Author: chucklevine

Quince Orchard Escapes Upper Montgomery

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Quince Orchard Cougars escaped last Friday night with a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Upper Montgomery Lightning. The defending regular season conference champion Cougars received all they could handle from the young, pesky Lightning squad before eventually prevailing and securing two important points in the division standings.

It was a physical contest throughout. The first period saw heavy hitting and five different roughing penalties handed out. The majority of the period was spent with either the Lightning or the Cougars on the power play. Both teams excelled on the penalty kill and stymied chance after chance. Both teams had three power play opportunities falter with the Lightning having a 5 on 3 power play for over a minute. The first period ended scoreless due to the excellent play of the Lightning defense stifling the high powered Cougars. When Cougars offensively gifted forwards Joshua Weitzman and Dylan Eyester were able to find some space, Will Mellen, playing in his first game for the Lightning, shut the door and made many difficult saves look easy.

Early in the second period the Lightning jumped out to the lead. Defender James Botti fought along the boards and won a puck battle sending the puck deep into the Cougars defensive zone. The puck was corralled by Chris Hassett toward the left side of the net. Hassett’s centering feed into the slot was gathered in by Nathan Cassel who fired a quick wrist shot by Cougars goalie Jeremy Eager. It was Cassel’s team leading second goal of the season and gave him goals in back-to-back games for the 9th grade sniper. Soon after the Lightning took the lead, the parade to the penalty box began again. Mirroring the first period, both teams had multiple power play opportunities in the second period. The last Quince Orchard penalty to Joshua Weitzman turned out to be the turning point in the game. Just ten seconds after Weitzman went to the penalty box for roughing, gifted Cougars forward Dylan Eyester went end to end with the puck before finally tucking a shot past Mellen to tie the game at one.

With just 33 seconds left in the second period the Cougars would strike again. After an icing brought the faceoff back into the Lightning defensive zone, the Cougars controlled the puck before Dakota Delcamp eventually found Weitzman at the far post. It was an easy tap in goal for Weitzman off the cross ice feed as he had snuck in behind the Lightning defense. Weitzman’s league leading 8th goal of the season giving the Cougars a lead they would look to protect in the third period.

In the third period Upper Montgomery generated more shots on goal, ten, then they had in the previous two periods combined, eight. However, every Lightning chance was turned away by Eager and the Cougars experienced defense. As disappointing as the outcome of the game was for the young Lightning squad, the difference between last year’s game with Quince Orchard, a 7-0 shutout victory for the Cougars (the final score was not indicative of how lopsided the game really was) the Lighting were very competitive against what will likely turn out to be the top team in the division.

Coming off of two one goal losses, the Lightning will look to earn their first win and standings points of the season versus Blair.

Game Notes:

  • The start of the game was delayed by 20 minutes, the result of a full-team bench clearing brawl at the end of the BCC vs St. John’s game.
  • Joshua Weitzman scored his league leading 8th goal of the season.
  • Quince Orchard outshot the Lightning 29-18.
  • Power Plays—Lightning 0-6, Cougars 0-6.
  • Andrew Botti had a game high 14 penalty minutes.
  • The Lightning have given up short handed goals in back-to-back games.
  • Will Mellen stopped 27 of 29 shots on goal.
  • The Lightning are next in action on Friday, November 5th at 8:50 pm facing the Blair Blazers at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Joshua Weitzman #36—Quince Orchard Forward—Game Winning Goal
Second Star—Will Mellen #31—Upper Montgomery Goalie–27 saves, .931 save %
Third Star—Dylan Eyester #71—Quince Orchard Forward—Short Handed Goal

Junior Varsity BCC Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning JV squad kicks off the season on Monday night versus the BCC Barons.  Game time is 8:00 pm at the Laurel Ice Gardens.

The Lightning will be backstopped in net by versatile and athletic goalie Landon Bernard.  Having played a full JV season last year as a 9th grader, Landon brings with him that experience to the net this year.  He has been working hard over the summer to improve some of the more technical aspect of playing in net.  Landon played very well in a varsity start last week versus the Rockville Rams eventually falling 3-2.  Upper Montgomery has high expectations for Landon to play at a very high level.

On defense, Upper Montgomery has a significant number of unanswered questions.  There are only two true defenders on the roster, smooth skating and nimble Cole Howerton who will be looking to move the puck fast and lead defensive zone breakouts, and stay at home defender Patrick Sell, who has improved greatly since the 2021 spring season.  Expect several varsity defenders with JV eligibility to be dressed on Monday evening to help the young JV roster.

The Lightning JV forward ranks will be a mixture of skill and size.  Expect fast skating forward Josh Nadler to create offensive chances when on the ice.  Henry Honacki will see significant time at center.  Winger Adam Levine will create havoc in front of the net, looking for deflections and to pounce on and deposit loose pucks.  Versatile forward/defender Lucas Eyman will provide experience to the young lineup.  Hulking forward James Hyman will use his size to disrupt in the offensive zone and to take away chances while defending.  Josh Miller returns to the team after a one-year absence and will battle along the boards for loose pucks and will play positionally sound defense.  Newcomer TJ Gottesman will add a spark to the lineup as he gets involved and mixes it up all over the ice.  These young forwards will be assisted by the varsity forwards called upon to provide additional depth.

The team is looking to get off to a fast start to the season as it begins an early push for playoff positioning.

Quince Orchard Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning take on the Quince Orchard Cougars on Friday night at 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.  The Lightning will be looking to bounce back from their season opening 3-2 loss to the Rockville/Magruder Rams.  It will be a tough task facing the defending Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season champion Cougars.

Quince Orchard is coming off an 11-0 drubbing of the Wilson Stars.  The Cougars were led by high flying junior forward Joshua Weitzman who scored seven goals in their opener.  Junior Daniel Abarjel added three assists and Dylan Eyster tallied one goal and two assists.  Sophomore goalie Ryan Stillwell made two saves for the shutout.  The Cougars outshot the Stars 42-2 in a game that was never in doubt as Quince Orchard jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first period.

The Cougars are not just a one-person team.  Quince Orchard has multiple AA level travel forwards in juniors Dakota DelCamp and Dylan Eyester.  On defense, the Cougars lineup is stacked with more AA level travel talent in Junior John Sherikjian and sophomores Braden Newell and Dylan Smith.  Expected to start in net for the Cougars on Friday evening is Junior AA goalie Jeremy Eager.

Making the task more difficult for the Lightning will be the absences of young and skilled offensive forwards Ryan Jacobson and Olivia Robbins.  Both student athletes will be missing the conference game due to out-of-town travel team commitments.

In net for the Lightning will be the season debut of goalie Will Mellen.  Will just recently joined the Lightning for the 2021-2022 season.  The team is excited for his arrival and quality play in net.  Will also competes for an outside AA travel team, the Ashburn Extreme.  Also returning to the lineup on Friday evening for the Lightning will be junior defender George Benedick.  Benedick missed the season opener versus Rockville/Magruder.

Looking to follow up on their good defensive effort in the opening game versus the Rams, the Lightning defensive core will need to pay particular attention to the Cougars top end offensive talent and clog up the high danger areas in front of Mellen.  Leading the way in addition to Benedick will be Ethan Hockey, Andrew Gean, Andrew Botti, and dual threat James Botti who may also see playing time at forward during the game.  The Upper Montgomery offense will once again be led by its young forward core of Chris Hassett, Hunter Cameron, Brad Cupples, Nathan Cassel, and Brandon Bernard.  Expected to see an increased role at forward during the game will be Stephen Shkeda, Adarsh Nair, Josh Nadler, and Henry Honacki.  

Last season the Cougars dominated the Lightning in a 7-0 victory that was not as close as the score would indicate.  An outstanding performance by Hall of Fame goalie Jonas Clark kept the score respectable making spectacular save after save.  It was an effort for the short-handed Lightning just to clear the defensive zone and mount an offensive attack.  The coaching staff will be looking for a much more competitive outing on Friday evening giving the team momentum as the Lightning move into the middle portion of their intra-division schedule.  Some very winnable games are upcoming during the month of November.

Lightning Lose Season Opener in Heartbreaking Fashion

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning lost its season opener 3-2 against the Rockville/Magruder Rams Monday evening at the Laurel Ice Gardens.  The Lightning had hoped to begin the season strong and carry momentum from their 4-1-1 finish to the 2020-2021 campaign.  But it was not to be.  Senior defender Ryan Iliff scored a short-handed goal from long range with 57 seconds left in the third period to win it for the Rams.

It was a tight contest throughout with the Lightning carrying play for long stretches of the game.  Rams’ goalie Freddie Horowitz was the first star of the game stopping 32 of 34 shots.  He held strong in the third period as the Lightning pressed to take the lead, having three straight power plays in the final ten minutes of the game.  At the conclusion of the final power play, Ryan Iliff controlled the puck in the neutral zone, skated toward the bench for a line change and ripped the puck toward the net from just outside the blue line.  The shot eluded Lightning goalie Landon Bernard far side to the top corner of the net for the eventual game winner.

The Lightning opened the game strong with stout defense limiting the Rams to only three shots in the first ten minutes of the game.  A turnover deep in the Rams defensive zone led to the first goal of the game.  Lightning right winger Hunter Cameron pounced on a loose puck at the top of the right circle.  He quickly turned and fired a wrist shot to the top left corner of the net beating Horowitz.  The unassisted goal giving the Lightning the lead at the 8:30 mark of the first period.  The Rams would respond about six minutes later when Lukas Gold scored a power play goal off a feed from Trey Zeren with 42 seconds remaining in the first period.  

The second period saw the Lightning dominate for long stretches outshooting the Rams 18 to 6.  In the last minute of the period, the Lightning broke the tie as Nathan Cassel buried a nifty pass from Chris Hasset for his first career high school goal.  The tally at 14:17 of the second period appeared to give the Lightning momentum and a lead they would look to protect in the third period.

Early in the third period the Rams were staked to their fourth consecutive power play opportunity after a checking from behind minor to Nathan Cassel.  It did not take the Rams long to capitalize with Shea Walsh finding the net at 2:36 of the period to knot the game at 2-2.  Over the next four minutes the teams settled in and buckled down.  Both teams played a tight checking defensive structure preventing any quality chances.  From the six-minute mark to the end of the game, the Lightning enjoyed three straight power play opportunities.  Although applying pressure to the Rams in the offensive zone, the Lighting were not able to break through and take the lead.  Horowitz made timely saves.  Other shots from the point or the half wall hit players in front and deflected away.  It was at the tail end of the third power play, with a little over a minute left in the game, that an innocent Rams clearing pass into the neutral zone ultimately led to the deciding moment of the game, Ryan Iliff’s shorthanded game winner. 

Game Notes:

  • Playing in their first high school varsity game for the Lightning were Andrew Botti, Ryan Jacobson, Nathan Cassel, Henry Honacki, and Josh Nadler.
  • The Lightning outshot the Rams 34-20.
  • Power Plays—Lightning 0-3, Rams 2-4.
  • Nathan Cassel had a game high 14 penalty minutes.
  • The Lightning are next in action on Friday, October 29th at 10:00 pm facing the Quince Orchard Cougars at Cabin John Ice Rink

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Freddie Horowitz #70—Rockville Goalie—Win, 32 saves, .941 save %
Second Star—Ryan Iliff #44—Rockville Defense–Game Winning Short-Handed Goal
Third Star—Hunter Cameron #17—Upper Montgomery Forward—Season Opening Goal

Lightning Strike Blog–October 2021

chucklevine Leave a comment

It’s time to drop the puck on the 2021-2022 high school ice hockey season.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning is ready to officially begin its inaugural season. For the first time ever, the Lightning have an opportunity to qualify for the Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) state playoffs. But, it will be a very tough task.

The Lightning kick off the regular season on Monday, October 25th. As a member of the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) the Lightning are in a division with Rockville, Wilson, DC Stars, Quince Orchard, Blair and Northwest. The first six games of the regular season will be against these traditional division rivals. The second half of the regular season schedule will feature cross divisional games against veteran teams the likes of defending state champion BCC, and other traditional powerhouse programs St. Johns, Churchill, Wootton, Walter Johnson, Sherwood, Whitman, and Richard Montgomery.

The Lightning feature a very young and exciting lineup. With only three seniors, five juniors, and a host of sophomores and rising 9th grade student athletes, the future is very bright. However, the 2021-2022 season campaign will be a year of growth and development for the team. Picked to finish 11th out of the 15 teams in the MHC pre-season poll, the team is out to prove they are much better than the lowly pre-season ranking. A hallmark of the team is that they compete extremely hard and aim to give the more experienced teams all they can handle. A solid goal for the team is to make the MHC post-season playoff tournament and also reach the semi-finals of the division two post-season tournament.

The team will have to replace the loss of several key senior leaders from last season’s Damascus co-op team. The departure of MSHL legendary Hall of Fame goalie Jonas Clark will leave a gigantic void to fill in net. Best of luck to Landon Bernard as he steps up to the varsity squad. The departure of several key senior defenders, team captain Anthony Sasselli, Andrew Hockey, and Emily Emmons will leave the team without three experienced and tough nosed student athletes. James Botti, George Benedick, Andrew Gean, and Ethan Hockey, all experienced defenders will look to anchor the Lightning back line. Rising 9th grader Andrew Botti will provide added skill and quickness to the defensive core.

Up front, it is all supremely talented but young forwards. The top two forward lines are comprised of sophomores and rising 9th graders. Much will be expected from Ryan Jacobson, Olivia Robbins, Chris Hassett, Hunter Cameron, Brad Cupples, Brandon Bernard, and Nathan Cassell. Energetic and smooth skating wingers Stephen Shkeda and Adarsh Nair will be counted on to provide solid board play and defensive tenacity. With eight of the top nine forwards returning next season, the Lightning are looking to make their mark and build toward the future. The biggest question facing the team this season is just how long it will take for the talented young roster to gel with each other and come together as a team. Time will tell, and we invite you to join along for the ride.

The Lightning junior varsity squad is made up of experienced student athletes paired with an infusion of youth. Landon Bernard will again provide experienced and athletic goaltending. Returning forwards include Lucas Eyman, James Hyman, and Adam Levine. Tall and rugged Josh Miller is returning to the program after a year’s absence. These experienced forwards will be joined up front by speedy and skilled rising 9th grade forwards Joshua Nadler and Henry Honacki. Recent 9th grade addition TJ Gottesman will also look to contribute offensively. On defense it will be a challenge for the young Lightning junior varsity squad. Crafty and mobile rising 9th grader Cole Howerton will be paired with a rotation of partners while steady defensive minded Patrick Sell will look to continue growing into a shutdown defender.

Rockville/Magruder Game Preview

chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning officially kick off the 2021-2022 ice hockey campaign versus the Rockville/Magruder Rams on Monday evening, October 25th. Game time is 8:00 pm at the Laurel Ice Gardens. This should be a tight affair with two very evenly matched teams.

Upper Montgomery is led by last season’s top returning scorer James Botti. James will be joined by other top returning offensive stalwarts, Chris Hassett, Olivia Robbins, Hunter Cameron, Brad Cupples, and Brandon Bernard. The team is eagerly anticipating the debuts of rising 9th graders Ryan Jacobson and Nathan Cassel. Offensively, the team should be much more balanced and effective than last season. The coaching staff is looking toward more offense this season coming building upon the Lightning’s 4-1-1 finish to conclude the 2020-2021 season.

Defensively, the squad will have to work hard and move the puck quickly. There will be several new faces on defense. George Benedick returns to anchor the back line along with Andrew Gean and Ethan Hockey. George will miss the Rockville/Magruder game and will return to action on Friday night against Quince Orchard. George’s absence will lead to additional playing time for rising 9th grade defender Andrew Botti, James’ brother. It is likely that James Botti will also see significant ice time on defense throughout the season.

In goal, it will likely be the season debut for Landon Bernard. Landon appeared in one varsity game last season and is looking to prove his mettle in net following the graduation of Hall of Fame netminder Jonas Clark.

Rockville/Magruder comes into the game with high hopes for the season. The Rams are also looking to qualify for the season ending Montgomery Hockey Conference playoff tournament. Led by two seniors the Rams need to get off to a good start. In net, the Rams are backstopped by senior netminder, Freddie Horowitz who is well known to the Lightning having played with the Lightning for several games during the spring 2021 hockey season. Freddie is an accomplished and very technical goalie who also plays for the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association’s 18U AA travel team. The Rams look to be set in net this year behind the solid play of Freddie.

On defense, Ryan Iliff will be key to the Rams success. A veteran of the team, and a leader on the ice, Ryan is a smooth staking defender who makes very good decisions with the puck. Ryan also plays on the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association’s 18U AA travel team. Expect Ryan to receive a lot of ice time this season as the Rams defensive ranks are not as deeps as in past seasons. Joining Ryan Iliff on defense will be Drew Pfeufer, a rising 9th grade student-athlete also playing at the AA club level and returning defenders senior Connor Combs and junior Ethan McNamara.

Up front on offense, much like the Lightning, the Rams have skilled but young forwards. The team will rely on junior Shea Walsh and then youngsters Jovi Greene, Lukas Gold, Trey Zeren, and Brendyn Iliff to light the lamp and play an aggressive forechecking style.

It should be a good one this coming Monday evening. The team that secures the victory will have a great start to the season and will have a step up in the quest to qualify for the season ending conference post-season playoff tournament.