Author: chucklevine

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Tuesday evening, December 27th for their final regular season contest. The non-conference game against the Carroll County Bears begins at 8:20 pm at Skate Frederick. For Upper Montgomery, a victory will conclude the regular season with a .500 record at 4-4-2. The Lightning have completed conference play. The team awaits the outcome of several season concluding conference games in early January to determine what seed they have earned for the season ending junior varsity playoff tournament. The Lightning finished conference play with a .500 record at 2-2-2.

Upper Montgomery enters Tuesday’s game having played better over the past few games, earning standings points in their past three contests. The team fought hard this past Thursday to earn their second straight tie against Rockville/Magruder. Overall, as a team, the Lightning did not play well. But the team fought back to earn the tie with a pulled goalie extra attacker goal with 45 seconds remaining in the game. It was a very nice play initiated by Adam Levine behind the net. Levine won the puck battle, centered the puck to AJ Marks, and the play was finally finished off by Henry Honacki with a nice high backhanded shot.

Over the past three games the Lightning’s offense has awakened, scoring 19 total goals. The team has been led by its top five forwards; TJ Gottesman continues to lead the team with twelve points (6GP, 4G, 8A) despite missing the past two games. He is expected back Tuesday night against the Bears. Henry Honacki continues to lead the junior varsity in goals with seven (9GP, 7G, 4A). He is second on the team in points. Adam Levine has produced over the past three games with five points and is now third on the team in scoring (9GP, 3G, 4A). Steven Shkeda’s attacking style has stretched the ice and provided many opportunities for Gottesman. His scoring pace is (8GP, 2G, 4A). After a slow start, Josh Nadler has scored in three straight games as he has begun to find his skating legs after a long absence from game action. It is no coincidence that the performance of these experienced student athletes has contributed to the team’s overall better offensive performances.

In goal, Landon Bernard will look to continue his excellent play. He has been really, really good over the past three weeks for the varsity giving up only four goals over the past three games. With Bernard in net, the Lightning will have a distinct advantage in junior varsity play over whoever the Bears decide to start in net.

Carroll County has played just three junior varsity games thus far this season. In two of the three games, the Bears have been shutout. The Bears did beat Glenelg 7-2 to open the season. (Glenelg was an opponent the Lightning beat 4-2). Samantha Miller and Levi Lustig scored twice, and Anthony Coronel had a goal and an assist in that game.

After playing better the past several games, Upper Montgomery cannot play down to the level of the Bears. The team needs to continue to build momentum by playing well. Upper Montgomery needs to show maturity and demonstrate that it knows how to handle teams that are equal to it or of a lower talent level. The winter break non-conference tilt will be a good opportunity to judge where the team is heading into the playoffs.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action this upcoming Thursday afternoon, December 22nd versus Rockville/Magruder. Game time is 4:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. For Upper Montgomery, it will be the final conference game of the season and the last opportunity to earn important conference standing points. A Lightning win would guarantee a top six seed for the team and Upper Montgomery would then avoid having to play an opening round junior varsity playoff game.

Upper Montgomery enters the game having played better over the past few games. The team fought hard this past weekend to earn a tie against Northwest/Quince Orchard. In the Montgomery Hockey Conference, there is no overtime in junior varsity regular season games. Down a goal on three separate occasions in the second and third periods, the team clawed back each time to tie the game. The Lightning have played much better over the past four games and cannot be overconfident heading into the game versus Rockville/Magruder. A Lightning win would give the team a winning record in regular season conference games at 3-2-1.

Rockville/Magruder enters the game in second to last place in the conference standings. The Rams have earned just a tie in three games played. Rockville/Magruder has scored seven goals and has given up fifteen over their three games. The Rams will play their fourth game of the season on Wednesday afternoon and will turn around and play the Lightning the next day. Rams’ defender Wyatt Bakalis leads the team in goals and points with his three goals. No other skater on the Rams’ roster has scored more than one goal.

As has been said many times this season, quite simply, Upper Montgomery needed to score more and generate more offensive chances. Against Churchill and Northwest/Quince Orchard the team has done just that. With the additional goals have come better game results, a win and a tie. TJ Gottesman continues to lead the team with twelve points (6GP, 4G, 8A) despite missing the Northwest/Quince Orchard game. Henry Honacki continues to lead the junior varsity in goals with six (8GP, 6G, 3A). Over the past two games, Josh Nadler, Adam Levine, Cole Howerton, and Sean Levine have picked up the scoring pace. It is no coincidence that the performance of these experienced student athletes has contributed to the team’s overall better performances.

In goal, Landon Bernard will look to continue his excellent play. He has been really, really good over the past three weeks at the varsity and junior varsity levels. With Bernard in net, the Lightning will have a distinct advantage over whoever the Rams decide to start in net. After playing well the past several games, Upper Montgomery cannot play down to the level of the Rams. The team needs to continue to build momentum by playing well. Upper Montgomery needs to demonstrate it knows how to handle teams that are a lower quality and beneath them in the standings. It is this growth and maturity that will be better known after Thursday afternoon’s contest.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning bolt into Tuesday afternoon’s game against Wootton with two data points fresh in their mind. One, the team has now won three of their past four games. In each game that the team has been victorious, Upper Montgomery has given up either one or zero goals. To a person, the team would acknowledge that this past Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Sherwood Warriors was not their best effort. The Lightning finally found their legs in the second period in route to four consecutive goals and then opened up a comfortable lead. Second, in the previous fourteen years that the Montgomery Hockey Conference has existed, Upper Montgomery (or playing under the previous team name, Damascus, et al.) the program has never beaten the Wootton Patriots.

This is the year! The Lightning play Wootton in a home and home series split with Tuesday’s game played before the winter holiday break and concluding with the opening game after winter break on Friday, January 6. Historically, one of the best programs in the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League, the Patriots have fallen off over the past two seasons. Presently, the Patriots are one spot behind Upper Montgomery in the conference standings. While the Patriots long to return to the years of being a powerhouse along-side the Churchill Bulldogs, the Lightning are looking for a signature win to announce their arrival in the upper tier of the MHC.

Once again, Upper Montgomery’s leading scorers Nathan Cassel (6GP, 6G, 8A) and Chris Hassett (7GP, 6G, 7A) will need to carry the offensive load. The depth scoring this season has been excellent and shows just how much the team has matured over last season. Fourteen different skaters have scored a goal this season with ten of those skaters having found the net multiple times. Playing against a higher level of competition this season the team is averaging 5.25 goals a game.

The defense has also been more active offensively. Senior George Benedick continues to outpace his production from all prior years combined. He has picked up his scoring pace over his previous three seasons (6GP, 3G, 7A). Ethan Hockey, Andrew Botti, and Brady Berkhammer have at least five points each. Together, in eight games, the team’s defender have contributed (9G and 20A).

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to continue his strong performances. He has been very good in goal the past couple of weeks at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. He stopped 14 of 15 shots against Blair, just losing a shutout with less than a minute remaining in the game. Against Sherwood on Friday night, he stopped 21 of 22 shots. Bernard made an impressive and key save against Jeremy Isaacs, the Warriors high scoring forward, on a breakaway. Wootton is likely to start Jack Munini in one game and former Lightning goalie Will Mellen in the other game. Upper Montgomery will surely be on point in the game that Mellen starts. Both Wootton goalies have not played very well this season with a goals against over 5.00 and save percentages in the mid-.800s. Let’s hope that lack of success continues for two more weeks. Comparatively, Bernard has a goals against average of 3.75 and a save percentage of .851. For Bernard, his stats and play have gotten better as the season has progressed.

Wootton has some very talented student athletes in their program. The Patriots are led by a quartet of top-end skaters. Junior (16U AA) forward Grady Sellman leads the team is goals and points with (7GP, 8G, 3A). Speedy Conor Harris (18U AA) has (7GP, 3G, 4A). Junior IIhom Abdulaev, probably the Patriots most talented forward, has missed some games due to an injury suffered early in the season. Abdulaev (16U AA), (4GP, 3G, 3A) is a game time decision for Tuesday, but is likely back for the rematch in early January. Sam Hosier is an offensive minded defender. Hosier, a (16U AA) talent, has four goals in seven games. Wootton is a very physical team that has taken far, far too many penalties this season. Upper Montgomery will need to refrain from retaliating against the Patriots and must convert when the powerplay opportunities present. The Patriots are a young team and are weak defensively. Upper Montgomery should be able to take advantage of the Patriots back line. As with last week’s game, the Lightning will have to carefully determine when to press forward offensively. Keeping Wootton off the scoreboard will be the key to the outcome of the game.

The Lightning are starting to pile up the victories and get on a bit of a roll. This game against Wootton will go a long way in determining if the Lightning will finish as one of the top eight seeds in the conference and would then host a first round playoff game. If Upper Montgomery continues to play a strong, unselfish team game like the team has done the last couple of weeks against Blair and Sherwood, history could be made on Tuesday. The Lightning need to have the attitude of taking it right to the Patriots from the opening faceoff. The team needs to play with the lead and remove any doubt about who is the better team. A full effort for 45 minutes to snag the important victory. The Lightning need to get the win any way possible; high scoring, low scoring, it really does not matter. The only thing that is relevant is to win. Remain hungry, play with a swagger, and make other teams prove that they can beat you. Bring it home again this week Lightning!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Saturday, December 17th facing off against Northwest/Quince Orchard. Game time is 11:30 am at Laurel Ice Gardens.

Upper Montgomery enters the game having played better over the past few games. The team cannot be overconfident thinking the drubbing of Churchill means they are a really good team. Churchill’s junior varsity team is terrible and using that game as a measuring stick is not appropriate. Upper Montgomery needs to continue to play better and gain important conference standings points to finish the regular season with the best possible seeding heading into the junior varsity season ending conference playoff tournament. Playing well with momentum and confidence heading into the playoffs will provide the foundation for a deep playoff run.

As has been said many times this season, quite simply, Upper Montgomery needed to score more and generate more offensive chances. Against Churchill this was not a problem. The coaching staff told several of the skaters not to shoot the puck after the score got out of hand at the end of the first period. Upper Montgomery was never threatened during the game, stepping off the gas early in the 12-2 beat down of the Bulldogs. All but two student athletes in the lineup scored at least a point in the game. The score could have been much worse if not for the sportsmanship of Upper Montgomery.

TJ Gottesman leads the team with twelve points (6GP, 4G, 8A). He is averaging two points a game. His three goal, two assist, five point effort against Churchill set a program record for points in a junior varsity game. Henry Honacki leads the junior varsity in goals with five (7GP, 5G, 3A). Stephen Shkeda is the only other skater averaging at least a point a game (6GP, 2G, 4A). Against Churchill, Cole Howerton, Adam Levine, and Josh Nadler had multiple point games. It is hoped that their performances will carry forward into the upcoming games against Northwest/Quince Orchard and Rockville.

In goal, Landon Bernard will return to the net after a game off. He will be looking to build off of his best performance of the season. Last week he played superb in the junior varsity’s loss to top ranked Walter Johnson, stopping 37 of 39 shots and almost single handedly stealing a win for the Lightning. He stopped five breakaways throughout the game. The only two goals he gave up were also on breakaway chances. Bernard has been solid in net this season and provides the Lightning with a decided advantage in goal.

Northwest/Quince Orchard will counter with either Ryan Stillwell or Joseph Dean in net. Northwest/Quince Orchard has played only two junior varsity games so far this season, while Upper Montgomery has played seven. The Jaguars losses were to the two top ranked junior varsity teams, Walter Johnson and Richard Montgomery. Stillwell has a 4.91 GAA and a .786 save percentage. Contract those statistics with Bernard’s performance, 2.80 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

Offensively, the Jaguars have scored only one goal in their two games. However, their roster is comprised of student athletes that also play for the varsity teams. Therefore, Northwest/Quince Orchard has the ability to compete and win if the Lightning take them lightly. After dominating the Bulldogs, Upper Montgomery needs to build off that victory and play well again this week. The team needs wins of any kind, any way. Saturday’s contest will tell us a lot about the growth of the team over the past month and how the season is likely to turn out.

Fresh off their most impressive victory of the season, the Upper Montgomery Lightning return to game action on Friday evening December 16th versus the Sherwood Warriors. Game time is 8:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. The Lightning will be looking to make it three wins over their last four games if they can beat the Warriors. Upper Montgomery is firmly in the Montgomery Hockey Conference season ending playoff tournament. The team’s performance over the next six games will determine if Upper Montgomery will host a first round playoff matchup. If Upper Montgomery plays a strong team game against Sherwood, the Lightning have the talent to come out on top.

Once again, Upper Montgomery’s leading scorers Nathan Cassel (5GP, 6G, 6A) and Chris Hassett (6GP, 4G, 6A) will need to carry the offensive load. Friday’s game will see the return to game action of Lightning center Ryan Jacobson (4GP, 4G, 2A). His return to action is welcomed and will help neutralize the Warrior’s highly skilled forward group. Junior forward Olivia Robbins, fresh off of her two goal game against Blair, will miss the Sherwood game as she is out-of-town with her external travel team. Depth scoring which had been a weakness of the team in previous seasons is more prevalent this year. Brandon Bernard has scored in all four games he has participated in this season (4GP, 4G, 2A). Philip Shkeda has complemented Cassel and Hassett nicely (7GP, 3G, 5A). Olivia Robbins (5GP, 3G, 4A) has increased her offensive production from last season.

The defense has also been more active offensively. Senior George Benedick has picked up his scoring pace over his previous three seasons (5GP, 3G, 5A). His eight points are a career high and are more points than he accumulated in his previous three seasons combined. Ethan Hockey, Brady Berkhammer, and Andrew Botti have tallied, five, five, and four points each. The third line was good this past Friday evening. Goals from Stephen Shkeda and Henry Honakci who notched his first career varsity goal against the Blazers helped. The depth scoring has taken the pressure off of the top line and has made the team more difficult to match up against. Playing mostly against the second division teams, Sherwood is averaging giving up 6.5 goals per game. The Lightning should be able to light the lamp on Friday night.

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to continue his strong performances. He has been very good in goal the past couple of weeks at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. He stopped 14 of 15 shots against Blair just losing a shutout with less than a minute remaining in the game. In the junior varsity games, he is keeping the team in games against superior opponents. Bernard needs to remain solid in net for Upper Montgomery to be victorious. Sherwood will start Samuel Hutt in net. Hutt has been left out to dry by a porous Warrior defense and has a 7.68 GAA and a .704 save percentage.

Sherwood has six very talented skaters. Jeremy Isaacs (18U AA) leads the team with (5GP, 10G, 7A). Grayson Winckler (16U AA) has (6GP, 9G, 6A). Noi Jonasson (16U AAA) has (5GP, 7G, 7A) and scored a ‘michigan goal’ last season against Upper Montgomery. Aidan Cook (16U AA) has (6GP, 7G, 3A). Oz Sacks (14U AA) has chipped in with (6GP, 4G, 3A). On defense the Warriors are led by Samuel Greenberg (18U AA), (7GP, 5G, 1A). Sherwood tries to win games by outscoring their opponents. The Warriors are weak defensively and Upper Montgomery should be able to take advantage of the Warriors back line. As with last week’s game, the Lightning will have to carefully determine when to press forward offensively while these skilled student athletes are on the ice. Keeping the Warriors out of transition attack mode will limit Sherwood’s ability to score goals.

Last week’s victory was a nice start. The Lightning need to pile up victories over the next few weeks against teams with similar talent. The Sherwood game could go either way and is entirely dependent upon if Upper Montgomery plays a strong, unselfish team game like the team did last week against Blair. The team needs to have the attitude of taking it right to the Warriors from the opening faceoff and playing good defensive hockey over the full 45 minutes to snag an important third win of the season. The Lightning will be able to score goals against Sherwood. The outcome of the game will be based on the team’s ability to keep Sherwood’s top skaters off the scoresheet. Upper Montgomery needs to forget about last week’s game and remain hungry for wins. It is time to gain a swagger and make other teams prove that they can beat Upper Montgomery. Bring it home again this week Lightning!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Sunday, December 11th facing off against Churchill. Game time is 1:30 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens. For Upper Montgomery, the game marks the first of three straight contests against the bottom three teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The team will need to duplicate last season’s three game win streak to end the season which catapulted the team toward last season’s junior varsity championship. This year’s team needs to build momentum heading into the junior varsity playoffs.

With a few more wins, the Lightning can avoid the junior varsity playoff play-in games and solidify a mid-range seeding in the playoff tournament. The Lightning have played three straight close games where the opposition needed to score into the empty net to finish off the game. Those three games were against the top three teams in the league. A win over Churchill would certainly be a confidence boost.

Quite simply, Upper Montgomery needs to score more and generate more offensive chances. The team is averaging only two goals per game. The Lightning have scored more than two goals in only one game this season. Henry Honacki has scored four of the team’s twelve goals on the season. He has been by far the best skater on the ice for the Lightning junior varsity. No other student athlete has more than one goal.

TJ Gottesman leads the team with seven points on one goal and six assists and he has points in each game he has played this season. Stephen Shkeda has one goal and four assists in five games. Several other experienced members of the team are producing well behind last season’s scoring pace and that is what is holding back the team. The game against Churchill is the game to get right as the Bulldogs have given up 38 goals in four games, an average of 9.5 goals per game.

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to build off of his best performance of the season. Earlier this week he played superb in the junior varsity’s loss to top ranked Walter Johnson, stopping 37 of 39 shots and almost single handedly stealing a win for the Lightning. He stopped five breakaways throughout the game. The only two goals he gave up were also on breakaway chances. Bernard has been solid in net this season and provides the Lightning with a decided advantage in goal. Churchill will counter with Cameron Shure. Shure will be looking to keep Churchill in the game and stop the Bulldogs four game losing streak where Churchill’s closest loss was by six goals.

Upper Montgomery needs to dominate the Bulldogs. The student athletes who have struggled on the offensive end or in the defensive zone need to play well and take confidence into next week’s game. The Lightning are the better team. They need to demonstrate that fight from the opening faceoff and not play down to Churchill’s level.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning return to game action on Friday evening December 9th versus the Blair Blazers. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Friday’s game will begin a stretch of six consecutive games against comparable competition. Upper Montgomery began the season playing the top four teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) over the first five weeks of the season. If the team’s performance is any indication, playing very competitive games against the top competition, the team should have confidence that they are one of better teams in the conference. Upper Montgomery deserves to be ranked in the top half of the conference rankings. However, in the MHC, the top ten or eleven teams have an opportunity to win every week. If the Lightning do not bring it and play well, Blair has enough talent to prevail.

Upper Montgomery’s leading scorers Nathan Cassel (4GP, 4G, 5A) and Chris Hassett (5GP, 4G, 4A) will need to carry the offensive load for the Lightning as sophomore center Ryan Jacobson (4GP, 4G, 2A) will miss the game as he is out-of-town with his external travel team. Depth scoring which had been a weakness of the team in previous seasons is much better this year. Brandon Bernard has scored three goals in his three games. Philip Shkeda has scored (6GP, 3G, 4A). Bradley Cupples and Olivia Robbins have each chipped in with four points. The defense has been more active offensively. Senior George Benedick has picked up his scoring pace over his previous three seasons (4GP, 2G, 4A). Ethan Hockey had a hat-trick versus Northwest. Brady Berkhammer has four assists in his first high school season. The depth scoring has taken the pressure off of the top line and makes the team more difficult to match up against. Scoring against Blair should not be difficult as Blair has given up the second most goals (49) in the MHC this season, ahead of only last place Northwest.

In goal, Landon Bernard will be looking to build off of his best performance of the season. Earlier this week he played superb in a junior varsity loss to top ranked Walter Johnson, stopping 37 of 39 shots and almost single handedly stealing a win for the Lightning junior varsity. He stopped five breakaways in the game. The only two goals he gave up were on breakaway chances. Bernard has been solid in net this season and needs to remain sharp against Blair’s top three forwards. Blair will start Lily Bendavid in net. She has a goals against average of 8.17 and a save percentage of .723. Giving up over eight goals a game, it is easy to see how Blair has a 1-5 record this season.

However, don’t be deceived. Blair has three very high-end forwards in Chris Birchard (6GP, 8G, 2A), Alex Birchard (6GP, 7A), and Michael Humphreys (4GP, 5G, 1A). These three seniors all play 18U AA travel hockey and are very offensive minded. They will be hard to miss on the ice. Their speed and singular focus on offense can be hard for opponents to play against. Upper Montgomery will have to carefully determine when to press forward offensively while these three student athletes are on the ice. Their counter attack style of play often leads to multiple odd skater rushes each game. The Lightning defense will need to recognize which student athletes are on the ice and adjust quickly or else the Blazers will burn them in transition and score goals. Top ranked Whitman’s only loss this season was to Blair and Blair only has one victory, although they are coming off a close loss to Wootton in the final minute of regulation.

The Lightning need to begin piling up victories against teams with similar talent. The game against Blair is the first of four games that are ‘pick-em’ contests where either team could easily win the game if they play well. Upper Montgomery needs to play a complete game and not give up too many high quality scoring chances to the Blazers. If Upper Montgomery is able to limit Blair’s offensive production, the Lightning should be able to find the net enough to come away with the victory. It is time to say good-bye to close losses and feel good about yourself type of performances and bring home the wins.