Author: chucklevine

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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

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!

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!

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!