the beginning of the playoffs only two weeks away.

The Lightning will start Will Mellen in goal. Mellen is coming off a 40-save loss to the Rockets. The loss broke a long winning streak where he had given up only two goals in his previous four starts. Mellen still leads the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) both in goals against average, 1.57 gaa, and in save percentage, .927. He will need to play very well in this game to give the Lightning an opportunity. Sherwood is a high risk, fast break team, and can score goals in bunches. As we saw during the Whitman game, Mellen certainly has it in him to singlehandedly frustrate the opponent. Thomas Russell will get the start for the Warriors. He has been up and down this season while playing against some very good competition in the upper division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference.

The Upper Montgomery defense will get back James Botti who missed last week’s game versus Richard Montgomery as he was out-of-town with his external travel team. His absence was really felt after George Benedick took at two minute penalty for checking from behind. The checking from behind penalty automatically comes with a ten minute misconduct. Losing Benedick for the extended twelve minutes of game action coupled with James Botti’s absence put the Lightning in a bind with only three experienced defenders. With the entire lineup available to the coaching staff, expect the defense to focus on Sherwood’s leading goal scorer, Jarden Reed,18U AA, who has nine goals in ten games (10 GP, 9 G, 2 A). Reed, who is big and strong, and skates really well, will clearly be the most notable forward for the Warriors. Other top scorers for Sherwood are primary playmaker Grayson Winckler, 16U AA, (10 GP, 4 G, 11 A), Jeremy Isaacs, 18U AA, (10 GP, 7 G, 5 A), and Christian Winckler (10 GP, 5 G, 7 A). James, Botti, George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Botti, and Andrew Gean will have to clamp down and prevent this quartet of forwards from making noise in the offensive zone. Even though the Upper Montgomery penalty kill has been excellent this season (37 of 40, 92.5%), staying out of the penalty box will be critical to keeping the Warriors off the board.

Key to the Lightning winning this week will be having all three lines contributing. The absence of a couple of forwards last week led to the coaching staff having to juggle the line combinations. Against higher quality opponents in division one, having a full lineup is paramount to being able to match lines and compete with an evenly balanced lineup. Expect the lines to be Chris Hassett (10 GP, 11 G, 12 A), playing center between Ryan Jacobson (8 GP, 5 G, 9 A), and Nathan Cassell (9 GP, 11 G, 4 A). The top line has been very effective creating turnovers in the offensive zone and converting those turnovers into high quality scoring chances. The second line will likely be Bradley Cupples (10 GP, 1 G, 10 A) playing center between Hunter Cameron (10 GP, 5 G, 5 A), and Olivia Robbins (7 GP, 1 G, 3 A). Depending upon how the game is progressing, James Botti may also see some shifts at forward on the second line. A major problem for the Warriors this season has been on the defensive end of play. Samuel Greenberg (18U AA) is the top defender and then it is a patchwork of skaters playing defense. Sherwood is averaging giving up 5.7 goals a game and has given up the third most goals in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. If the Lightning can keep Sherwood off the board and play a structured game, they should be able to light the lamp against Russell.

Upper Montgomery has likely done enough to qualify for the Montgomery Hockey Conference division one playoff tournament. A win versus the Warriors would prevent Upper Montgomery from having to play the number five seeded team in the first round of the playoffs. The first four teams receive a bye into the quarterfinal round of the tournament. Rebounding with a win versus the Warriors would give the Lightning momentum heading out to Hagerstown to play a very talented Washington County squad. It will be an exciting finishing two week stretch with games against three high quality opponents as the team completes its 2021-2022 regular season schedule.

Upper Montgomery Lightning Mid-Season Coaches Report

chucklevine Leave a comment

As the Upper Montgomery Lightning have reached the mid-point of the 2021-2022 season, the coaches reflected on how they view the team’s progress thus far and look ahead to the remainder of the season. After soundly beating the Wilson Stars coming out of the winter break, the team now has a 5-3-1 record on the season and is poised to earn its first ever division one playoff appearance.

Question—What are your thoughts about the first half of the season?  How would you evaluate the Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program?

Answer—Overall we are very happy with how the team has played and progressed during the early portion of the season.  Starting off with three hard fought one goal losses to three very good teams and then coming back to have a six game unbeaten streak, 5-0-1 since then shows the team’s growth and determination.  If you look at our varsity roster, about 2/3’s of our student athletes are 9th or 10th graders. While everyone playing is high school aged, there is still a large difference in size and strength from when you are 14/15/16 years old to when you are 17/18 years old.  On top of that, we have had a very limited number of practices and with student athletes coming from six different high schools and several different hockey clubs it takes a while to jell. Not having had very much time to play together it took a bit of time for everyone to play as a coordinated team.  Our goal from the beginning of the season has been to qualify for the division one playoffs and with continued hard work, we should get there.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Our junior varsity student athletes and the junior varsity games have been so much fun.  We love that the junior varsity student athletes come out and just love to play the game of hockey.  They go out when called upon and play hard. It seems like everyone on the bench is just as happy when we score as the student athlete who actually scored the goal.  Junior varsity student athletes work hard and give it their all each shift of every game.  The coaches have been using the junior varsity games to coach up the student athletes since we have not had many practices. The team is growing, and the student athletes have been really listening to the instruction they have been provided and they have been trying to implement what we are teaching them.  Lately, we have been talking about playing smarter rather than harder and anticipating the game rather than reacting when on the ice.  This is much different than how many of them have been coached in their prior seasons. We are encouraged watching the team go out each game as they learn to incorporate what we are coaching them into game play.

Question—What, or who, has been the biggest surprise thus far?

Answer—Everyone has progressed nicely since last season or since spring hockey.  The entire team dynamic has changed since last year.  Last year’s games would normally be somewhat close on the scoreboard, but we would be outplayed and outshot considerably, sometimes as much as five to one in shots on goal. The team survived with Hall of Fame netminder Jonas Clark in net keeping the games respectable.  This year, we have controlled the games that we won in all aspects (offense, defense, and in net) and even controlled the play for good parts of the games that we have come up just short.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—We don’t usually like to point out any student athletes in particular, but the two Josh’s come to mind.  Josh Nadler is a 9th grader and looked good in spring hockey. He has really stepped up on the ice and as a leader for the junior varsity team.  Joshua Miller is a senior but did not play last season in our first year coaching the team, so we hadn’t seen him play before.  He has come in and really added a spark to the junior varsity team with his speed and anticipation. It is good for the younger student athletes to see how he plays.  We are happy with how everyone has progressed overall.

Question—What area needs the biggest improvement for the team to reach its full potential in the second half of the season?

Answer—The coaches have been talking with the student athletes about playing with a sense of urgency every second of every shift regardless of what the score is or who we are playing.  We ask the team to visualize the last couple of minutes of the Blair game, when we flew around the ice, pulled our goalie, and scored two goals with several chances to get the third goal and tie the game, and to take that sense of urgency and play every shift that way.  Other teams may have older, and higher level, travel team student athletes, but as Coach Scott says every game, “Hard work will beat better talent”.  We need to be the team that outworks everyone else.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Same thing for the junior varsity.  We need to improve playing with that sense of urgency every shift.  We need to try and win every shift, every race, every battle.  We also want to see the team play with more confidence out there on the ice.  Other than the Landon game, we have won or been in every game and can absolutely compete with all the other junior varsity teams in the league.  Let’s play with the confidence of one of the better junior varsity teams in the league.  Lastly, we need to work on anticipation rather than reacting.  High school hockey is so much bigger and faster than what most of our young student athletes are used to playing and there is not enough time to react to the play on the ice.  We need to anticipate what may happen to be in better position to make plays.  The coaching staff would rather the team anticipate and be wrong, rather than be standing around playing it safe trying not to make a mistake.

Question—What are the team’s goals for the remainder of the season?

Answer—In all regards, we are a young team.  We have a couple of seniors and juniors who have been a huge part of this team for the past three to four years, but the majority of our student athletes are 9th graders and 10th graders. We have heard of current middle school students that should be coming into the system and we continue to build towards the future.  With that being said, our stated goal this season has been to make the division 1 playoffs this year. We want to face the best teams we can to finish out the season.  We get better by playing the better teams, not by beating inferior teams.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Our overall goal is to develop our junior varsity student athletes into future varsity contributors and that will continue to be our focus.  Teaching and coaching the junior varsity how to play the right way, how to improve their game, and continue to develop up through the end of the season as we enter into the junior varsity playoffs.  Each game is a valuable teaching tool so getting to play a couple of junior varsity playoff games and getting a sense of what is necessary to win in the playoffs is important for the development of our junior varsity student athletes.

Question—How big was the Whitman victory in terms of the growth of the program?

Answer—There is a stigma in the Montgomery Hockey Conference about the disparity in levels of the teams in division one versus division two. It was important for our team and our student athletes to see firsthand that they can compete with teams in the upper division.  Even though Blair and Quince Orchard are in our division and are really good teams that we competed with toe to toe, it was important for our players to beat a good Whitman team who is in division one to know that we belong and that we have a bright future.  The confidence from that win was invaluable.

Question—What would you tell student athletes eligible to participate with Upper Montgomery to get them excited for joining the team next season or playing with Upper Montgomery during the upcoming spring 2022 season?

Answer—First, taking away the game of hockey, the most important thing to be excited about is getting to come in and become teammates and friends with the rest of the students.  Our student athletes are great young people, and they all get along so well.  We have student athletes from six different high schools so it is a chance to meet and make new friends and play with teammates who you may not have had the chance of playing with before.  From a hockey perspective, we are excited about where our program is headed.  Two years ago, the team barely had enough student athletes to field a varsity team.  We now have a full varsity team and almost a complete junior varsity team. We are working to develop our student athletes over the coming years to be one of the best high school programs in the county.  Spring hockey is a great opportunity for new student athletes of the program and rising 8th graders to get a sense of the level of play in high school hockey. They can get a feel for the team and our style of play, start meeting your teammates for years to come, and allow the coaches to evaluate your game and start coaching you up before you actually start high school. 

Question—What message would you like to communicate to the Upper Montgomery Lightning supporters and fan base?

Answer—Over the years our sons would leave MYHA practices early on Friday evenings just as the crowds of high school teams would be arriving to watch their classmates play hockey.  We would stay and watch the high school games and you got such a sense of how different the atmosphere is with your classmates and friends in the stands cheering on your school and it was just incredible.  We want our student athletes to get this same feeling.  Last year was a season played under Covid restrictions and most games were limited to just one parent and no other fans.  We are still in the midst of the pandemic, and everyone needs to be careful, but we can start to see things building this year.  The first couple of games our supporters were mostly family a good amount of our junior varsity student athletes.  We then noticed the next couple of game, more friends and classmates with green jerseys in the stands.  Then we got to the Northwest game.  Northwest is known for having a lot of fans at their games, but we looked over from the bench and saw a large crowd, mostly in green and white and even some signs posted around the glass.  We can’t tell you how much of a boost this gave our student athletes and really gave us a big advantage. And it showed on the ice as well as we dominated against Northwest. It was no longer just about our team playing for themselves and their parents, but for their classmates, for their schools, and for the Upper Montgomery community.  Please continue to come out and support, bring more friends and classmates, and cheer our student athletes on as we push to qualify for the division one conference tournament and then participate in the division two playoff tournament.

Junior Varsity Rockville Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity team returns to action on Monday evening, January 17th versus Rockville. Game time is 5:40 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. The team will be looking to bounce back after losing two consecutive conference games versus Walter Johnson and Wootton before the winter break. The Lightning junior varsity squad is 2-3 in league play, and 2-4-2 overall on the season after its recent tie versus Frederick County in a non-league game. Rockville comes into the game with a 5-2 record and is second in the junior varsity conference standings.

In net for the Lightning will be Landon Bernard who will be looking to continue his strong season. Through the first eight games of the season, Bernard has a respectable goals against average of 3.70 and a save percentage of .858. His strong play has kept the Lightning in games and has given the team an opportunity to win every game. For the Rams, it is expected to be Sean Connelly in net, although Lily Bendavid may see time as well. The Rams’ defense has been good in front of their goalies as Connelly has a 2.95 goals against average and Bendavid has a 2.22 goals against average. It will be important for the Lightning to generate high quality scoring chances and jump out to an early lead.

On defense the Lightning have been routinely skating with four defenders although that may change against Rockville. Young junior varsity defenders Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell have continued to develop. Howerton has been effective at rushing the puck up the ice. Sell is a defensive defender who has been gaining confidence as the season has gone on. It is anticipated that they will be joined on defense by Andrew Gean and Stephen Shkeda to provide a stabilizing influence for the young defense. Upper Montgomery will need to keep track of Chance Hostetler who leads the Rams in scoring with five goals and six points in seven games and Brendan Illif who has three goals and two assists in four games.

Offensively, the Lightning have begun to generate some more offensive opportunities. Brandon Bernard leads the team in scoring with four goals and three assists for seven points in seven games. Josh Miller has scored four goals in eight games while Josh Nadler has scored three goals and has added an assist in six games. The Lightning very much need additional depth scoring from its forwards if they are going to beat Rockville and also in the final two regular season games against Northwest and Churchill. On defense for the Rams expect to see a lot of JJ St. Aubin who will likely play almost half the game. In addition to his defensive abilities, St. Aubin has also chipped in three goals. Upper Montgomery will be looking to pull the upset and advance higher up in the conference standings.

Botti Brothers Lead Rout of Wilson

chucklevine Leave a comment

Brothers James and Andrew Botti helped lead the Upper Montgomery Lightning to a 13-0 blowout win Friday night against the clearly overmatched Wilson Stars. James scored four goals and added an assist and Andrew scored a goal and had three assists in the game which served as a tune up before the Lightning finish the regular season with four games against higher quality opponents. The win, coupled with the DC Stars loss to Sherwood, means that Upper Montgomery has just about clinched its first ever division one playoff appearance.

The Lightning would score routinely throughout the game against Stars junior netminder Jack Kobil. Although he gave up 13 goals, Kobil played outstanding throughout the game making 44 saves, many of them of the incredibly difficult variety. The Lightning also hit the post 6 times. Without Kobil’s play, the score would have been even more lopsided.

Upper Montgomery pressured right from the beginning of the game. On the third shift of the contest, the Lightning would strike for what would turn out to be the game winning goal. Andrew Botti passed the puck up ice from his own blue line to Joshua Miller on the left wing at the Stars blue line. Miller bumped the puck to the middle of the ice and hit Josh Nadler in stride as he was entering the offensive zone. Nadler took the puck wide toward the right faceoff circle and shot the puck back against the grain far side and past Kobil’s blocker for his first career varsity goal. A minute and a half later, Andrew Botti would make the score 2-0 firing a wrist shot from the blue line through traffic in front of the net. James Botti had skated the puck in a circle from the left wing boards back to the point, and then to the right side of the ice and around the net. His pass found Bradley Cupples in front. Cupples turned with the puck in the left circle and fed Andrew Botti at the mid point of the blue line for the shot. Upper Montgomery had been craving depth scoring and the first two goals against the Stars came via the third and second lines, a theme that would continue throughout the game.

After Andrew Gean took a cross checking penalty behind the Lightning net, the Lightning would strike while on the penalty kill. The first of their three shorthanded goals in the game. Off of a faceoff in the offensive zone, a failed Wilson clearing attempt was kept in the zone by George Benedick at the right point. He stickhandled around the Stars forwards into the slot before unleashing a wrist shot that got by Kobil. Midway through the first period the Upper Montgomery defense would score for the third consecutive time. Nadler won an offensive zone faceoff in the left circle back to Gean at the blue line. Gean passed left to his defensive partner Ethan Hockey. Hockey stick handled into the slot and passed the puck to Miller near the left post. Miller’s backhand pass into the crease area found Hockey all alone for an easy score high glove side into an unguarded open net. Wilson would manage to keep the Lightning off the scoreboard for the rest of the period, largely due to the play of Kobil. Shots on goal in the first period were 26-1 in favor of the Lightning demonstrating how lopsided the play was in the first period.

The second period started with the Lightning again on the penalty kill after a roughing minor to Benedick. Starting the period down a skater contributed to a slow start in the period by Upper Montgomery. It would take 5:30 seconds for the team to turn up the heat. From the neutral zone Chris Hasset dropped a nifty backhand drop pass on the left to Hunter Cameron cutting into the Stars defensive zone. Cameron got behind the defense and cut toward the net. His patience with the puck allowed Nathan Cassel to drive the zone and cut to the far post. Cameron found an unguarded Cassel for an easy snapshot into the wide open far side of the net. Kobil had absolutely no chance on the play. A minute later the score would grow to 6-0 on James Botti’s first goal of the game and his first goal of the season. Cupples won another offensive zone faceoff in the right faceoff circle back to Gean at the right point. Gean passed to the middle of the ice where Andrew Botti’s wrist shot trickled wide of the net. The puck bounced off the end boards directly to James Botti alone at the right post for an easy tap in goal. Forty seconds later the score would become 7-0 and the rest of the game was played with a running clock. Ethan Hockey carried the puck down the left wing into the Wilson offensive zone and fired a shot on Kobil. Kobil made the initial glove save but could not control the rebound. The rebound landed at the feet of Nadler who from the bottom of the right circle immediately fired a wrist shot on the rebound attempt. Kobil again made a glove save but could not squeeze the puck. The puck landed in the crease and Adam Levine swatted a backhand whack connecting with the puck and putting it past Kobil for his first goal of the season in limited playing time.

The next several minutes were played either with Upper Montgomery killing penalties to Benedick (roughing) or Cameron (interference) or skating four on four. Just before the penalty to Cameron ended, Stephen Shkeda fed James Botti cutting down the middle of the offensive zone. Botti faked around a Wilson defender and went in alone on Kobil from the middle of the slot on a quick developing breakaway. He easily beat Kobil top shelf glove side to score his second goal of the game as well as the Lightning’s second shorthanded goal of the night. Just as the second period was ending, with five seconds left, Hassett would cap the five goal second period burst. Cameron sprung Hassett into the offensive zone with a pass along the right wing boards. Hassett briefly lost control of the puck, recovered, and passed cross ice to Cassel in the left wing corner. Cassel acted as if he was going to skate around the net, but passed the puck out front prior to fully going behind the net. His pass found Hassett wide open in the slot for a quick wrist shot past Kobil’s glove. Shots on goal in the second period were 20-2 in favor of the Lightning.

Upper Montgomery scored with five seconds remaining in the second period would reach double digits in goals five seconds into the third period. Cupples won the neutral zone faceoff to start the third period directly left to Shkeda who had cut inside the Wilson winger. Shkeda skated the puck into the Wilson defensive zone and fired a wrist shot low glove side and past Kobil for his first goal of the season. A minute later the score would increase to 11-0. Benedick sent the puck up ice from the Lightning defensive zone to Shkeda on the left wing. Shkeda skated into the zone wide and around a Stars defender. He then cut toward the net from the bottom of the left faceoff circle. His shot low to the pads of Kobil was saved. With the rebound sitting in the slot for a brief moment, it was there long enough for James Botti to poke the puck into the net before Kobil could get on top of the puck to cover and force a whistle. For James Botti, it was his hat trick goal.

With 10:35 left in the game, the Lightning would score their final shorthanded goal of the game with Cassel in the box for slashing. Ethan Hockey back checked hard through the neutral zone forcing a turnover at the Upper Montgomery blue line. Hassett took control of the puck and skated the opposite direction on a two on one rush. Hassett floated wide on the right wing allowing Cameron to charge hard at the back post of the net where a perfectly placed pass led to an easy back door tap in for Cameron. The Lightning then would kill off a slashing penalty to Nadler before James Botti would net his fourth goal of the game. Andrew Botti passed the puck from the side of Will Mellen’s net up the center of the ice to Cupples who led a two on one rush with James Botti. Cupples carried the puck into the offensive zone toward the left faceoff circle and drew the defender toward him. With the defender committed, he passed the puck over to James Botti who had a clear lane to fire a wrist shot past Kobil. The goal capped a feel good win, but the Lightning fully understand that the level of competition will increase significantly over the rest of the season.

Game Notes:

  • The victory was the second straight shutout victory by the Lightning over the Stars.
  • The Lightning outshot the Stars 46-3 over the first two periods and 57-4 for the game.
  • Will Mellen lowered his Montgomery Hockey Conference leading goals against average to 1.17 and increased his Montgomery Hockey Conference leading save percentage to .935.
  • The Lightning penalty kill smothered all seven Wilson powerplays, while scoring three short-handed goals. the Upper Montgomery penalty kill is now 34 of 37 on the season, 91.9%.
  • The Lightning picked up their fifth straight victory and are unbeaten in their last six games 5-0-1.
  • The Lightning are next in action on Friday, January 14th at 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Area for a game against the Richard Montgomery Rockets.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—James Botti—Upper Montgomery Defense—4 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Andrew Botti—Upper Montgomery Defense–-1 Goal, 3 Assists
Third Star—Ethan Hockey—Upper Montgomery Defense—1 Goal, 2 Assists

Richard Montgomery Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to action on Friday, January 14th versus Richard Montgomery. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Lightning will be looking to extend a season high five game win streak and a six game unbeaten streak, 5-0-1. Friday’s game will be a good measure of the team’s progress this season as Upper Montgomery will be stepping up in competition against the Rockets who were a state championship finalist last season. A small advantage is that Richard Montgomery will be playing their first game in a month.

The Lightning are expected to start Will Mellen in goal. Mellen is coming off his second shutout of the season against Wilson. He has given up two goals combined in his last four starts. Mellen leads the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) both in goals against average, 1.17 gaa and in save percentage, .935. In six games this season he has a record of 4-1-1, giving up a total of seven goals. He will need to play very well in this game to shut down the high powered Rockets attack. As we saw during the Whitman game, Mellen certainly has it in him to singlehandedly frustrate the opponent. It is anticipated that Henry Darko will get the start for the Rockets. He has been Richard Montgomery’s main goalie this season and has backstopped some impressive wins over Wootton and Whitman, along with a tie against BCC, one of the top teams in the upper division of the MHC.

The Upper Montgomery defense pitched in last week with three goals and eight assists against Wilson. This week, the main objective will be shutting down the Rockets top five high scoring student athletes; Dylan Goetz a high scoring forward (8 GP, 10 goals and 6 assists), defender Luke Gutmann who plays externally at the 18U AA travel level (6 GP, 9 goals and 3 assists), forward Daniel Martella who also plays externally at the 18U AA travel level (8 GP, 6 goals and 5 assists), defender Mitchell Bobys, (18U AA travel) who has (8 GP, 5 goals and 6 assists), and Zac Bulson (18U AA travel) who has played well in limited action (4 GP, 3 goals and 3 assists). The Lightning will be without high scoring defender James Botti who will be out of town with his external travel team. Expect the quartet of George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Botti, and Andrew Gean to get most of the ice time with Cole Howerton receiving a few shifts throughout the game. The Upper Montgomery defense will have its hands full containing the Rockets firepower which will make it important that the team stay out of the penalty box to further limit the Richard Montgomery offense.

Key to the Lightning’s success last week in the win against Wilson was that depth scoring finally showed up and took the pressure off the top line. This week, top line forward Nathan Cassel will be out of town with his external travel team. It will be interesting to see who the coaching staff moves up to play with Chris Hassett and Ryan Jacobson on the top line. It may be Hunter Cameron who flourished last week. With the return of Olivia Robbins to the lineup this week, it is anticipated that she will play along side Bradley Cupples on the second line. The third line may be a rotation of several different combinations of student athletes as the coaching staff looks to find a trio that meshes well, is defensively sound, and can provide a spark and energy.

An Upper Montgomery win versus Richard Montgomery would be a signature victory for the Lightning. A win or a tie will qualify the team for the MHC division one conference playoff tournament which would be a first in program history. The Lightning hope to continue to play smothering defense on Friday night and keep their unbeaten streak alive. It will be an exciting finishing two week stretch as the team completes its 2021-2022 regular season schedule.

Entertaining Game Ends in Tie for Junior Varsity

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity traveled to Frederick this past Wednesday evening for a game against Frederick County’s junior varsity team. The very entertaining non-conference game had a little bit of everything before ending in a 5-5 tie. There were highlight real goals, end-to-end action, hard hits, great saves, lots of powerplays, and several firsts. The Lightning junior varsity’s record is now 2-4-2 with three conference games upcoming in January before the junior varsity playoffs commence in February.

The game started slowly with only one shot on goal by each team in the first seven minutes of action. Then, the game erupted. At 7:15 of the first period, Frederick County would open the scoring. Frederick County forward Nick Cangemi gathered the puck in the high slot and fired a wrist shot past Lightning netminder Landon Bernard near his body glove side. Off the ensuring faceoff Upper Montgomery iced the puck. The Lightning lost the defensive zone draw. Thomas O’Brien collected the puck and shot toward the net. The puck hit traffic in front and did not get through to Bernard. Instead, the puck bounced to Raymie Caiola alone in front. Another wrist shot, this time high glove side, put Frederick County in front 2-0. For Frederick County, it was goals on two of their first three shots of the game.

The lead would not last long, however. Right after scoring, Caiola took a tripping penalty putting the Lightning on the powerplay for what would be the first of their eight powerplay opportunities in the contest. From the defensive zone, Stephen Shkeda lofted the puck high in the air to clear the zone. The puck bounded up ice and Brandon Bernard outraced the Frederick County defense to the puck. He skated in alone on a breakaway, faking Frederick County netminder Conner Langston out of the play, and he slid a forehand shot into the vacant left side of the net. For the Lightning it was their first powerplay goal of the season. The Lightning would tie the score two and a half minutes later. Josh Nadler took control of the puck at center ice along the right wing boards. He skated the puck into the Frederick County defensive zone and around the net. As he rounded the goal, he centered the puck to Branson Hughes whose quick release beat Langston five hole for his first career high school goal. The Lightning kept up the pressure and had a flurry of chances as the first period drew to a close. At the first period buzzer, Greg Felder took a cross checking penalty in a scrum behind the Frederick County net.

The Frederick County powerplay at the beginning of the second period was short lived as Trent Wivell took a roughing penalty to even up the number of skaters on the ice. Just after Wivell’s penalty ended, Brandon Bernard would score again on an impressive individual effort. Two Frederick County skaters were in the far left wing corner beginning to retrieve the puck and start a breakout from their defensive zone. Bernard went in hard on the forecheck. He fought for puck possession and split the Frederick County defenders. Taking the puck directly toward the net, he beat Langston short side with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game and put Upper Montgomery up 3-2. Unfortunately, the Lightning would only have the lead for three minutes. Off of a faceoff to the left of Landon Bernard, Frederick County won the draw cleanly over to Cangemi who was curling to the top of the faceoff circle from his left wing position. Before getting into the slot, he fired a wrist shot high glove side past Bernard to even the game at three.

The next four minutes were played physically with both Adam Levine and Bradley Cupples on the receiving end of big hits. The physicality seemed to get Frederick County too energized as they began running around taking unnecessary and undisciplined penalties. First, Kobe Meitzler went to the penalty box for cross checking. Then, while nearing the end of the penalty kill, Wivell went back to the penalty box for roughing putting the Lightning on an eight second 5-3 advantage. In Lightning quick fashion, it would take only two seconds for Upper Montgomery to cash in and reclaim the lead. Off the faceoff, Brandon Bernard won the draw directly to Felder who was unguarded in the slot. Felder reacted quickly and fired a wrist shot five hole for his first career high school goal. Over the final minutes of the second period, the Lightning would remain on the powerplay as Jack McCoy was called for cross checking away from the play. The Lightning were unable to capitalize and could not expand on their 4-3 lead.

Just after McCoy’s penalty ended at the beginning of the third period, Cangemi was called for roughing continuing the parade of Frederick County student athletes to the penalty box. The Lightning powerplay was cut short when Cupples was called for cross checking thirty seconds later. Beginning with the four-on-four play, Frederick County turned up the pressure. Even though they failed to score, the momentum had clearly shifted. The volume of shots on Landon Bernard increased substantially (19 in the period) and he made several strong saves to keep the Lightning in front. With just under five minutes left in the game, a point shot by Aaron Eng was deflected. The puck popped up and into the crease area where Caiola was standing alone. The shot beat Landon Bernard high glove side once again to knot the game at 4-4.

The tie game would not last long. Thirty seconds after the Frederick County goal, Upper Montgomery would again re-take the lead. Brandon Bernard took control of the puck behind the Frederick County net. He passed the puck to Cupples at the left point. Cupples’ shot deflected wide of the net into the right corner besides Langston. The puck was retrieved by Adarsh Nair along the goal line. Nair turned and fired the puck toward the net. The puck hit Langston in the left shoulder and popped high in the air. As if in slow motion, the puck fell back toward the netminder hitting Langston along the backside and bounding into the net behind him. The Lightning again had the lead, this time at 5-4.

With 3:36 left in the game, the Lightning went on their seventh powerplay of the night when Meitzler was again called for cross checking. Unable to clear the puck from their defensive zone multiple times with the extra skater advantage, disaster stuck when Wivell collected the puck down low and fired at Landon Bernard. Bernard made the initial save, but the rebound went right back to Wivell who scored a shorthanded goal on the second chance between Bernard’s body and the right post. The Lightning still had 55 seconds remaining on the powerplay which they would fail to convert. With 1:10 left in the game, the Lightning would be given yet another powerplay when Wivell went back to the penalty box for the third time in the game, this time for cross checking. With a golden opportunity to win the game with a late powerplay goal, the Lightning never tested Langston as they were unable to get a shot on net and settled for the tie.

Game Notes:

  • Brandon Bernard’s four point night was the most points ever scored by a Lightning student athlete in a junior varsity game.
  • For the fourth time in eight games, the Lightning gave up a goal in the last three minutes of the game to either tie or make the game a one goal nailbiter.
  • The Lightning were outshot by Frederick County 36-19.
  • The Lightning penalty kill did not allow a powerplay goal and is now 21-23 on the season, 91.3%.
  • The Lightning junior varsity powerplay finally broke through scoring both a powerplay goal as well as a 5-3 powerplay goal. The team was 2-8 on the powerplay in the game. The powerplay is now 2-26 on the season 7.7%.
  • The Lightning will be looking to bounce back into the win column when they return to action on Monday, January 17th at 4:15pm against Rockville at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Brandon Bernard—Upper Montgomery Center—2 goals, 2 assists
Second Star—Nick Cangemi—Frederick County Forward–-2 goals
Third Star—Raymie Caiola—Frederick County Forward—2 goals

Wilson January Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to the ice on Friday, January 7th to begin the second half of the season. Game time against the winless Wilson Stars is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. This will be the second game of the season versus Wilson, with Upper Montgomery winning the first game 9-0 just before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Lightning will be heavily favored in the game and will need to make sure that complacency does not set in as the team tries for its fifth victory in a row.

The Lightning offense has been led all year by the first line of Chris Hassett (10 goals, 10 assists), Ryan Jacobson (5 goals, 9 assists), and Nathan Cassel (10 goals, 3 assists). All three student athletes are in 9th or 10th grade. The future is very bright for this trio. The second line has started to find its scoring touch of late. Hunter Cameron now has 4 goals and 3 assists, Bradley Cupples has a goal and 6 assists, and Olivia Robbins has chipped in with a goal and two assists having missed multiple games playing with her external travel team. The third line has been a revolving pair of wingers along with Brandon Bernard at center. It has been difficult for the third line to achieve chemistry although Stephen Shkeda has provided the line with tenacity and energy. Due to the anticipated absence this week of Jacobson and Robbins as they will be out-of-town with their external travel teams, expect the team to dress additional depth forwards which will provide playing time for some student athletes that would not normally receive playing time.

On defense, James Botti leads the team in points with 7 assists in 7 games, but other defenders have chipped in with points; George Benedick a goal and two assists, Andrew Botti a goal and two assists, and Andrew Gean has a goal and an assist. Together with Ethan Hockey, the Lightning have given up only 20 goals in 8 games, for a team goals against average of 2.50 goals per game. If you exclude the 7-6 shootout versus the Blair Blazers, the team’s goals against average would be even lower at 1.86 per game. Even with the non-conference game versus the West Virginia Vipers included, the Lightning have given up the fewest goals of all 15 teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The hard work and effort of the defense, as well as the backchecking forwards, have really limited the opposing teams’ scoring opportunities. Expect this same type of defensive effort against the Stars and the team to dress six defenders with Cole Howerton returning to the lineup.

In goal, Will Mellen has led the way. Mellen leads all goalies in the Montgomery Hockey Conference who have played at least three games with a 1.40 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. Landon Bernard has also seen some varsity action, picking up his first career high school varsity win in the game against the West Virginia Vipers. If the strong goaltending keeps up, the Lightning will be in every game and will have a chance to win the cross over games against the division one teams. Both goalies may see time against the Stars. In net for the Stars will be junior Jack Kobil who has done everything he can to keep the opposition from scoring.

The Lightning special teams have been uneven. The power play percentage is good at 23.3% (7 for 30), but it is the way the power play has looked that is not so good. The power play looks disjointed most of the time, with perimeter passing and not many high quality looks. The Lightning scored four power play goals in the high scoring Blair game but have only three other power play goals in the other seven games of the season (3 for 23, 13.0%). On the other hand, the Upper Montgomery penalty kill has been fantastic, killing off 27 of 30 opportunities (90.0%) on the season. The Lightning have killed off the last 16 extra attacker chances and this success has given the team a major boost. The Wilson game may be an opportunity to work on special teams in a game environment.

A win versus Wilson coupled with a DC Stars loss to Sherwood would put the Lightning on the precipice of their first ever division one playoff appearance. A second victory in one of the last three conference games of the season against either Richard Montgomery, Sherwood, or St. Johns, would guarantee a playoff berth for Upper Montgomery. Join us on Friday evening as the Lightning begin the finishing stretch of the 2021-2022 regular season.