chucklevine – Page 5 – UPPER MONTGOMERY LIGHTNING

Lightning Competitive Over First Half of Game Before Rams Race Away

October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The 2025 – 2026 Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity played a whale of a first half of the game on Friday evening versus the Rockville / Magruder Rams. The team played outstanding defensive hockey. The forwards came back into the defensive zone well. The defenders played tough in the defensive zone. The entire team hit everything that moved. Then, one bad bounce of the puck midway through the second period turned what was a close game into a deluge of Rockville / Magruder goals that made the 7-1 final score look more lopsided than the game really was.

In what was a much better performance by the Lightning than a week ago in their 3-2 season opening loss to the Silver Spring Blazers, the young Lightning roster seemed to thrive playing its brand of physical hockey. As the game remained close, the Upper Montgomery skaters gained confidence playing with the older, more experienced Rams. Even though the game was quite physical on both sides, the game was cleanly played. Each team had only one powerplay opportunity. Both infractions wound up being stick related, tripping and hooking.

The Rams had the better of play early on in the game badly outshooting the Lightning fifteen to four in the opening period. Right from the start Upper Montgomery laid the body. For one short instance in the first two minutes of the game the Lightning failed to contain in the defensive end. The Rams immediately took advantage. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to the neutral zone. Rams forward Keaton Spence possessed the puck bringing it into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone down the right wing. He cut to the middle of the ice and moved the puck over to Rockville / Magruder forward Daniel Cleary. Cleary’s wrist shot from the left circle was blocked by the Lightning defense in front of the net. Cleary regained possession of the puck before sending it to the left point to Rams forward Kamea Case. Case rang a shot high off the crossbar where it caromed to the right wing. Rams defender Adam Suitor snuck in from his right point position. While positioned outside of the outer edge of the right faceoff circle, he fired a shot high to the short side past Lightning ninth grade goalie George Schickler for his third goal of the season. Schickler making his first career start for Upper Montgomery had gone down a tad early which opened up the top right corner of the net.

Outside of that one blip, the Lightning continued to pound the body with an effectiveness not regularly seen from Upper Montgomery over the past several seasons. As the game progressed to the end of the first period, Lightning sophomore center Decklin Hughes was called for tripping. Unlike in their season opener, Upper Montgomery’s penalty killers stayed in position keeping the Rams to the outside. Schickler had no trouble making saves on the long range chances. A minute into the second period Hughes returned to the ice allowing Upper Montgomery to get back to their hard physical defensive play.

At the eight minute mark of the second period, the Lightning pushed the puck out of their defensive zone. The bouncing puck was touched by Suitor to Rams forward Dylan Singer. Singer brought the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. From the high slot, he sent a wrist shot at Schickler. The young netminder made the initial save with the puck shooting out into the slot. The bouncing puck jumped over Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Dylan Kim’s stick as he was trying to swat the puck into the corner. Cleary was trailing Kim as he went to the net. As he closed in toward the puck it was laying nicely along the ice. Cleary had time to push the puck at the net where it went past Schickler’s left leg pad for his fifth goal of the season.

Now down by two goals, the young Lightning deviated from the game plan trying to make something happen thinking they were falling out of the game. Upper Montgomery tried to push play up ice. Rams forward Arle Madrigal collected the puck after it was batted around by the Lightning forwards. He entered the Upper Montgomery defensive zone down the left side. His initial centering pass was blocked by the backtracking Lightning defense. The puck deflected right back to Madrigal who then sent it into the slot. Rams forward Alexander Dos Santos was on the door step of the goal. From the crease he sent the puck low past Schickler’s right leg pad for his second goal of the season.

With three and a half minutes remaining in the second period, Upper Montgomery went on the powerplay when Rams defender David Schnanzer was called for a hooking penalty. Unlike in the season opener when Upper Montgomery converted on both of their powerplays, the Lightning rarely were able to gain possession of the puck. Rockville / Magruder easily killed off Schnanzer’s penalty without allowing a shot on goal. The lone offensive bright spot for the Lightning came just before the end of the second period.

Rockville / Magruder had the puck in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Schickler made a save on the Rams’ twentieth shot of the period. Upper Montgomery sophomore defender Matt Rivera retrieved the puck behind his own net. He skated down the right wing out of the defensive zone. As he moved through the neutral zone he veered to the middle of the ice. At the attacking blue line he cut back to the right side of the ice. Rivera went around the Rams defense before cutting to the left in front of the net. He lifted a left handed forehand shot up over the stick and blocker of Rams goalie Daniel Gargarin who had replaced Rockville / Magruder’s starting netminder Nathaniel Khasilev halfway through the second period. For Rivera it was his first career high school goal after several golden opportunities in his ninth grade season. He just beat the buzzer scoring with two seconds left in the middle period on the Lightning’s ninth shot against the Rams goalies.

Feeling like they had momentum, Upper Montgomery was eager to get the third period started. Once the period began, Rockville / Magruder took a stranglehold on the game in under a minute. From the center ice faceoff, the puck was taken at the Rams defensive blue line by forward Violet Pfeufer. She skated down the right wing into the Lightning defensive zone where she cut to the slot. The puck came loose as she continued to stickhandle. Schickler paddled the puck to the right corner in the defensive zone. Pfeufer retrieved the puck before centering it to a wide open uncovered Jacob Sausser in the slot. Sausser fired over Schickler’s glove short side to extend the Rams lead to 4-1. It was his second goal on the season.

On the same shift with the same students on the ice, the Lightning’s deficit extended to 5-1. This time Pfeufer went down the left wing into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Her speed allowed her to go around the Lightning defense and separate. Her centering pass was chipped wide of the net far side. Rams forward James Berube came out of the right corner with the puck. No Lightning defender went hard after Berube so he skated near the slot before he also sent a shot short side high over Schickler’s glove to the top of the net. Berube celebrated in style after scoring his first goal of the year.

Down 5-1, with fourteen minutes remaining in the game, the Lightning got completely out of their systems and structure. This permitted the Rams to control play throughout the remainder of the game continuing to badly outshoot Upper Montgomery. Third period shots were nineteen to four in favor of Rockville / Magruder as Lightning forwards cheated up ice and gave the Rams free reign in the Lightning defensive zone.

Thirty seconds later Cleary had his second goal of the game and sixth of the season. The wheels had come off. Down by two goals entering the third period, a minute and ten seconds later Upper Montgomery was behind by five goals. From the center ice faceoff, the Rams sent the puck into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Suitor gained possession of the puck along the right wing boards. He passed the puck back to the center point to his defensive partner Keaton Spence. Spence cut around an onrushing Lightning forward who overcommitted coming out to guard him. From the faceoff dot inside the left faceoff circle, he flung a wrist shot on net. Schickler made yet another save. Standing in front, Cleary shoveled in the rebound.

Rockville / Magruder finished up the scoring with five minutes left in the contest. From a faceoff outside the Rams defensive blue line, the Rams won the draw. Case carried the puck along the right wing boards all the way down to the Lightning defensive end. His wrist shot from the right faceoff circle missed the net wide to the short side. Lightning ninth grade defender Lenny Roth took down a Rams forward earning a delayed penalty for roughing. With Case’s shot missing the net wide right, the puck came out the other side of the goal directly to Cleary in the slot. Cleary sent a snap shot low to the far side of the net past Schickler’s right leg pad to complete his hat-trick and increase his goal total for the season to seven.

In practice this upcoming week, the Lightning will work to correct some of the issues from their first two outings. Look for the team to bring high energy and play a full forty five minute game next week. Expect the physical approach to continue in next week’s game against the DC Stars. It should be a favorable matchup for the Lightning as the Stars are a team with comparable talent. Upper Montgomery should have a big advantage in net with sophomore goaltender Porter Stutsrim-Lyons likely getting the nod in goal. It will be an important matchup as the winner will have an inside track toward a season ending playoff birth. The loser will be hard pressed to secure enough standings points to qualify for the playoffs.

Game Notes:

Upper Montgomery was once again badly outshot. Rockville / Magruder had the shots on goal advantage 54-17. The Rams held a nineteen to four shots on goal advantage the third period as they pulled away by scoring four goals.
Upper Montgomery ninth grade netminder George Schickler tied a junior varsity program record with the 47 saves he made.
It was the second straight game that Upper Montgomery permitted a hat-trick to be scored against.
Lightning sophomore defender Matt Rivera scored his first career high school goal on an end to end rush to beat the buzzer ending the second period.
The Upper Montgomery junior varsity plays their next game on Friday evening, October 17th against the DC Stars. The game will be played at the Washington Capitals practice facility inside the Medstar Iceplex. Game time is 5:00 pm.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Daniel Cleary—Rockville / Magruder Forward—3 Goals, 1 Assist
Second Star—Adam Suitor—Rockville / Magruder Defense—1 Goal, 2 Assists
Third Star—George Schickler—Upper Montgomery Goalie—47 Saves

Varsity Silver Spring Game Preview

October 22, 2025October 22, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity squad unexpectedly exploded past the DC Stars in their season opener last week. The annihilation ended in a final score of 8-0. However, only five and a half minutes into the second period the game was into running clock as Upper Montgomery was already well in front six to nothing. In the preseason Montgomery Hockey Conference poll, the Lightning were ranked as the second worst team in the conference. Now, after one week of conference play, Upper Montgomery leads the entire county in goals scored. While the program was pleased with the season opening victory, the weeks ahead will be much tougher as the competition increases. The Lightning will also have to balance upper level students missing high school games when they will be out-of-town with their external travel teams. When the Lightning are playing with less than a full roster, the team’s depth will be severely tested. Next up for Upper Montgomery is the Silver Spring Blazers on Friday night. Game time is 8:30 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Upper Montgomery’s primary varsity goaltender junior 16U AAA Ilan Shterenberg will not play this week as he is with his external travel team. Shterenberg opened the season pitching a 25 save shutout against the Stars for the first shutout of his varsity career. With Shterenberg absent, Upper Montgomery’s primary junior varsity goalie, sophomore 16U Lower A Porter Stutsrim-Lyons will step in and shoulder the netminding responsibilities. Stutsrim-Lyons excelled in his emergency varsity start last season during the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs against BCC where he stopped 40 of 43 shots to keep Upper Montgomery in the game. He also set the Upper Montgomery all-time junior varsity record for save percentage in a season with a .930 save percentage last year. This season, at the junior varsity level he has played well with a goals against average of 2.54 and a save percentage of .926.

Silver Spring, formerly the Blair Blazers, are expected to start ninth grade 14U Upper A goalie Myle Amirthalingam. The Blazers started their backup goalie against the Lightning’s junior varsity squad a few weeks ago. The scouting report on Amirthalingam is that he is a quick athletic goalie who moves well side to side. As a ninth grader, he is relatively small which may provide Upper Montgomery some decent looks at the net. Amirthalingam won his first conference game last week when Silver Spring breezed past Richard Montgomery. It is hard to evaluate Amirthalingam, or the Blazers performance for that matter, as Richard Montgomery was projected by a wide margin to be the lowest ranked team in the conference. Silver Spring’s 5-1 win last week got the job done but was not attention grabbing. The Blazers’ young goalie has a 1.43 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. Upper Montgomery will be trying to repeat their scoring barrage from last week to prove it was not a one off performance.

On defense, the Lightning will role with four defenders. The Lightning’s leading defensive scorer, 18U AA senior Brady Berkhammer returns to lead the Lightning’s backline. He was very good last game pushing the puck up ice when the opportunity was available. He resisted the temptation to do too much by himself. Last season, Berkhammer contributed (15GP, 4G, 15A). He led the team in assists, with many superb passes leading directly to tap in goals. Berkhammer will need to play a very strong game against the Blazers to make up for Lillian Robbins missing the game due to being out-of-town with her external travel team. Sophomore 16U Lower A Matt Rivera fared pretty well against the Stars playing almost exclusively with Berkhammer. He has played much more confidently this season in the Lightning’s junior varsity games and during practice. His progression this year into a full time varsity defender will allow the Lightning to play with two full sets of defense. Lightning junior 16U Upper A Miles Wendland looks to take on a larger role this season. He logged significant ice time last season and had his best offensive campaign (16GP, 2G, 4A). A steady, smooth skating defender, Wendland is rarely caught out of position. A challenge for the lanky defender will be bodying up and playing in the Lightning’s new more physical defensive style. Playing with Wendland against Silver Spring will be junior Max Curtusan who is expected to make his varsity debut this week. The Lightning defense has been instructed to rush up ice and contribute more offensively with the team short on experienced forwards. However, in this game the defensive focus will be on clearing the crease area providing Stutsrim-Lyons with good sight lines to make saves while quickly clearing away rebounds. Ninth grade defender Lenny Roth is expected to dress for the game in case of an injury or to serve dual penalty minutes.

The Blazers leading returning defender is senior former 16U AA Joey Killebrew who has scored in each of the Blazers first two games. Killebrew plays more of a puck possession game while excelling at taking away time and space in the neutral zone. Sophomores Simon Holland and Dan Sellers, both 16U AA student athletes, are Silver Spring’s leading defensive scorers with (2GP, 1G, 2A). Senior 18U Upper A Robert Woodward and Junior Ethan Hedberg both have a substantial amount of experience at the varsity level. They bring added leadership to the younger Silver Spring defenders allowing the Blazers coaching staff to play a full complement of defenders to keep their back end fresh. As Richard Montgomery found out last week, getting to the inside to create high quality scoring chances was difficult against the top defense in division two of the Montgomery Hockey Conference.

Offensively, the Lightning coaches figured the team would have a tough time scoring this season. Then, last week happened. Wow! Upper Montgomery’s top line of senior 18U AAA center, Owen Robbins, the team’s captain flanked by fellow senior and last year’s leading scorer Philip Shkeda, paired with ninth grade 16U AA Miles Gleason were DOMINANT. The line scored eight goals in all. They had six early in the second period putting the game into running clock. The coaching staff also began playing all of the depth forwards much more over the second half of the game. Robbins will likely miss the Silver Spring game as he will be out of town with his external travel team. His absence will force the coaching staff to shuffle students bringing about new forward line combinations this week. Both Gleason and Shkeda scored hat-tricks against the Stars. Robbins had a multiple point outing with a goal and multiple assists. He was terrific defensively as well often covering when Berkhammer rushed up ice with the puck. The balance of the forward lines all did their jobs playing more a more defensive style and giving up no goals. Many Upper Montgomery Lightning students either saw their first varsity game action or their most varsity game action against the Stars including Jason Woodman, Jackson Schickler, Max Israfilbek, Wyatt Ostrander, Mason Jagoz, and Tima Zamaray.

The Blazers score by committee as they don’t have that one dominant skater to carry their team. Junior 18U AA William Campbell, Junior 16U AA Mason Boucher, ninth grade 16U AA Foster Miles, and ninth grade Upper A Rodrick Hobbs all have scored two goals in two games. Upper Montgomery is familiar with Boucher from his performance in last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament semifinal where he scored the overtime game winning goal for Blair. Hobbs netted a hat-trick two weeks ago against the Upper Montgomery junior varsity. Campbell made the play on Boucher’s goal with a nifty pass to the slot. So, the Lightning are well versed in what Silver Spring will attempt to do on Friday night. They will send multiple forwards to the net to cause chaos. They will look to have shooters push out into the slot flinging shots on goal with the opponent’s goalie screened. Expect the Silver Spring defense to also be well integrated into the offensive zone play. Upper Montgomery’s forwards will have to be aware when a Blazers defender cuts to the net looking for a back door pass.

Silver Spring will enter the game as a slight favorite, something that they have not been accustomed to for several seasons. Upper Montgomery will not be able to sneak up on the Blazers especially considering last week’s offensive outburst. The game will come down to which team executes more frequently. Can the Blazers shut down Gleason and Shkeda, or will Upper Montgomery’s offensive dynamos be able to carry last week’s effort forward once again? Will Silver Spring’s superior depth pose a problem for Upper Montgomery’s young and inexperienced roster? How well will the Lightning defend in their own zone in front of Stutsrim-Lyons? Which team will win the special teams battle? These questions will dictate which team has the upper hand on Friday evening. All the Lightning care about is finding a way, any way, to come out on top. Pretty hockey it does not need to be, just effective at getting enough pucks into the Blazers’ net to overcome another team favored to beat up on Upper Montgomery.

#Don’t Be A One Hit Wonder, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Junior Varsity Churchill Game Preview

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity will face their toughest test of the season this coming Friday afternoon when the team faces off against the Churchill Bulldogs. Puck drop is at 4:05 pm inside Rockville Ice Arena. The Bulldogs enter the game with a 3-0-1 record. They are averaging the most goals per game of any junior varsity team in the county at 5.5 goals per game. The Lightning will really have to grind on the defensive end of the ice to throttle the Bulldogs offensive attack.

Upper Montgomery enters the game coming off of its best performance of the season in last week’s 7-2 offensive explosion past the DC Stars. Against the game but overmatched Stars, Upper Montgomery had a deluge of offensive chances and could have scored twice as many goals as the seven the team converted. This week, Upper Montgomery will need to get back to its physical defensive style of hockey to take the Bulldogs out of their preferred style of play. The anticipated return of junior defender Max Curtusan to the lineup should help in that regard as the tall physical defender is going to throw his body around.

In net for the Lightning is expected to be one of the team’s ninth grade junior varsity goalies, Stephen Rickman or George Schickler. The Lightning’s starting varsity goalie, Ilan Shterenberg, will be out of town this week with his external travel team. Upper Montgomery’s starting junior varsity netminder, Porter Stutsrim-Lyons, will be making his first career regular season varsity start (second overall) later in the evening. Depending upon the flow of the game, the Lightning coaching staff may play both ninth grade goalies. Both Rickman and Schickler have seen multiple games of action this fall as Upper Montgomery is loaning both netminders to Walter Johnson High School as the Wildcats do not have a junior varsity eligible goalie on their roster. Churchill has three choices of which goalie to play at the junior varsity level. Senior Nick Nelson has fared well against Upper Montgomery in the past. He beat the Lightning in overtime last season making 27 saves in the regular season victory. This year, he has a 2-0 record, a 2.00 goals against average, and an .897 goals against average. Next up would be sophomore 16U Lower A Cooper Glazer. Glazer won his only start of the season. He has similar individual statistics as Nelson with a 2.00 goals against average and a .905 goals against average. The Bulldogs final option is ninth grade 16U Upper A Cody Jen. Jen played against the Bulldogs toughest opponent of the season and was saddled with the overtime loss to Silver Spring. He has a 1.96 goals against average and an off-putting .714 save percentage. The analytics predict that Upper Montgomery should score around two goals in the game.

On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with their usual two defensive pairings. Curtusan who is playing much more confidently this season will pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth scored his first career high school goal last week against the DC Stars. It took Roth only three games to surpass his older brother Jake who went scoreless for the Lightning during his playing days. The other pair will be 16U Lower A defender Matt Rivera pairing up with Dylan Kim. Rivera has the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. He is becoming much more comfortable in this regard scoring a goal off the rush in each of the last two games. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team. His play against the DC Stars was his best game to date. He will continue to improve as the season moves along. The games against Churchill will be a very good challenge for the two young ninth grade defenders to see where they stand.

For the Bulldogs, their defensive corps is led by junior Mingshuo Chang. Chang scored on a blast from the point last year in the teams’ playoff matchup. Chang will see major minutes in the game now that Churchill’s leading scorer 16U Upper A Gabriel Li has been elevated to varsity only status after scoring seven goal and having nine total points in the Bulldogs first three junior varsity games. Churchill’s other defenders are both ninth graders, 19U AA Olivia Hopkins and Dimitri Powell.

Notwithstanding last week’s game against the DC Stars, as the team’s first two games illustrated, offense is going to be a continuing struggle all season long for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. When Upper Montgomery plays the upper echelon teams in the county, the Lightning are likely to be outshot and will need to make every opportunity count. The team’s overall focus on defense first hockey is to lighten the need to keep pace offensively and score toe to toe with the top teams.

Last week against the DC Stars junior Mason Jagoz had his first career multi-goal game. He doubled his career goals total from two to four. His linemate for most of the evening, Tima Zamaray scored his first career high school goal. He also had a multiple goal game playing much, much better than he did against Rockville / Magruder. The offensive effort was much more apparent as every forward was hunting pucks and charging hard toward the net. Wyatt Ostrander continues to thrive as a defensive center. His penalty killing acumen has helped the Lightning thwart back to back five on three penalty kills in the last two games. Juggling up the forward lines last week seemed to help get some of the team’s forwards on track. The juggling was necessary when senior forward Jason Woodman dropped back to play defense in place of Curtusan. Woodman played very well meaning he may play additional games on defense should the need arise.

Even with Li removed from the Bulldogs roster, Churchill will still have a formidable offensive attack. Ninth grade forward 16U Upper A Kevin O’Connor has scored seven goals in four games. He too should be removed from junior varsity competition. After Wyatt Haas 14U Upper A and his two goals, the rest of the Churchill lineup is lean on scoring with only a couple of additional forwards with one goal apiece. As the home team, look for the Lightning to make sure that O’Connor and Haas are matched up against with Upper Montgomery’s best skaters and most physical student athletes.

As has been mentioned over and over, the 2025 – 2026 season will be one where the coaching staff is focused on individual student growth and development. With eight incoming junior varsity students, the program is looking for all eight of these students to contribute to the program over the next four seasons. The playing time received this season should help each student become better in the years to come when Upper Montgomery is likely to be better positioned to again challenge for the junior varsity championship. How quickly the team develops the necessary defensive habits and rough and tough identity will determine how soon the Lightning can threaten the top junior varsity teams in the county. This season, the team may simply be too young and inexperienced to compete on the defensive end of the ice. The hope is that by the end of the year no program wants to be matched up against the Lightning in the opening round of the junior varsity playoff tournament.

#UML, #Back to Back Victories, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Lightning Strike Blog–October 2025

October 16, 2025October 16, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The calendar has turned to October which means that the Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity squad kicks off its 2025 – 2026 regular season campaign on Friday night when the Lightning travel to the Medstar Iceplex, home of the Washington Capitals practice facility, to face the DC Stars. Game time is 6:40 pm. The team’s annual objective remains the same, advance through the regular season, win the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs, earning the chance to play for a spot in the Maryland Student Hockey League high school state playoff tournament. This would be an achievement that no other Lightning squad has been able to accomplish. With a relatively young squad, the preseason rankings slotted Upper Montgomery eleventh of the twelve teams in Montgomery County. Having graduated sixteen seniors over the past two seasons, it is easy to understand the outside perspective of Upper Montgomery. With a change in playing style this season, the Lightning will be looking to pound out victories against teams ranked higher in the standings.

Once again this season, it is expected that Churchill and Walter Johnson will be at the top of the conference standings. With the exception of Richard Montgomery (who is anticipated to be by far the worst team in the county), any of the other eight teams can beat each other on any given night. Last season, Upper Montgomery bucked a developing trend that had occurred during the past couple of seasons, very slow starts. Last year, the team began the season 3-1-1 before faltering down the stretch and being upset in the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. This season, Upper Montgomery will be looking to catch teams off guard pulling off several upsets.

Upper Montgomery’s primary goaltender will be junior 16U AAA Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg took over the reigns last season and played in all of the Lightning’s regular season games. As is typical from underclass students, Shterenberg shined in certain games and struggled in others. He finished the season with a 7-7-2 record, a 4.74 goals against average, and an .877 save percentage. This year, Shterenberg is playing at the AAA external travel level with Palmyra up in Pennsylvania. His availability will be sporadic throughout the season. When he is in town, he will get the nod in net. When Shterenberg is absent, Upper Montgomery’s primary junior varsity goalie, sophomore 16U Lower A Porter Stutsrim-Lyons is ready to step in and shoulder the netminding responsibilities. Stutsrim-Lyons excelled in his emergency start last season during the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs against BCC stopping 40 of 43 shots to keep Upper Montgomery in the game. He also set the Upper Montgomery all-time junior varsity record for save percentage in a season with a .930 save percentage last year.

On defense, the Lightning will role with four primary defenders. The Lightning’s leading defensive scorer, 18U AA senior Brady Berkhammer returns to lead the Lightning’s backline. Last season, Berkhammer contributed (15GP, 4G, 15A). He led the team in assists with many superb passes leading directly to tap in goals. Berkhammer will need to rely on his defensive partners and play within the Lightning’s new systems to maximize his ice time. Lightning junior 16U Upper A Miles Wendland looks to take on a larger role this season. He logged significant ice time last season and had his best offensive campaign (16GP, 2G, 4A). A steady smooth skating defender, Wendland is rarely caught out of position. A challenge for the lanky defender will be bodying up and playing in the Lightning’s new more physical defensive style. Joining Berkhammer and Wendland will be 16U AA sophomore Lillian Robbins. Robbins (13GP, 5A) will also be asked to play a much more physical defensive style. The coaching staff has had her playing forward on the penalty kill. Her intellect and knowledge of the game makes her ideally suited to snuff out offensive sets and act as a third defender. Matt Rivera, 16U Lower A, will see regular game action on defense this year for the Lightning varsity. He participated in some varsity game action last year both as a defender and as a forward. He has played much more confidently this season in the Lightning’s junior varsity games and during practice. His progression this year into a full time varsity defender will allow the Lightning to play with two full sets of defense. Anticipate the Lightning defense will be instructed to rush up ice and contribute more offensively as the team is short on experienced forwards. If any of the Lightning’s regular defenders is out of town with their external travel team, expect ninth grade defenders Lenny Roth and Dylan Kim to dress and be available for game action.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery returns its first and fifth leading scorers from a season ago. Senior forward Philip Shkeda led the Lightning in points with (15GP, 8G, 14A). Shkeda, a natural left wing, will play almost exclusively with fellow senior 18U AAA center Owen Robbins. Last season, Robbins had several huge offensive games finishing with (12GP, 9G, 8A). When games are close in the final minutes of action, anticipate that the Upper Montgomery coaching staff will use Robbins as an extra defender. Robbins played his first two seasons with Upper Montgomery on defense. This duo will be relied upon to lead Upper Montgomery offensively. They both will need to produce even more offense this season for the Lightning to thrive.

After these two offensive dynamos, there is a drop off in production to junior 16U Upper A Aiden Zheng (17GP, 3G, 6A). Incoming ninth grade forward Miles Gleason, a 16U AA speed demon, will really help Upper Montgomery. He has highlight reel offensive abilities, but will need to adjust his game to what works against older and bigger students. He will also need to work hard defensively to earn the coaching staff’s trust. After these four forwards, ice time is up for grabs. The coaching staff will be looking for some of the junior varsity forwards to take the next step such as sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek, junior Max Curtusan who will be used at forward in varsity games, with the ability for him to drop back to his natural defensive position, and Jason Woodman. Woodman has to create havoc in front of the net and get in hard on the forecheck to maximize his effectiveness. Juniors Jackson Schickler, Mason Jagoz, and ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander will get opportunities to play heavy minutes in varsity action. They must be defensively responsible, get the puck out of the defensive zone, and play physical. Their performance will determine how much playing time each student receives. Time will tell if other junior varsity students progress defensively, playing within the Upper Montgomery systems to force their way into the varsity game day lineup.

The Lightning junior varsity have begun the season with two hard fought games. In the season opener, Upper Montgomery fell to Silver Spring 3-2, with Blazers defender Rodrick Hobbs netting the game winning goal with under two minutes remaining in regulation. Stutsrim-Lyons was excellent in net making 39 saves. Israfilbek scored both Lightning goals on the powerplay with one on a penalty shot. Last week, the team played much better against the Rockville / Magruder Rams. The first half of the game was a great display of physical hockey allowing the Lightning to compete toe to toe with the more talented Rams. Eventually, a few lapses led to the Rams pulling away late.

The 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. It should be exciting and rewarding as the younger skaters grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon varsity teams in the county. Or, is the team simply too young to compete right now this season. Friday night will give us some answers as the season finally gets underway. Come along for the ride, it should be a fun season!

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Varsity DC Stars Game Preview

October 16, 2025October 16, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity squad kicks off its 2025 – 2026 regular season campaign on Friday night when the Lightning travel to the Medstar Iceplex, home of the Washington Capitals practice facility, to face the DC Stars. Game time is 6:40 pm. The team’s annual objective remains the same, advance through the regular season, win the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs, earning the chance to play for a spot in the Maryland Student Hockey League high school state playoff tournament. This would be an achievement that no other Lightning squad has been able to accomplish. With a relatively young squad, the preseason rankings slotted Upper Montgomery eleventh of the twelve teams in Montgomery County. Having graduated sixteen seniors over the past two seasons, it is easy to understand the outside perspective of Upper Montgomery. With a change in playing style this season, the Lightning will be looking to pound out victories against teams ranked higher in the standings.

The DC Stars are expected to start Upper Montgomery nemesis Anton Tracy in net. Tracy’s best games have come against the Lightning. He is 1-0-2 versus the Lightning with a 2.17 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Outstanding statistics. Against all other teams, he seems to be beatable finishing last season with a 4.32 goals against average. He is a giant of a student taking up a great portion of the net. His one primary area of weakness is if he has to move quickly from side to side in the crease. Against Upper Montgomery he has made spectacular saves to allow the DC Stars to come away with standings points game after game.

The DC Stars leading returning defender is junior 16U AA Jonathan Lust. Lust is a big stay at home defender who will play the Lightning’s forwards tough in front of the net and in the corners. Seniors Samuel Bensky and Roman Stoinski will also get starting duty in the varsity game. They have experience but foot speed may limit their effectiveness. It will be interesting to see how the Stars handle the rest of their defensive pairings. With the junior varsity game directly prior to the varsity game, the Stars may try and utilize more defenders to limit the time on ice for defenders playing in both games. Now that Leo Nyberg has graduated, the DC Stars defenders do not provide a significant amount of offense.

The DC Stars top returning scorer is senior 18U AA Walter Bernstein (12GP, 8G, 4A). The Stars were offensively starved last year scoring only 36 goals in fourteen games (2.57 goals per game). They did beat Churchill 1-0 in overtime marking the first time in program history that the Stars bested the perennial powerhouse Bulldogs. Junior Gabriel Schon, 16U AA, is the only other returning forward who scored more than three goals last season. He finished with (11GP, 5G, 2A). The DC Stars have a long roster, with some experienced returning forwards in Kai Handy-Kanegis, Ian Cox, Gabriel Ingram, Patrick Kaufmann,to utilize along with ninth grade newcomer 16U Upper A Treysen Shi. If any of these depth forwards can light the lamp on a consistent basis, the DC Stars may get enough scoring to ride Tracy’s netminding into the playoffs.

#Season Opening Win, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Junior Varsity DC Stars Game Preview

October 14, 2025October 14, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning will be in for a treat this upcoming Friday evening as they travel to the Medstar Iceplex, home of the Washington Capitals practice facility, to take on the DC Stars. The double header for the teams features a junior varsity tilt immediately followed by a varsity showdown. Many of the Upper Montgomery Lightning students will be playing in both games. A significantly fewer number of the DC Stars student athletes will pull double duty. Puck drop for the junior varsity is 5:00 pm followed by the varsity game at 6:40 pm.

Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity played a heck of a first half of the game against the Rockville / Magruder Rams this past Friday evening. It was a tremendous physical defensive display which had the Lightning nose to nose with the Rams trailing only 1-0. The second half of the game, Upper Montgomery was too stationary and got completely away from its system. This disintegration of play allowed the Rams skaters time and space which led to a bevy of shots on Lightning ninth grade goalie George Schickler making his first start for the team. The Rams offense eventually got going sending Upper Montgomery to a lopsided loss even through the team played substantially better than in the season opener. The DC Stars enter Friday’s contest with a 1-2 record having beaten only lowly Walter Johnson. The Stars were soundly beaten by six goals against both BCC and Sherwood.

It is an important contest for both teams as a DC Stars win likely solidifies the Stars a spot in the eight team junior varsity playoff tournament. Likewise, a win by Upper Montgomery against the DC Stars coupled with a win over the aforementioned lowly Walter Johnson Wildcats at the end of the season may be just enough to qualify the Lightning. Unlike in prior years, the bottom three junior varsity teams will not qualify for the junior varsity playoffs. Two of those teams will be Richard Montgomery and Walter Johnson. The third will come from a pool of the DC Stars, the Upper Montgomery Lightning, and the Whitman Vikings.

In net for the Lightning will be standout sophomore 16U Lower A goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons started the season opener for the Lightning against Silver Spring stopping 39 of the 42 shots that he faced. The DC Stars have been rotating their goalies. Starter, 14U Upper A Peter O’Shaughnessy has a 1-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average, and a .982 save percentage. He replaced Stutsrim-Lyons on the Caps Academy external travel team when Stutsrim-Lyons aged up into the 16U age group. O’Shaughnessy’s backup, Rhys Seiden-Maloney has been much less successful this year with an 0-2 record, a soaring 8.73 goals against average, and a .794 save percentage. If the Stars split their goalies during the game, Upper Montgomery will need to take advantage of their offensive chances when Seiden-Maloney is in the game.

On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with their same two defensive pairings. Junior defender Max Curtusan is playing much more confidently this season. He has been strong around the net using his size and long reach to break up plays. He will mostly pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth, the younger brother of former Upper Montgomery defender Jake Roth, will use his quick skating ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone. He has shown some grit as well taking a roughing penalty in each game. The Lightning’s alternate captain, 16U Lower A defender Matt Rivera is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season with five assists in ten games. Rivera has been given the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. His persistence paid off with an end to end rush goal at the end of the second period last week providing Upper Montgomery with the team’s only goal. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team. His play will continue to improve as the season moves along. For the Stars, their defensive corps is led by 16U Lower A Thatcher Norton. He will play along with four other Stars defenders, Niklas Olson, Alexander Smith, Nolan Smith, and Roman Stoinski. The Stars five defenders have combined to contribute zero points in their three games.

As the team’s first two games have illustrated, offense is going to be a continuing struggle all season long for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. Playing last week without 16U Upper A forward Max Israfilbek did not help. Israfilbek who scored the Lightning’s two goals against Silver Spring returns to action this week. Against Silver Spring he scored two powerplay goals including one on a penalty shot. Israfilbek has the best shot on the team. He may need to sacrifice some offensive chances to become more reliable in the defensive end of the ice. In addition, junior forward Jackson Schickler makes his season debut for Upper Montgomery. The expectation is that with these two forwards in the lineup the forward lines will be more evenly balanced.

Last week against Rockville / Magruder, Upper Montgomery skated with nine forwards which included two goalies skating out and two very new ninth grade forwards. Expecting the lack of scoring, the coaching staff changed systems this summer to a more defensive structure. The new system puts a primary responsibility on the team’s centers to act as a third defender. Junior Mason Jagoz and ninth grader Wyatt Ostrander have played the majority of their shifts at center. They have also logged a substantial amount of time as penalty killers. Their high hockey IQ makes their performance crucial to the success of the team in getting the puck out of the defensive zone. There is a feeling that the forwards lines may be juggled ahead of the game against the DC Stars.

Senior captain Jason Woodman provides veteran leadership and is expected to have his most productive offensive season this year. He has been given a tough job, to absorb abuse in the goal crease and cause the opposition to focus on him rather than the puck carrier. How effective he is at mucking it up in front and causing chaos will determine the fortunes of his forward line and the Lightning’s powerplay. He did his job well on the Lightning’s lone powerplay against Silver Spring earning an assist. Sophomore Decklin Hughes is the best faceoff performer on the team. He will miss the game against the DC Stars.

The junior varsity forward ranks also have a few new faces this year in addition to Ostrander. Ninth grade right wing Tima Zamaray who plays external hockey in the Tri-City Eagles program has the most individual skill of the incoming students. Zamaray’s progress will be quantified not by his individual talent but rather how he uses his individual skill in the team environment. Zamaray will need to adjust to what works and what does not work at the high school level. He too will earn additional shifts by being responsible in the defensive zone. A lack of interest in his own defensive zone will likely lead to time sitting next to the coaching staff on the bench.

The Lightning are pleased with the initial progress of the two students on the roster with the least amount of hockey experience, ninth grade forwards Nolan Veillette and Miriam Baron. Both are small in stature but have a big desire to improve and get better. Veillette has adapted to the team’s systems well making a nice play or two in each game. Baron shows the eagerness and spunk of someone who is looking to improve every time she is on the ice. Her improvement from the first game to last week’s performance against Rockville / Magruder was noticeable especially when she was alone in front and drew the only penalty called on the Rams.

The DC Stars are led offensively by junior Harry Fishman who has two goals in two games. He is complemented by junior classmate Gabriel Ingram who has three goals in three games. None of the other DC Stars skaters has more than one goal or two points. However, Upper Montgomery should not be deceived into thinking that the game will be easy. For teams that play a defensive style, sometimes one or two goals are enough to secure victory.

As has been mentioned over and over, the 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. With nine incoming ninth graders, it will be exciting and rewarding as these younger students grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the necessary defensive habits and rough and tough identity will determine if the Lightning can challenge the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county. Or, the team may simply be too young and inexperienced to compete on the defensive end of the ice this season. Friday night’s showdown against a similarly hungry DC Stars team will be the start of progress for one of the programs. Hoping that the green and gold compete hard and come out with their initial victory of the season.

#UML, #In the Win Column, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Hobbs’ Hat-Trick Leads Blazers Past Lightning Junior Varsity

October 12, 2025October 12, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The 2025 – 2026 Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity began play last Friday evening against the Silver Spring Blazers. Coming into the season, the Lightning’s coaching staff knew that the junior varsity roster would be young and inexperienced. The team’s long standing systems were changed to make it easier for the nine incoming students to adapt to high school hockey. A physical, defense first mindset has been instilled since the first day of off ice practice sessions. Silver Spring entered the contest having won its first two games of the season led by 16U Upper A defender Rodrick Hobbs. Hobbs entered the contest having scored four of the Blazers six goals and having six of the Blazers eight total points. The task was easy for Upper Montgomery, stop Hobbs, stop the Blazers.

Upper Montgomery knew it would have to rely heavily on sophomore 16U Lower A netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons to remain competitive with the undefeated Blazers. Stutsrim-Lyons did not disappoint. From the outset of the game, Silver Spring’s top defenders, Hobbs and sophomore Ethan Hedberg led rushes into the offensive zone. Upper Montgomery’s young skaters were nervous at the outset of the game which was not unexpected. The Lightning had several misplays early. It took some time for the team to settle down and get used to the speed of the game. Several of the students were chasing the puck getting caught out of position. Hobbs particularly had several end to end rushes where he cut to the left entering the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. His speed allowed him to skate around the Lightning defense getting in alone on Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons stood tall making three saves early on point blank grade A Silver Spring chances in the slot area.

Five and a half minutes into the first period, Silver Spring jumped out in front on Hobbs’ fifth goal of the season. Upper Montgomery cleared the puck to the Silver Spring defensive blue line. Hobbs picked up the puck and curled up ice. He took the puck all the way up ice into the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. He cut left skating down the left wing around the Lightning defense. Upper Montgomery’s defensive pressure forced him deep this time. With no angle, Hobbs took the puck around the net from left to right. With traffic in front of the net, Hobbs’ attempted pass rolled off his stick. Recovering nicely, Hobbs stuffed the puck between Stutsrim-Lyons’ left skate and the near right goal post putting the Blazers in front early in the contest.

With about five minutes remaining in the opening period, Upper Montgomery began to find their legs. Passes turned crisper. The team was able to get the puck out of the defensive zone easier. There was less scrambling around chasing after the puck. As Upper Montgomery’s play began to increase, Silver Spring was called for the game’s first penalty, a too many skaters on the ice minor penalty. Minor penalties in high school hockey for this season have been reduced from two minutes each to a minute and a half per infraction.

The Lightning wasted the first half of the penalty having difficulty exiting their own defensive zone. Then, after the latest Blazers clear of the puck to the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, Lightning sophomore forward Max Israfilbek picked up the puck behind his own net. He proceeded to send an outlet pass to Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray at his defensive blue line. Zamaray bobbled the puck into center ice before re-collecting possession. He proceeded to skate the puck into the offensive zone down the opposite left wing. Silver Spring’s defenders backed off of the play allowing Zamaray to cut to the slot with the puck. His wrist shot was deflected wide of the net to the left of the goal. Along the backboards behind the net, Zamaray was first to the puck winning a puck battle. He passed the puck to Israfilbek behind the net from outside the left goal post to the right goal post. Israfilbek curled out in front of the net trying to stuff the puck into the goal on a wrap around chance. His attempt hit the skates of Lightning senior forward Jason Woodman, whose role on the powerplay is to cause havoc and chaos in front of the goal. The puck squired free into the slot where Israfilbek sent a backhand shot low along the ice. The puck slid past Blazers ninth grade backup netminder Aden Cohen’s right leg pad for Upper Montgomery’s first goal of the season.

At the end of the next shift Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Decklin Hughes was called for a roughing minor penalty. With one of the Lightning’s primary penalty killers in the penalty box, the team struggled to kill off the Blazers powerplay. The team was consistently out of position which allowed Silver Spring to generate great chances from in close. Stutsrim-Lyons made several big saves while other shots were fired wide of the net. After getting through the penalty kill, the Lightning focused exclusively on defensive play to get through to the end of the opening period of play. Shots on goal in the first period were slanted in favor of Silver Spring twelve to five.

Upper Montgomery did a much better job in the second period of staying in position defensively. The physical play continued. Off of a faceoff in the left faceoff circle in the defensive end, Lightning ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander pushed the puck forward. He beat the incoming Blazers defense to the puck pushing it forward and to the right. Israfilbek grabbed the puck and raced up ice down into the Silver Spring defensive zone on a breakaway. Blazers defender Timothy Newman skated hard on the back check but could not catch up to Israfilbek. Newman dove, pushing out his stick to interrupt the Lightning forward. When his stick came out of his grip, Newman was called for throwing his stick at Israfilbek. The Upper Montgomery coaching staff was given a choice of either a powerplay opportunity or a penalty shot. It was an easy choice. On the penalty shot Israfilbek came down the ice in alone on Cohen. He skated just outside the left goal post getting into the high slot before snapping a sharp wrist shot. The puck flew to the right over Cohen’s left leg pad and below his glove hand. It was the first successful penalty shot in Upper Montgomery junior varsity program history. More importantly, it gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead.

The Lightning began to feel more confident playing with the lead. It showed as the physical play continued sometimes going over the line. With five minutes remaining in the period Woodman was called for an interference penalty. Again, the Lightning’s penalty kill scrambled all over the ice opening up wide lanes for the Blazers. Stutsrim-Lyons stood tall turning aside every Silver Spring chance. Three minutes later, Hughes was back in the penalty box, this time for high sticking. The pattern repeated. Blazers chance after chance were stonewalled by Stutsrim-Lyons. Upper Montgomery’s coaches began searching the bench for forwards that would play the Lightning’s desired penalty killing system. A sigh of relief as the buzzer sounded to end the second period with the Lightning ahead 2-1, even though outshot by Silver Spring 23-12 through two periods.

Entering the third period behind, the Blazers went full tilt trying to get the game tied. Upper Montgomery continued to play physical defensive hockey. Hughes was called for his third penalty of the game for a massive hit in the neutral zone. While the official penalty designation was elbowing, the referees could have called several different infractions. Thirty seconds later while killing the Blazers powerplay, Woodman was called for tripping trailing behind a Blazers defender as the skaters went into the left corner of the Upper Montgomery defensive zone. Now down two skaters the Upper Montgomery penalty kill would be challenged. Ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander paired with experienced defenders, junior Max Curtusan and sophomore 14U Lower A Matt Rivera to thwart the Blazers two skater advantage. Unlike the prior five on four traditional penalty kills where the Lightning struggled to remain in position, the Upper Montgomery trio thrived keeping the Blazers to the perimeter. Stutsrim-Lyons made big saves. The Lightning trio of skaters repetitively sent the puck down ice into the Blazers defensive zone. Hughes’ penalty expired leaving the Lightning with forty seconds left shorthanded.

Silver Spring maintained control of play in the Lightning defensive zone. The puck kept in at the offensive blue line by Hedberg. Hedberg used his skate to stop the puck before it exited the Lightning defensive zone. He then sent a cross ice pass to the right faceoff circle for Hobbs. Hobbs’ shot was a routine stick save for Stutsrim-Lyons. Hobbs controlled the rebound taking the puck low into the corner before travelling around the net from right to left. He curled out past the goal line to the bottom of the left faceoff circle. He fired the puck far side to the top right corner of the net. It was a perfectly placed shot for his sixth goal of the season.

Over the next eight minutes of play, Upper Montgomery had the better of the chances even though the Lightning were outshot by Silver Spring nineteen to two in the third period. With just under six minutes to play, Israfilbek had another clean breakaway in alone on Cohen. Unfortunately for Upper Montgomery he lost possession of the puck into the corner as he maneuvered in the low slot to shoot. Then, with four and half minutes to play, Upper Montgomery ninth grade forward Nolan Veillette won a puck battle along the left wing boards in the offensive zone. He sent a pass into the slot to Zamaray. Zamaray, known as a shooter, inexplicitly turned down the point blank shot. Instead he fed the puck to the left goal post looking for Curtusan who had charged into the goal mouth from his left defensive position.

As the clock ticked under two minutes left in regulation, the puck was deep in the Silver Spring defensive zone. Silver Spring defender Joseph Seibert tapped the puck to Hedberg. Hedberg took off skating up ice. He traversed out of the Silver Spring defensive zone, through neutral ice, and into the Lightning defensive zone down the left wing. He was bumped into by the Upper Montgomery defense. Absorbing the hit, he was forced wide into the bottom of the left faceoff circle where he then cut to the net. He fired a backhanded shot from in close at Stutsrim-Lyons. The Lightning goalie made the save, and then another save on the rebound before he swatted the puck out of the crease area. Hobbs grabbed the puck behind the goal. As he came out from behind the goal line, Hobbs banked the puck into the net off of Stutsrim-Lyons left skate short side.

Upper Montgomery had difficulty gaining possession of the puck off the ensuing center ice faceoff. It took over a minute for the Lightning to have an opportunity to pull Stutsrim-Lyons for an extra skater. Once the Lightning finally entered the offensive zone, there were a few long range flings of the puck toward the net, none of which went on goal. As the buzzer sounded the Blazers swarmed Cohen congratulating him on his first career high school victory.

In practice this upcoming week, the Lightning will look to correct some of the issues from their first outing. Look for the team to bring high energy and an even more physical approach into next week’s game against Rockville / Magruder. The Rams may have a bit of an advantage having already played four games entering the contest versus Upper Montgomery.

Game Notes:

Upper Montgomery was badly outshot. Silver Spring had the advantage 42-14. Upper Montgomery netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons was forced to make many outstanding saves while finishing with 39 on the evening.
The Lightning were two for two on the powerplay, with one of the goals coming by way of a penalty shot. It was the first converted penalty shot in the six years that Upper Montgomery has fielded a junior varsity team.
The Lightning killed off an extended five on three shorthanded situation. The Upper Montgomery penalty killers were four for five on the evening.
Upper Montgomery sophomore forward Max Israfilbek had his first career two goal game.
Lightning forward Tima Zamaray notched his first career high school point in his first high school game with an assist on Israfilbek’s first powerplay goal of the evening.
Upper Montgomery had seven students playing in their first career high school game.
Upper Montgomery junior varsity plays their next game on Friday evening, October 10th against the Rockville / Magruder Rams. This will be the Rams’ fifth game of the season. Game time is 8:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

First Star—Porter Stutsrim-Lyons—Upper Montgomery Goalie—39 Saves, .929 Save Percentage
Second Star—Rodrick Hobbs—Silver Spring Forward—3 Goals, GWG
Third Star—Max Israfilbek—Upper Montgomery Forward—2 PP Goals, Including PS Goal

Junior Varsity Rockville / Magruder Game Preview

October 8, 2025October 8, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning’s 2025 – 2026 junior varsity regular season got off to an uneven start last Friday evening. Several students played well in the season opener, but the team as a whole could not overcome Blazers defender Rodrick Hobbs’ hat-trick in the season opening 3-2 loss. Hobbs’ game winning goal was scored with under two minutes remaining in regulation. Also, unfortunate for the Lightning was Hobbs’ participation in the game, as the Montgomery Hockey Conference evaluates all junior varsity students after their team’s third game of the season. After last Friday’s game, Hobbs was elevated to varsity only status for the rest of his high school career.

Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity heads into their second game of the season this Friday evening against the Rockville / Magruder Rams. Game time is 8:50 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Rockville / Magruder has already played four games this season as their junior varsity schedule is heavily slanted toward the beginning of the season whereas Upper Montgomery’s schedule is more evenly distributed over the next several months. The Rams enter the contest with two victories and two defeats.

The Lightning junior varsity roster is a good mixture of older experienced students pairing with many new incoming students to the program. With the loss of the team’s top seven scorers from last year, the Lightning will be focused on preventing the opposition from scoring. It may take the team a while to gel offensively and begin popping in the goals as evidenced by last week’s two goal performance. The returning junior varsity members and the incoming ninth grade students have picked up Upper Montgomery’s new systems very well. The team was much more physical against the Blazers than in prior seasons and that will continue to be key for the Lightning as the season progresses.

In net for the Lightning is expected to be ninth grade goalie George Schickler making his Upper Montgomery debut. He will have large shoes to fill as Upper Montgomery’s returning junior varsity goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons was excellent in net last week against Silver Spring stopping 39 of 42 shots on goal. George Schickler is the younger brother of the Lightning’s junior forward Jackson Schickler. Having three junior varsity eligible goalies is an abundance of riches the forcing the coaching staff to work on getting all three netminder into games this season. The Lightning have also been loaning out the junior varsity eligible goalies to other programs in need. Both Schickler and Friday’s backup goalie ninth grade Stephen Rickman have played in net for Walter Johnson over the past few weeks. The Rams are expected to start ninth grade 14U Lower A goalie Daniel Gagarin in net. Gagarin has posted a 2-0 record with a 1.21 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. He has only given up three goals on the season.

On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with their same two defensive pairings. Last season, Upper Montgomery had eight junior varsity eligible defenders. This season, the team will make due with four. If a defender misses a game or is injured during a game, forwards will be brought back on defense to help cover for that game. Junior defender Max Curtusan grew over the summer and looks much more sturdy this season. Look for the big rig defender to clear the crease and use his long reach to bottle up opposing forwards. It worked against the Blazers as their powerplay was tepid for most of the game. Curtusan will mostly pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth, the younger brother of former Upper Montgomery defender Jake Roth, will use his quick skating ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

The Lightning’s alternate captain, 16U Lower A defender Matthew Rivera is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season with five assists in ten games. Rivera has been given the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team and will continue to improve as the season moves along. For the Rams, their defensive corps is led by Lukas Aagaard who has seen varsity game action in prior seasons. Aagaard is not flashy but is positionally very sound. He moves the puck very well out of the defensive zone. David Schanzer and Carder Wilcox are likely to be a pairing. Wilcox has a lot of junior varsity experience over the past two seasons. With only three listed defenders, the Rams will also bring back forwards to take shifts on defense to prevent overtaxing their defenders.

Offense is likely going to be a continuing struggle all season for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. No returning forward scored more than one goal or four points last season. The offense did not score at even strength against Silver Spring. With the lack of scoring, the coaching staff changed systems this summer to a more defensive structure. The new system puts a primary responsibility on the team’s centers to act as a third defender. Junior Mason Jagoz and incoming ninth grader Wyatt Ostrander will play the majority of their shifts at center. They will also log a substantial amount of time as penalty killers. Their high hockey IQ makes their performance crucial to the success of the team in getting the puck out of the defensive zone.

A few forwards return for the Lightning. Sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek has the best shot on the team. He may need to sacrifice some offensive chances to become more reliable in the defensive end of the ice. Against Silver Spring he scored two powerplay goals including one on a penalty shot. Senior captain Jason Woodman is expected to have his most productive offensive season this year. He has been given a tough job, to absorb abuse in the goal crease and cause the opposition to focus on him rather than the puck carrier. How effective he is at mucking it up in front and causing chaos will determine the fortunes of his forward line. He did his job well on the Lightning’s lone powerplay last week earning an assist. Junior Jackson Schickler will join the team later in the season once his football commitments at Poolesville High School end. Schickler will bring energy and intensity to a team that needs to grow in those gritty areas. Sophomore Decklin Hughes will see plenty of ice time especially if he proves to be reliable in the defensive zone. Hughes is good along the boards and will play the body. Sometimes too much body as he was whistled for three minor penalties against the Blazers. The more effective he is in the defensive zone, the more ice time he will earn.

The junior varsity forward ranks will also have a few new faces this year in addition to Ostrander. Ninth grade right wing Tima Zamaray who plays external hockey in the Tri-City Eagles program has the most individual skill of the incoming students. Zamaray’s progress will be quantified by how he uses his individual skill in the team environment. Zamaray will need to adjust to what works and what does not work at the high school level. He too will earn additional shifts by being responsible in the defensive zone. A n area where Zamaray should help the team is on the powerplay with his hard shot. The Lightning are pleased with the initial progress of the two students on the roster with the least amount of hockey experience, ninth grade forwards Nolan Veillette and Miriam Baron. Both are small in stature but have a big desire to improve and get better. Veillette has adapted to the team’s systems well and Baron shows the eagerness and spunk of someone who is looking to improve every time she is on the ice. Her improvement over the season will see her earn additional shifts in each game.

Rockville / Magruder is led offensively by ninth grade 16U Lower A forward Adam Suitor who has (4GP, 2G, 4A). Fellow ninth grade forward Dylan Singer is Suitor’s prime running mate with (3GP, 2G, 3A). When these two are on the ice together, the Lightning defense will be challenged. The Rams leading goal scorer is 14U Lower A Daniel Cleary. Cleary has scored four goals over the Rams first four games this season. Jett Caruso and Michael Zaporozhetc have each chipped in with two goals to provide much needed scoring depth. It is no secret that the Lightning will need to throttle down the Rams who are averaging 4.75 goals per game. Playing a hard style where the gifted Rams forwards are met with physical resistance in the offensive end of the ice will be the key to an Upper Montgomery victory on Friday evening.

The 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. It will be exciting and rewarding as the younger skaters grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the necessary defensive habits and rough and tough identity will determine if the Lightning can challenge the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county. Or, is the team simply too young and not committed enough defensively to compete now. Friday night will give us some more answers as Upper Montgomery faces another tough challenge. Come along for the ride, it should be a fun season!

#UML, #Winning, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Junior Varsity Silver Spring Game Preview

October 3, 2025October 6, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

The Upper Montgomery Lightning’s 2025 – 2026 regular season kicks off on Friday night when the junior varsity hosts the Silver Spring Blazers. Game time is 9:20 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Blazers were formerly named after Blair High School but have changed their name to be more inclusive of the other high schools in their program. Upper Montgomery will be trying to duplicate last season’s fine showing culminating with an eventual loss in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity semifinals to eventual champion, Wootton. Upper Montgomery had a third period lead in that semifinal game and played Wootton the toughest of any team in the county last year, with an overtime loss in the regular season and then the very close playoff loss. That was last season. This year’s junior varsity will be looking to make a name of their own adding to the Lightning’s list of very successful junior varsity seasons.

This year’s junior varsity roster is a good mixture of older experienced students pairing with many new incoming students to the program. With the loss of the team’s top seven scorers from last year, the Lightning will be focused on preventing the opposition from scoring. It may take the team a while to gel offensively and begin popping in the goals. The returning junior varsity members and the incoming ninth grade students have picked up Upper Montgomery’s new systems very well. The team is eager to display its progress in the season opener against Silver Spring. Of note, the Lightning were the only team last week with no game. The other ten junior varsity programs all played last Friday evening. The Blazers took down Walter Johnson in their season opener by a score of 4-2. They followed up that win by beating Churchill 2-1 in overtime in a mid-week contest that just concluded.

In net for the Lightning junior varsity to start the season will be sophomore netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the NOVA Ice Dogs 16U Lower A external travel team. He had ginormous skates to fill last season following in the footsteps of Lightning netminder Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg set or tied junior varsity program records for wins in a season (eight), lowest goals against average (1.80), and highest save percentage (.927). Stutsrim-Lyons did just that posting a 5-3-2 record, a 1.99 goals against average, and a new program record .930 save percentage. He also recorded two shutouts, including in his first ever high school start against Richard Montgomery. Backing up Stutsrim-Lyons will be two incoming ninth graders. Stephen Rickman is a 14U Lower A goalie with the Frederick Freeze organization. George Schickler is the younger brother of the Lightning’s junior forward Jackson Schickler.

Having three junior varsity eligible goalies is an abundance of riches and the coaching staff will work to get all three netminder into games this season. The Lightning have also been asked to help other programs in the league by loaning out the junior varsity eligible goalies. Both Rickman and Schickler played in net for Walter Johnson earlier in the week. The Blazers are expected to start Myle Amirthalingam in net. Amirthalingam (14U Lower A) won both of the Blazers games this past week posting a 1.48 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. With junior varsity programs there is such change from year to year that the Lightning’s 9-0 victory over the Blazers last season means absolutely nothing. As Amirthalingam played both games for Silver Spring over the past week, the Blazers may start backup goalie Aden Cohen. For Cohen it would be his first career high school start.

On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with only two defensive pairings. Last season, Upper Montgomery had eight junior varsity defenders. This season, the team will make due with four. If a defender misses a game, forwards will be brought back to help cover for that game. Junior defender Max Curtusan grew over the summer and looks much more sturdy this season. Look for the big rig defender to clear the crease using his long reach to bottle up opposing forwards. Curtusan will mostly pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth, the younger brother of former Upper Montgomery defender Jake Roth, will use his quick skating ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

The Lightning’s alternate captain, 16U Lower A defender Matthew Rivera is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season with five assists in ten games. Rivera has been given the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team and will continue to improve as the season moves along. For the Blazers, their defensive corps has veteran Ethan Hedberg pairing with new defenders Timothy Newman and Rakshay Narayanan. It is anticipated that the Blazers will drop back forwards to play on defense to make up for their lack of depth.

Offense is likely going to be a struggle this season for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. No returning forward scored more than one goal or four points last season. With the lack of scoring, the coaching staff changed systems this summer to a more defensive structure. The new system puts a primary responsibility on the team’s centers to act as a third defender. Junior Mason Jagoz and incoming ninth grader Wyatt Ostrander will play the majority of their shifts at center. They will also log a substantial amount of time as penalty killers. Their high hockey IQ makes their performance crucial to the success of the team in getting the puck out of the defensive zone.

A few forwards return for the Lightning. Sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek has the best shot on the team. He may need to sacrifice some offensive chances to become more reliable in the defensive end of the ice. Senior captain Jason Woodman is expected to have his most productive offensive season this year. He has been given a tough job, to absorb abuse in the goal crease and cause the opposition to focus on him rather than the puck carrier. How effective he is at mucking it up in front and causing chaos will determine the fortunes of his forward line. Junior Jackson Schickler will join the team later in the season once his football commitments at Poolesville High School end. Schickler will bring energy and intensity to a team that needs to grow in those gritty areas. Sophomore Decklin Hughes will see plenty of ice time especially if he proves to be reliable in the defensive zone. Hughes is good along the boards and will play the body. The more effective he is in the defensive zone, the more ice time he will earn.

The junior varsity forward ranks will also have a few new faces this year in addition to Ostrander. Ninth grade right wing Tima Zamaray who plays external hockey in the Tri-City Eagles program has the most individual skill of the incoming students. Zamaray’s progress will be quantified by how he uses his individual skill in the team environment. Zamaray will need to adjust to what works and what does not work at the high school level. He too will earn additional shifts by being responsible in the defensive zone. An area where Zamaray should help the team is on the powerplay with his hard shot. The Lightning are pleased with the initial progress of the two students with the least amount of hockey experience, ninth grade forwards Nolan Veilette and Miriam Baron. Both are small in stature but have a big desire to improve and get better. Veilette has adapted to the team’s systems well and Baron shows the eagerness and spunk of someone who is looking to improve every time on the ice. Her improvement over the season will see her earn additional shifts in each game.

Silver Spring is led offensively by ninth grade 16U Upper A forward Rodrick Hobbs. Hobbs scored a hat trick in the Blazers opening game. He also added an assist for a four point evening. Then, against Churchill, he scored the game winning overtime goal. He personally has accounted for four of the Blazers six goals and five of the Blazers nine points. It is no secret what the Lightning must do to stop Silver Spring, stop Hobbs.

The 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. It will be exciting and rewarding as the younger skaters grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits and identity necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county. Or, is the team simply too young and not committed enough defensively to compete now. Friday night will give us some answers as the season finally gets underway. Come along for the ride, it should be a fun season!

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Lightning Strike Blog–September 2025

October 1, 2025October 1, 2025 chucklevine Leave a comment

As the month of September comes to a close, the Upper Montgomery Lightning are itching to begin regular season action. The schedule makers gave the Lightning a bye in week one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity schedule, thus the team did not participate in last week’s traditional opening weekend.

To gear up for the competition this season, Upper Montgomery had two scrimmages during the middle of September. The scrimmages were decidedly different. In the first scrimmage against BCC, Upper Montgomery’s student athletes did very little according to the game plan and the new defensive systems being installed during this pre-season’s training camp. The result was BCC’s student athletes skating around at will peppering the Lightning’s younger goalies with way, way too many high quality scoring chances. From the end of that initial scrimmage moving forward, the team’s practices have been more up tempo and physical. The result was a much, much better performance in a 7-3 victory over Richard Montgomery. Two of the Rockets three goals were the direct result of Upper Montgomery’s top experienced defender falling down on the ice allowing breakaway chances.

Upper Montgomery is transitioning from a high scoring offensive team to a smothering defensive structure. This defensive structure has been regularly used by the junior varsity over the past few seasons with significant success; winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship four seasons ago, going undefeated through the regular season two years ago, and returning to the junior varsity semifinals last year holding a lead with ten minutes left in the game.

While the 2025 – 2026 season is anticipated to be one of development for the green and gold’s many first year high school students, the team does have some very high end and experienced student athletes. Time will tell if these older students are able to take over and control games by themselves. Some of the younger students are showing that they deserve playing time in varsity games this season. The team has only four seniors after graduating sixteen members of the program over the past two seasons. If the Lightning can come together as a true team, playing with grit and tenacity, the coaching staff expects that Upper Montgomery will be more competitive than the rest of the league believes. It should be an exciting and rewarding season for the program as the younger students grow and develop. The goals for the program remain the same, to qualify for the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs for the first time in program history. For the junior varsity, to compete for and win the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!