Category: Game Previews

The Upper Montgomery Lightning takes on their new archrival, Wootton on Friday night with each team vying for supremacy of division two of the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The game will be a tall task for Upper Montgomery as Wootton is averaging twelve goals per game so far this season. With Upper Montgomery missing last season’s leading returning scorer Nathan Cassel for some length of time as he deals with an upper body injury, the young Lightning will be sizeable underdogs in this game. Further adding to the drama surrounding this game is that Upper Montgomery has won the last three meetings between the teams after never having beaten Wootton in its first fourteen years of existence. Wootton will be looking for revenge after the Lightning’s 9-1 destruction of the Patriots in last year’s Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament championship game.

Upper Montgomery has started the 2024 -2025 high school hockey season in fine fashion with a 2-0-1 record coming off of yesterday’s 7-3 victory over Northwest / Quince Orchard. Wootton destroyed that same Northwest / Quince Orchard team 14-0 on opening night and followed up with a 10-4 victory over BCC. Upper Montgomery also beat BCC, but only by a score of 4-3 to open the season. The game will be a contrast in styles as Upper Montgomery will look to suffocate the game defensively to keep the high powered Patriots offensive dynamo that is piling up the goals early in the season from controlling the pace of the game.

Upper Montgomery’s goaltender, 16U AA Ilan Shterenberg was really good in the season opening win over BCC. Shterenberg made 31 saves, with a .912 save percentage, and he did not give up a goal while the Lightning were at even strength. BCC scored two powerplay goals and their last goal with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Against Rockville / Magruder Shterenberg was busy once again making 30 saves including some outstanding saves to deny Rockville / Magruder likely goals. Three goals that went in were the direct result of Upper Montgomery defensive zone turnovers. Shterenberg will need to be exceptionally sharp against the Patriots, and if Upper Montgomery prevails, it will likely be because Shterenberg stole the show. He will again be backed up by ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U Lower A external travel team and he has started off his high school career strongly playing for the junior varsity. Stutsrim-Lyons is 2-1-2 on the season with a 1.96 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. He began his high school career with a shutout of Richard Montgomery and followed up that performance with a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves against Wootton. Yesterday, Stutsrim-Lyons got his first taste of varsity action playing well in the third period against Northwest / Quince Orchard.

In net for Wootton will be sophomore 16U Upper A goalie Kevin Yu. The Lightning have faced Yu twice before, in the aforementioned Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament championship game and earlier this season when Yu was backstopping the Wootton junior varsity team. He is a very solid netminder and it will be tough for Upper Montgomery to get many pucks past him. At the varsity level he sports a 2-0 record so far this season with a 2.00 goals against average and an .846 save percentage. Wootton’s opposition has not fired many shots on net as they have been overwhelmed by the Patriots offensive firepower.

On defense, the Lightning will have a full compliment of their defense available for the game. The Lightning’s most experience defender junior 16U AA Brady Berkhammer (two goals yesterday versus Northwest / Quince Orchard) will pair with ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins. Anticipate that 16U Lower A defender Miles Wendland (2GP, 3A) will skate with senior Cole Howerton. Ninth grade defender Matt Rivera may see some game action. Depth defenders Patrick Sell and Avery Evans may or may not play much depending upon score and circumstance.

Wootton’s most explosive skater is 18U AA senior defender Sam Hosier. Hosier is just about a lock to be one of the two defenders on the Montgomery Hockey Conference All-Conference first team at the conclusion of the season. He may also be voted an all state defender as well. Through two games, Hosier leads Wootton in scoring with eight goals and four assists. Hosier plays as a rover and he will be all over the ice during the game. Wootton has other capable defenders as well. Junior Nicholas Chung has experience to help lead younger defenders ninth grade 14U Upper A Isaac Greene and 14U Lower A Nathan Tian. The Wootton defensive corps is mobile and will cause problems for the Lightning forwards on transitions up the ice.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery will be challenged for the next several weeks. With Cassel out of the lineup, junior forward Philip Shkeda and senior center Henry Honacki will be relied upon to provide the bulk of the team’s offensive production. With Upper Montgomery playing 16U AAA Owen Robbins at center this season, the junior has flourished scoring a hat-trick against BCC. Sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng had two point games against both BCC and Rockville / Magruder to start the season. Senior Josh Nadler finally returns to the lineup tonight against Wootton after missing the first three games of the season while he was out of the country.

Both Zheng and Nadler will play heavy minutes with the varsity this season and both will need to increase their offensive output. Nadler is the junior varsity’s all-time leading goal scorer with 20 career junior varsity goals. Joining them on the varsity roster are forwards TJ Gottesman, the junior varsity’s career points leader with 32 points (and who scored his first career varsity goal yesterday against Northwest / Quince Orchard), sophomore newcomer Jake Hudson (two assists in his first varsity game), and ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin. Bhasin and Hudson currently lead the junior varsity in scoring so far this season. AJ Marks and his big frame will get a look in varsity competition as well. Other junior varsity student athletes may get called up as the season progresses when the core of the varsity squad is missing due to out-of-town external travel team game conflicts.

Wootton has a dynamic duo of forwards in junior 18U AA Justin Heller and 16U Upper A Owen Goozh. Heller has two goals on the season and Goozh has three. Senior 18U AA Nathan Tai, a hulking monster who has played defense in prior seasons, has been moved to forward and he has scored five goals in the first two games. Sophomore 16U Upper A Nathan Geeng has scored three times. Michael Klimantov 16U AA has scored twice. AAA forwards Evan Batbold and Jaina Kronforst have not yet played for the Patriots making their lineup even deeper and stronger. With this much offensive potential, Upper Montgomery will be unable to take any shifts off and will need to clear the zone continuously without getting hemmed in defensively for long periods of play.

The 2024 – 2025 season has started out well for Upper Montgomery. Once thought of as a season of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes, the year is quickly turning into an opportunity to compete right away.  If the Lightning are competitive with fourth ranked Wootton, the season would take a leap forward and prove that Upper Montgomery can compete with every team in the county. Headed into Friday’s late night tilt with high powered Wootton, the Lightning are off to their best start to a season in years. Let’s hope that a scary good day after Halloween performance is in store for Upper Montgomery!

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity is looking to continue its strong start to begin the 2024 -2025 high school hockey season when the team returns to action on Thursday evening to face Northwest / Quince Orchard on Halloween. Game time is 7:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. Upper Montgomery has begun the season with an impressive victory over BCC, the first ever in program history, followed up by playing Rockville / Magruder to a tie this past Friday night. Upper Montgomery had the Rockville / Magruder game until giving up the game tying goal with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation. The Lightning will be looking to make the game against Northwest / Quince Orchard a Halloween massacre as Upper Montgomery will be the far more talented team on the ice.

Northwest / Quince Orchard enters the game on a high, having secured a major upset of Richard Montgomery this past Friday night. Some prognostications had Northwest / Quince Orchard going winless this season and not being competitive in any game. Kudos to the Northwest / Quince Orchard student athletes for snagging a victory, scoring with 1:12 remaining in the game to break a four all tie and then finishing off the game into the empty net. Upper Montgomery faced Northwest / Quince Orchard only one time last season and the Lightning trounced Northwest / Quince Orchard 14-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Playoff Tournament.

Upper Montgomery’s goaltender, 16U AA Ilan Shterenberg was really good in the win win over BCC. Shterenberg made 31 saves, with a .912 save percentage, and did not give up a goal while the Lightning were at even strength. BCC scored two powerplay goals and a goal with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Against Rockville / Magruder Shterenberg was busy once again making 30 saves including some outstanding saves to deny Rockville / Magruder likely goals. Three goals that went in were the direct result of Upper Montgomery defensive zone turnovers. He will again be backed up by ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U Lower A external travel team and has started off his high school career strongly playing for the junior varsity. Stutsrim-Lyons is 2-1-2 on the season with a 1.96 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. He began his high school career with a shutout of Richard Montgomery and followed up that performance with a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves against Wootton.

In net for Northwest / Quince Orchard is likely to be ninth grade netminder Sean Wyatt. In securing the victory over Richard Montgomery, Wyatt made 47 saves while giving up only four goals for a .922 save percentage. Northwest / Quince Orchard senior goalie Joseph Dean played in the opener and surrendered fourteen goals to Wootton. If somehow there is rotation in place and the game against Upper Montgomery is Dean’s game, that would be a bonus for the Lightning. If the two netminders split the game, that would also be a boon for Upper Montgomery. Either way, for the third straight game, Upper Montgomery will again have a big advantage in net with Shterenberg.

On defense, the Lightning should finally have most of their defense available for a game. The Lightning’s most experience defender junior 16U AA Brady Berkhammer will pair with either ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins or senior stay at home defender Patrick Sell. Anticipate that 16U Lower A Miles Wendland (2GP, 3A) will skate with senior Cole Howerton. Ninth grade defender Matt Rivera will see regular action and he will play with either Robbins or Sell, depending upon matchups. With the loss of so many experienced skaters off last season’s roster, almost every skater in the program is likely to see some playing time on the varsity this season. Rivera and Sell look to be in line to dress out for this game. Sophomore Avery Evans would also play if she is available on Thursday evening.

Northwest / Quince Orchard has two reasonably competent defenders in senior 18U Upper A Drew Blurton and junior 18U AA Roman Martin. After those two, there is a massive drop off in talent to the rest of the Northwest / Quince Orchard defenders. Anticipate that Northwest / Quince Orchard’s two stud defenders will play with each other on the powerplay and at any crucial moments in the game. But, they will likely be split with other defenders for most of the game in an attempt to keep at least one of them on the ice at all times. Look for Upper Montgomery to take advantage of the less experienced defense and overload to that side of the ice on offensive zone entries.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery returns its second and third leading scorers from a season ago. Senior 18U AA forward Nathan Cassel (15GP, 11G, 18A) and junior forward Philip Shkeda (20GP, 13G, 12A). This duo will be relied upon to lead Upper Montgomery offensively and they both will need to produce just like last year after loosing their center for the past two seasons, Chris Hassett to graduation. Cassel has an opportunity score enough goals (14) or hand out enough assists (11) to qualify for induction into the Maryland Student Hockey League Hall of Fame. He led the Lightning offensively with a hat-trick including two breakaway goals in the tie versus Rockville / Magruder. With Upper Montgomery playing Owen Robbins at center this season, the junior has flourished scoring a hat-trick against BCC. Senior center, Henry Honacki 18U Upper A (21GP, 7G, 8A) elevated his game last year and if he can increase his scoring production it will help supplement Cassel, Shkeda, and Robbins. With Shkeda returning to the lineup after missing the Rockville / Magruder game while he was out of town, Upper Montgomery should be at full strength offensively.

After these four students, there is a drop off in production to sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng (9GP, 3G, 5A) last year and who has contributed (2GP, 1G, 3A) this season. Senior Josh Nadler (13GP, 4A) last year returns to the lineup against Northwest / Quince Orchard after missing the first two games of the season while he was out of the country. Both Zheng and Nadler will play heavy minutes with the varsity this season and both will need to increase their offensive output. Nadler is the junior varsity’s all-time leading goal scorer with 20 career junior varsity goals. Joining them on the varsity roster are forwards TJ Gottesman, the junior varsity’s career points leader with 32 points, sophomore newcomer Jake Hudson (two assists in his first varsity game), and ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin. Bhasin and Hudson currently lead the junior varsity in scoring so far this season. AJ Marks and his big frame will get a look in varsity competition as well. Other junior varsity student athletes may get called up as the season progresses when the core of the varsity squad is missing due to external travel team out-of-town game conflicts.

Northwest / Quince Orchard has only one offensive scorer of note, junior 16U AA center Ethan Custudio. He scored four times and assisted on the other two goals scored in Northwest / Quince Orchard’s game against Richard Montgomery. The key to limiting Northwest / Quince Orchard is to stop Custudio as Upper Montgomery did last season in the playoff game. If Upper Montgomery handles Custudio, it will be a long, long night and the rout will be on.

The 2024 – 2025 season has started out well for Upper Montgomery. Once thought of as a season of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes, the year is quickly turning into an opportunity to compete right away.  If the Lightning can smoke Northwest / Quince Orchard, the team will be off to a 2-0-1 start to the campaign leading into Friday’s late night tilt with high powered Wootton. Let’s hope that a scary good Halloween performance is in store for Upper Montgomery!

# Halloween Massacre, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

On Friday, the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity plays against the Blair Blazers. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. As with last week’s schedule, the Upper Montgomery varsity plays at 10:00 pm that same evening. With a varsity game later in the evening, the coaching staff will be utilizing roster management tactics to make sure that students playing heavy minutes later in the evening in the varsity game are well rested. With the Blazers off to an 0-4 start to the season and being outscored 32-2, the game against Upper Montgomery will be a miss match. The Blazers have two additional games this week prior to the game against Upper Montgomery and seemingly could be 0-6 by game time.

In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a 2-1-2 record, a miniscule 1.96 goals against average, and an eye popping .933 save percentage. If Stutsrim-Lyons maintains his current save percentage it would break the junior varsity program record set last season by Ilan Shterenberg (.927). The Blazers will play Crispin Mpoy in goal. Mpoy is playing behind an overmatched roster of skaters in front of him.

On defense the Lightning will sit their more experienced defenders. Anticipate that Cole Howerton and Miles Wendland will not play against the Blazers. Patrick Sell will likely skate with Avery Evans as the top defensive pair. Matt Rivera and Luke Hudson will skate together for much of the game as well. Lillian Robbins will be worked in some but not play regularly as the team will likely rest her for the varsity game later in the evening. Defensively, the Blazers will be hoping to stay out of running clock for as long as possible.

On offense, the Lightning will likely rest Jake Hudson and Aiden Zheng. Anticipate that leading scorer, ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin (4GP, 3G, 4A) will play along with senior AJ Marks. Rounding out the forward rotation will be sophomore Mason Jagoz, and ninth grade forwards Decklin Hughes and Max Israfilbek. Jackson Schickler remains out with an upper body injury and Jason Woodman is continuing to serve his suspension.

Friday’s game is definitely a miss match and one that should advance the Lightning record to 3-1-2 on the season. It will be a hard game on everyone and should be a day after Halloween destruction. If somehow this game is relatively close, Upper Montgomery will use some of the students that are anticipated to be rested for the game.

#Day After Destruction, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity returns to action on Friday night to face the Rockville / Magruder Rams in a game of unbeaten programs. Continuing an early season theme for the Lightning, game time is late night, 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Upper Montgomery successfully kicked of its 2024 – 2025 regular season campaign with the program’s first ever victory over BCC, 4-3. The Rockville / Magruder Rams began the season easing to a 6-2 win over Richard Montgomery. Historically, games between the two programs have been extremely close. Upper Montgomery defeated the Rams 5-4 on Nathan Cassel’s goal in overtime to close out the Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season last winter. The team’s prior meeting was a 3-2 decision in favor of Rockville / Magruder with the game winning goal scored in the final minute of regulation. This game will likely be decided by the presence of Rockville / Magruder senior defender Drew Pfeufer. Pfeufer (10GP, 18G, 9A) last season will be the most talented student athlete on the ice if he plays. The big question will be if he is in town or out-of-town with his AAA external travel team, Team Maryland.

Upper Montgomery’s goaltender, 16U AA Ilan Shterenberg was really good in last week’s win over BCC. Shterenberg made 31 saves, with a .912 save percentage, and did not give up a goal while the Lightning were at even strength. BCC scored two powerplay goals and a goal with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Shterenberg will need to be sharp once again for the Lightning to be competitive against the Rams. He will be backed up by ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U Lower A external travel team and has started off his high school career strongly playing for the junior varsity. Stutsrim-Lyons is 1-1-2 on the season with a 2.18 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. He began his high school career with a shutout of Richard Montgomery and followed up that performance with a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves against Wootton.

In net for Rockville / Magruder will be senior Sean Connelly. Connelly had an impressive outing against the Rockets last week stopping 27 of 29 shots. Last season, Connelly backstopped the Rams to the seventh seed in the county rankings. He has experience playing at the varsity level and is a steady, unspectacular netminder. Upper Montgomery has an advantage in net with Shterenberg.

On defense, the Lightning have most of their backline returning with the exception of junior defender Andrew Botti who chose not to play high school hockey during his season year of high school. Returning are top rising juniors, rugged defensive defender 16U AAA Owen Robbins (14GP, 3A) and smooth skating cool customer 16U AA Brady Berkhammer (21GP, 1G, 12A). They will be joined in the regular defensive rotation by sophomore 16U Lower A Miles Wendland (18GP, 6A) and senior Cole Howerton. Anticipate the Lightning defense to be more offensive minded this season after the defenders scored only five goals in 91 total defensive games played last year. In the season opener, the defense contributed four assists with Wendland involved in two of the scoring plays. Rounding out the defensive corps will be a rotation of junior varsity call ups; 14U AA Lillian Robbins, 14U Lower A Matt Rivera, Patrick Sell, Luke Hudson, and 19U AA Avery Evans. With the loss of so many experienced skaters off last season’s roster, almost every skater in the program is likely to see some some playing for the varsity this season. Rivera and Sell look to be in line to dress out for this game.

With Pfeufer alone the Rams are all set on defense. They will also deploy tough customer senior Aiden Ward, an 18U AA wide body defender who hits like a mack truck. Juniors Max Yuen, 16U Lower A and Lincoln Herrick are entering their third season of varsity competition and they will provide excellent depth on defense. Ninth grade defender 16U Lower A Lukas Aagaard and Senior Calder Wilcox will see game action this week against the Lightning as well. The Rams defense will be much more experienced than what Upper Montgomery faced last week against BCC.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery returns its second and third leading scorers from a season ago. Senior 18U AA forward Nathan Cassel (15GP, 11G, 18A) and junior forward Philip Shkeda (20GP, 13G, 12A). This duo will be relied upon to lead Upper Montgomery offensively and they both will need to produce just like last year after loosing their center for the past two seasons, Chris Hassett to graduation. Cassel has an opportunity score enough goals (17) or hand out enough assists (11) to qualify for induction into the Maryland Student Hockey League Hall of Fame. Senior center, Henry Honacki 18U Upper A (21GP, 7G, 8A) elevated his game last year and if he can increase his scoring production it will help supplement Cassel and Shkeda. With Shkeda missing the game while he is out of town, anticipate that Owen Robbins will again play center this week coming off his career best hat-trick plus an assist performance against the Barons.

After these three students, there is a drop off in production to sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng (9GP, 3G, 5A) who contributed two assists last time out, and senior Josh Nadler (13GP, 4A). Both Zheng and Nadler will play heavy minutes with the varsity this season and both will need to increase their offensive output. Nadler is the junior varsity’s all-time leading goal scorer with 20 career junior varsity goals. He will miss the game on Friday as he is currently out of the country. Joining them on the varsity roster are forwards; TJ Gottesman, the junior varsity’s career points leader with 32 points, sophomore newcomer Jake Hudson, and ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin. Bhasin and Hudson currently lead the junior varsity in scoring so far this season. AJ Marks and his big frame will get a look in varsity competition as well. Other junior varsity student athletes may get called up as the season progresses when the core of the varsity squad is missing due to external travel team out-of-town game conflicts.

The Rams top returning forward scorer is senior Brendyn Iliff (14GP, 7G, 12A). He scored in the Rams’ season opener and he will play plenty with junior Toyin Okunseinde (13GP, 4G, 3A) who scored twice versus the Rockets. Cameron Gifford, a 14U AAA skater, chipped in with two assists in his first varsity game. Rowen Pierson and Ryan Hurley, two 16U Lower A sophomores with a full year of varsity experience last season will be teamed up on the second line. Ninth grade 14U AA Alexander Johnston scored in his first career high school game against Richard Montgomery. Upper Montgomery will have to contend with these talented skaters while at the same time being hyper aware of where Pfeufer is at all times.

The 2024 – 2025 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 additional answers against another quality opponent. Come along for the ride, (if you can stay up that late). It should be an entertaining and close contest between two evenly matched squads.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

After a week off the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity returns to action on Friday evening versus the DC Stars. A win would advance the Lightning’s record to 2-1-2 at the likely halfway juncture of the regular season. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. Upper Montgomery will be looking to replicate the heroic performance displayed against the Churchill Bulldogs where the team scraped out a point by getting to overtime utilizing just seven skaters due to external team out-of-town travel commitments, student illnesses, and injuries. With a varsity game later in the evening, the coaching staff will be utilizing roster management tactics to make sure that students playing heavy minutes later in the evening in the varsity game are well rested.

In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a fine 22 save shutout performance in the season opening win over Richard Montgomery followed up by making a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves to keep the team in the game against Wootton. Stutsrim-Lyons also played well against both BCC and Churchill. He has a 1-1-2 record, a very low 2.18 goals against average, and a stout .927 save percentage. If Stutsrim-Lyons maintains his current save percentage, it would tie for the junior varsity program record set last season by Ilan Shterenberg. The DC Stars will have a choice of goalie to start in net. Sophomore 16U Lower A Liam Parkinson started the Stars opening game of the season. Junior Gabriel Sokol has played the Stars’ last two contests. The DC Stars were competitive against both Walter Johnson and Wootton to open the season and then beat Churchill who was playing without their most talented student athlete. Sokol has the better statistics with a 2.50 goals against average and an .894 save percentage.

On defense the Lightning will again play without a full compliment of defenders. With the varsity game later in the evening, anticipate that both Miles Wendland and Cole Howerton will see limited minutes if they play at all. Both may only play on special teams to maximize their rest and help out the team in those key circumstances. Senior alternate captain Patrick Sell will lead a Lightning defense that will contain sophomore Avery Evans and ninth grade defenders Matt Rivera and Luke Hudson. Sell is likely to pair with Evans with the two young ninth graders playing together as they have at times earlier in the season.

The DC Stars back line is solidified by senior defender Samuel Bensky. Bensky connected twice to beat Churchill netminder Nicholas Nelson last time out. Sophomore Upper A Jonathan Lust would normally see significant minutes in the game as will ninth grade defender Alexander Smith. Sophomore Charles Laski and Thatcher Norton along with junior Roman Stoinski round out the Stars defensive unit if all are available to play. Lust played in the DC Stars varsity game last weekend so the Stars may consider sitting him out so he does not play two games in the same evening.

Offensively, the Lightning will have available their two leading scorers in ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin (3GP, 3G, 4A) and sophomore Jake Hudson (3GP, 3G, 2A). With both skating in the varsity game later that evening, it is unknown at this time if either will play in the junior varsity contest. It could also be a special teams only situation for both students. Aiden Zheng will likely dress for the junior varsity game, but his participation will also be a game time decision based upon the junior varsity roster needs as he will receive regular shifts in the varsity game later that evening. Newcomer, sophomore Mason Jagoz has contributed (4GP, 1G, 2A). Senior AJ Marks is stepping up on the offensive end with two goals in four games. He has transitioned to playing a lot of center this season and he is more productive offensively on the wing. Upper Montgomery is without junior forward and alternate captain Jason Woodman who continues to serve his multiple game suspension for penalties he was assessed against BCC. Other Lightning forwards who will return to the lineup after missing the Churchill game are Max Israfilbek and Decklin Hughes. Jackson Schickler remain out long term with an upper body injury.

The DC Stars have been led offensively by sophomore 16U Upper A forward Callum Cochran who has three goals in three games. He scored twice versus Churchill and added an assist. Theo Goldman leads the Stars in assists with two. The rest of the Stars’ lineup has sporadic scoring sprinkled in.

Friday’s game might be a tough one as the Lightning’s roster management decisions may once again lead to a vastly depleted lineup. Let’s see if the available student athletes can once again perform in a trying situation with the odds stacked against them.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning varsity squad kicks off its 2024 – 2025 regular season campaign on Friday night when the Lightning host the BCC Barons. In the sixteen years of its existence, the Upper Montgomery program has never beaten BCC. The Barons have owned Upper Montgomery surrendering only a single tie two years ago on Halloween. Game time is late night, 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.  The team will be trying to once again advance through the regular season and the opening round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs to earn the chance to play for a spot in the Maryland Student Hockey League high school state playoff tournament. BCC qualified for the state playoffs last season, but this season will be a rebuilding year for BCC as they graduated many of their most talented student athletes. The Lightning have never advanced to the state playoffs, and are in the same boat having lost nine seniors and two top juniors from last year’s experienced squad.

This season, it is expected that Churchill, Whitman, and Walter Johnson will again be at the top of the conference standings. With the exception of Northwest/Quince Orchard (who is anticipated to be by far the worst team in the county), the other eight teams are fairly evenly matched. Any of these eight teams could make a run and qualify for the state playoffs. Upper Montgomery will also be focused on bucking a trend that developed over the past couple of seasons, very slow starts. Last year, the team began the season 1-7. In 2022 – 2023, the team began the season 1-4-1. While the Lightning recovered nicely over the middle and second portion of the season, getting off to a better start this season is a must.

Upper Montgomery’s primary goaltender will be sophomore 16U AA Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg takes over the reigns from Landon Bernard who graduated. Last season, Shterenberg shined at the junior varsity level setting or tying junior varsity program records for wins in a season (8), lowest goals against average (1.80), and highest save percentage (.927). At the varsity level, Shterenberg got his feet wet last season participating in five games, with four starts. He was 2-1 with a 4.44 goals against average and a .829 save percentage. Shterenberg will be heavily counted upon to keep the young Lightning roster in games all season long. He will be backed up by ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U Lower A external travel team and has started off his high school career strongly playing for the junior varsity. Stutsrim-Lyons is 1-1-2 on the season with a 2.18 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. He began his high school career with a shutout of Richard Montgomery and followed up that performance with a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves against Wootton.

BCC is expected to start senior 19U AA Vivienne Boyle in net. Last season, Boyle backstopped the Barons to a 7-2 victory over the Lightning in the team’s only meeting. She has the net for the Barons for the first portion of the season as her goaltending partner, Tycho Narrod-Malcolm finishes up the high school football season. Boyle is solid in net and the Lightning will need to work hard to score against her.

On defense, the Lightning have most of their backline returning with the exception of junior defender Andrew Botti who chose not to play high school hockey during his season year of high school. Returning are top rising juniors, rugged defensive defender 16U AAA Owen Robbins (14GP, 3A) and smooth skating cool customer 16U AA Brady Berkhammer (21GP, 1G, 12A). They will be joined in the regular defensive rotation by sophomore 16U Lower A Miles Wendland (18GP, 6A) and senior Cole Howerton. Anticipate the Lightning defense to be more offensive minded this season after the defenders scored only five goals in 91 totals defensive games played last year. Rounding out the defensive corps will be a rotation of junior varsity call ups; 14U AA Lillian Robbins, 14U Lower A Matt Rivera, Patrick Sell, Luke Hudson, and 19U AA Avery Evans. With the loss of so many experienced skaters off last season’s roster, almost every skater in the program is likely to see some some playing for the varsity this season.

BCC will be led on defense by two of their experienced skaters, juniors 18U AA Grady Jiggens (16GP, 6G, 8A) and 16U Upper A Benjamin Lyons (15GP, 4A). Sophomore Nick Sexton is likely to play both varsity and junior varsity for the Barons this season as is 14U Lower A ninth grade defender Jacob Reitz. Both Sexton and Reitz played in the junior varsity game between the two programs two weeks ago. Teams usually do not like to play an entire game with only four defenders, so BCC may use some student athletes that had previously played forward to help out and take some shifts on defense like Jeronimo Castano-Tellez.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery returns its second and third leading scorers from a season ago. Senior 18U AA forward Nathan Cassel (15GP, 11G, 18A) and junior forward Philip Shkeda (20GP, 13G, 12A). This duo will be relied upon to lead Upper Montgomery offensively and they both will need to produce just like last year after loosing their center for the past two seasons, Chris Hassett to graduation. Cassel has an opportunity score enough goals (17) or hand out enough assists (12) to qualify for induction into the Maryland Student Hockey League Hall of Fame. Senior center, Henry Honacki 18U Upper A (21GP, 7G, 8A) elevated his game last year and if he can increase his scoring production it will help supplement Cassel and Shkeda.

After these three students, there is a drop off in production to sophomore 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng (9GP, 3G, 5A) and senior Josh Nadler (13GP, 4A). Both Zheng and Nadler will play heavy minutes with the varsity this season and both will need to increase their offensive output. Nadler is the junior varsity’s all-time leading goal scorer with 20 career junior varsity goals. Joining them on the varsity roster are forwards; TJ Gottesman, the junior varsity’s career points leader with 32 points, sophomore newcomer Jake Hudson, and ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin. Bhasin and Hudson currently lead the junior varsity in scoring so far this season. AJ Marks and his big frame will get a look in varsity competition as well. Other junior varsity student athletes may get called up as the season progresses when the core of the varsity squad is missing due to external travel team out-of-town game conflicts.

BCC top returning scorer is junior forward Peter Lanpher, a point a game producer last year (16GP, 4G, 11A). He was definitely helped by playing with several stud BCC seniors. Senior Evan Williams has always stood out in games played against Upper Montgomery and he finished with (14GP, 8G, 6A). Expect senior Michael Kambouris to see lots of ice time early in the season. Hard hitting sophomore 16U Lower A Brady Page will be noticeable throwing his weight around. From there, the Barons will use a large number of young and inexperienced skaters, 16U AA Leo Alley-Strocher, 16U Lower A Ramin Jacobs who scored a hat-trick against the Lightning junior varsity two weeks ago, and junior Kiran Maltby will be featured throughout the contest against Upper Montgomery.

The 2024 – 2025 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 junior varsity finds itself in an unfamiliar position. It has been almost two years since the team suffered a regular season defeat. The Upper Montgomery junior varsity program had been 12-0-4 in its prior sixteen games over the past three seasons prior to last Friday’s 4-3 loss to the BCC Barons. The team will look to rebound this upcoming Friday against the Churchill Bulldogs. Game time is 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. 

Both teams enter the early season matchup in the middle of the standing having similar results against the same opponents. Churchill lost their opening game of the season against BCC by one goal giving up the game winning goal with 45 seconds remaining in the game. Churchill then beat Richard Montgomery by a score of 11-1. Upper Montgomery had beaten Richard Montgomery 8-0 to open the season and lost to the aforementioned BCC Barons by one goal. In their other contest, the Lightning took last season’s top regular season team, the Wootton Patriots to overtime, before eventually falling 3-2. Churchill was the only junior varsity team not to lose to Upper Montgomery last season as the Bulldogs eeked out a 4-4 overtime tie after being soundly outplayed by the Lightning.

In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a fine 22 save shutout performance in the season opening win over Richard Montgomery followed up by making a career high and junior varsity program record 47 saves to keep the team in the game against Wootton. Stutsrim-Lyons also played well against BCC last week and currently sports a 2.27 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Churchill will start a ninth grade goalie of their own, Cooper Glazer. Glazer has allowed three goals in his first two high school hockey games and sports a 1.50 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. The outstanding goalie matchup should lead to a low scoring contest Friday night.

On defense the Lightning will again play without a full compliment of defenders. Missing this week will be a sizeable contingent of the Upper Montgomery defensive corps. Upper Montgomery will dress three core defenders, senior captain Cole Howerton who scored his first goal of the season late in the game against BCC, senior alternate captain Patrick Sell, and ninth grade newcomer Matt Rivera. Missing will be sophomores Miles Wendland (an assist in each game this season), Avery Evans, and Max Curtusan as well as ninth grade defenders Lillian Robbins and Luke Hudson.

Churchill will be led on the back line by junior Samuel Lifsey. Joining Lifsey on the top defensive pairing is expected to be sophomore Andrew Liu. The Bulldogs second defensive pairing will be sophomores Cyrus Sawyer who registered a goal and an assist against Richard Montgomery and Gabriel Li who also found the back of the net against the Rockets.

Offensively, the Lightning will be missing two top scorers in ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin (3GP, 3G, 4A) and sophomore Jake Hudson (3GP, 3G, 2A). It is expected that Aiden Zheng will return to the lineup after missing the last two games. Zheng scored twice in the season opening win over Richard Montgomery. Newcomer, sophomore Mason Jagoz has contributed (3GP, 1G, 2A). Senior AJ Marks will need to step up on the offensive end. He has transitioned to playing a lot of center the past two games and he is more productive offensively on the wing. Lightning varsity goalie Ilan Shterenberg is likely to skate out and play forward against the Bulldogs. Shterenberg has some experience as a forward having played forward for Upper Montgomery in spring league. Upper Montgomery will be without junior forward and alternate captain Jason Woodman who will begin serving the first game of a multiple game suspension for the game misconduct penalty he was assessed against the Barons. Other Lightning forwards who will miss the Churchill game are Max Israfilbek, Decklin Hughes, and Jackson Schickler.

Churchill has one primary offensive threat. Sophomore Elias Elhallou has scored five goals in two games and he has added four assists. He had eight points against Richard Montgomery last time out and he scored the Bulldogs only goal against BCC in the season opener. Sophomore Rama Allsopp had a three point game versus the Rockets, the beneficiary of Elhallou’s performance.

Friday’s game might be a tough one as the Lightning roster will be vastly depleted. Let’s see how the available student athletes perform in a trying situation with the odds stacked against them.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

Late Friday evening, the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity looks to keep the momentum going when the team faces off against the BCC Barons. Game time is 10:00 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.  Both teams enter the early season matchup looking to separate themselves from the rest of the junior varsity programs in the league. BCC won their opening game 2-1 over Churchill. Upper Montgomery has started the season very strongly after smashing the Richard Montgomery Rockets 8-0 and then taking last season’s top regular season team, the Wootton Patriots to overtime, before eventually falling 3-2. The overtime loss extended the Lightning junior varsity’s undefeated streak to sixteen regular season outings (12-0-4). The Lightning junior varsity has also killed off their past 33 shorthanded situations. The meeting between the two programs will be a rematch of last season’s junior varsity quarterfinal game won by BCC 4-1. Upper Montgomery won the regular season matchup 3-2 early in the season.

In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has begun his high school career in excellent style with a fine 22 save shutout performance in the win over Richard Montgomery followed up by making 47 saves to keep the team in the game against Wootton. He currently sports a 1.43 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. BCC will start a ninth grade goalie of their own, 16U lower A Blake Schoenebeck. Schoenebeck was solid in net for the Barons making 18 saves in their 2-1 victory over Churchill.

On defense look for the Lightning to play a more regular defensive lineup. Playing against both Richard Montgomery and Wootton with only four defenders in the lineup was not ideal. Missing on Friday will be ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins (one goal and one assist versus the Rockets) and sophomore defender Max Curtusan. However, two defenders are expected to return to the Lightning lineup. Senior Cole Howerton and sophomore Avery Evans. Senior Patrick Sell returned to the Lightning lineup against Wootton after having served his one game game suspension for a major game misconduct penalty he received in the third period of last season’s playoff game against these same Barons. Howerton has played some at the varsity level over the past two seasons and will be looked upon to take on a bigger role this season.  At the junior varsity level Howerton (10GP, 5G, 4A) last year will be looked upon for offensive output and to use his smooth skating to assist with defensive zone breakouts.  

Sophomore 16U lower A defender Miles Wendland, the Lightning’s most sound defender, will again likely be paired with ninth grade defender Luke Hudson. Matthew Rivera (two assists against Richard Montgomery) will likely play with Avery Evans. Howerton and Sell will likely play against BCC’s top offensive skaters. BCC will counter with sophomore Nick Sexton and ninth grade defender Jacob Reitz 16U lower A paired together. Junior Jeronimo Castano Tellez (one goal and one assist versus Churchill) will pair with sophomore Zach Leblanc. BCC may also use a rotation of forwards to help out on the blue line.

Offensively, the Lightning have had balanced scoring. Sophomore Jake Hudson and ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin both lead the junior varsity in scoring (2GP, 2G, 2A). Newcomer, sophomore Mason Jagoz has contributed (2GP, 1G, 2A). Aiden Zheng who only played in the season opening game against Richard Montgomery is the other skater with two goals. All of the Lightning skaters dressed for the game against Richard Montgomery registered at least one point. Senior forward AJ Marks has scored as has ninth grade forward Decklin Hughes. Defenders Wendland and Rivera have both recorded two assists. BCC will employ a nice mix of returning forwards and incoming ninth grade forwards. The experienced forwards are senior Michael Kambouris, juniors Nick Hartnett-Mueller, David High, Kiran Maltby, and Nick Mencher, and sophomores Ramin Jacobs, Brady Page, and Ava Summerfield. They will be joined by a bevy of new student athletes; Camille Boyle, Ryan Duffy, Sam Lane, Juliana Langley, Hannah Moss, and Julia Reitz. Mencher scored with 38 seconds remaining in the contest to record the game winning goal last Friday in BCC’s season opening win against Churchill.

The 2024 – 2025 junior varsity season was thought to be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes.  While those primary expectations remain, the early season success that the Lightning have experienced have somewhat lifted expectations. Upper Montgomery is able to compete with all of the junior varsity teams in the county. The team’s success will come down to how well the team plays in the defensive zone each game and whether the forwards are able to clear the zone getting the puck out of danger. The recent game against the Patriots provided the coaching staff with a tremendous amount of knowledge of what the team will be focusing on to get better as the season progresses. Friday night should be another hard fought close contest that could be won by either team. The winner will likely be assured of a high finish in the regular season league standings when the season concludes several months from now.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!, #Continue the Streaks

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faces off against one of the county’s top junior varsity teams when they face the high powered Wootton Patriots this Wednesday evening. Game time is 6:30 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink.  Both teams enter the early season matchup after coasting to season opening wins. The Lightning smashed the Richard Montgomery Rockets 8-0 while Wootton dismantled the Rockville / Magruder Rams 8-1. Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity brings a couple of long streaks into the game. The Lightning junior varsity is undefeated in its past fifteen regular season outings (12-0-3). The Lightning junior varsity has also killed off their past 31 shorthanded situations.

In goal for the Lightning junior varsity will again be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team and began his high school career with a fine shutout performance in the win over the Rockets this past Friday. He made a terrific save on a breakaway opportunity and was otherwise positionally sound making routine saves along the way to his 22 save shutout. He will need to play even better against the Patriots. Wootton will counter in net with sophomore netminder Kevin Yu. Yu has experience at both the junior varsity and varsity level having been Wootton’s primary goalkeeper last season and again this year. He played very well in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Varsity Tournament championship game against Upper Montgomery even through he surrendered nine goals. He made plenty of highlight worthy saves to keep Wootton from having the score go further off the rails. Upper Montgomery is going to find it much more difficult to score on Wednesday night.

On defense look for the Lightning to play a more regular defensive lineup. Playing against Richard Montgomery with only four defenders in the lineup was not ideal. Missing on Wednesday will be ninth grade defender Lillian Robbins (one goal and one assist versus the Rockets) and sophomore defender Max Curtusan. However, three defenders are expected to return to the Lightning lineup. Senior Cole Howerton, senior Patrick Sell, and sophomore Avery Evans. Sell is eligible to return to the Lightning lineup after having served his one game game suspension for a major game misconduct penalty he received in the third period of last season’s playoff game. Howerton has played some at the varsity level over the past two seasons and will be looked upon to take on a bigger role this season.  At the junior varsity level Howerton (10GP, 5G, 4A) last year will be looked upon for offensive output.  

Sophomore 16U lower A defender Miles Wendland, the Lightning’s most sound defender, will again likely be paired with ninth grade defender Luke Hudson. Matthew Rivera (two assists against Richard Montgomery) will likely play with Avery Evans. Howerton and Sell will likely play against Wootton’s top offensive skaters. Wootton will counter with two pairs of defenders. Junior defender Nicholas Chung will likely play with ninth grader Nathan Tian and ninth grade 14U upper A defender Isaac Greene will likely play with sophomore defender Sam Rubinstein. Chung led the way for the Wootton defense with a goal and an assist against Rockville / Magruder.

All of the Lightning skaters dressed for the game registered at least one point against Richard Montgomery. The team was led by sophomore Jake Hudson who scored twice and also hit the goal post on two other occasions. Sophomore forward Aiden Zheng also potted two goals in addition to a phenomenal backchecking performance. Ninth grade forward Siddy Bhasin added a goal and an assist. Sophomore forward Mason Jagoz contributed two assists. Senior forward AJ Marks scored as did ninth grade forward Decklin Hughes. Wootton will be led by four primary offensive threats; sophomore AAA forward Jaina Kronforst who scored a hat-trick on Friday against Rockville / Magruder. Sophomore forward Jayden Ahn scored twice while fellow sophomore forward Nathan Geeng added a goal and an assist. Senior forward Mitchell Golub brings experience as well as a scoring punch. He also contributed a goal and an assist against the Rams.

The 2024 – 2025 junior varsity season was thought to be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes.  While those primary expectations remain, Wednesday’s contest will help determine how close Upper Montgomery is to the top junior varsity team in the county. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can challenge and beat the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county.  The game against the Patriots will be a measuring stick kind of game providing the coaching staff with a tremendous amount of knowledge of what the team will need to focus on to get better as the season progresses. On Wednesday night join us for a clash of two programs that have become bitter rivals over the past two seasons.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning’s 2024 – 2025 regular season kicks off on Friday night when the junior varsity hosts the Richard Montgomery Rockets.  Game time is 6:30 pm at Rockville Ice Arena.  The team will be trying to duplicate last season’s fine showing culminating with an undefeated regular season record of 9-0-1.  An unfortunate loss in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs ended Upper Montgomery’s title hopes.

The junior varsity roster is a good mixture of older students pairing with many new incoming students to the program.  With the graduation of last season’s three seniors, co-captain center Adam Levine (11GP, 3G, 8A) and defenders Sean Levine and Jake Roth, and with three additional students prevented from continuing to participate at the junior varsity level having a designation of impact participant; sophomore goalie Ilan Shterenberg (8 wins, 1.80 GAA, .927 Save %), junior co-captain center Josh Nadler (10GP, 11G, 1A), the junior varsity’s all-time leading goals scorer, and senior forward TJ Gottesman (9GP, 11G, 5A), the junior varsity’s all-time leader in points, there will be plenty of ice time for students to earn.

In net for the Lightning junior varsity all season long will be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons.  Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team.  He will have ginormous shoes to fill as Shterenberg set or tied junior varsity program records for wins in a season (8), lowest goals against average (1.80), and highest save percentage (.927).  Richard Montgomery will counter in net with Thomas Richardson.  Richardson will be making his first ever appearance as a goalie in a high school hockey game.  It would appear on paper that the Lightning have an advantage in net.

On defense Friday night, look for the Lightning to be playing only two pairings as four Upper Montgomery junior varsity defenders will miss the opening game of the season.  Senior Cole Howerton has played some at the varsity level over the past two seasons and will be looked upon to take on a bigger role this season.  At the junior varsity level Howerton (10GP, 5G, 4A) will be looked upon to take a leadership role and assist the many new incoming ninth grade defenders.  He will be out-of-town on travel this weekend.  Senior defensive defender Patrick Sell will miss the game serving his one game suspension for a major game misconduct penalty he received in the third period of last season’s playoff game.  Sophomore Avery Evans will miss the game out-of-town with her external travel team, and sophomore defender Max Curtusan will miss the game recovering from an illness.

Sophomore16U lower A defender Miles Wendland will be the only experienced defender the Lightning will dress on Friday.  He will be joined by three promising ninth graders in 14U AA defender Lillian Robbins, 14U lower A defender Matthew Rivera, and former lower A defender Luke Hudson who has decided to play just high school hockey this season.  Short shifts will be necessary for the defensive corps to remain fresh for the entirety of the game.  The Upper Montgomery coaching staff may also drop back a forward or two at times to give the defense a bit of an extra breather.  It is anticipated that Wendland will pair with Hudson and Robbins will pair with Rivera.  Not much is known about the Richard Montgomery defense except they graduated many junior varsity eligible students this past spring.  Ryan Jones and Samir Wang, a converted forward, are the only Rockets defenders with prior high school hockey experience.

Top returning forwards for the Lightning junior varsity are sophomore 16U lower A forward Aiden Zheng (9GP, 3G, 5A) last season on varsity and (11GP, 4G, 2A) with the junior varsity.  His skating speed should allow him to generate a significant number of offensive chances at the junior varsity level.  The coaching staff will be looking for Zheng to be more responsible defensively and to use the junior varsity games to elevate his game to the next level.  He played better and better as his ninth grade season progressed last year.  Senior AJ Marks is the top scoring junior varsity forward returning for Upper Montgomery with (9GP, 3G, 4A).  If Marks uses his size to his advantage and attacks, he has an opportunity to force his way into the varsity lineup.  The team will be looking for junior Jason Woodman to increase his offensive contributions now that he is in his third season of high school hockey.  Woodman will be one of the leaders of the junior varsity team and his dedication to the program is unparalleled.  Sophomore center Jackson Schickler will begin the season on injured reserve with his return likely at some point during November.  Schickler also missed a large portion of last season with a season ending lower body injury.

The junior varsity will also have a significant number of new faces dressed at forward for game action. Sophomore former Upper A forward Jake Hudson has the size, strength, and speed to be dominant at the junior varsity level.  He will play significant minutes at the varsity level as well.  Incoming ninth grader Siddy Bhasin 14U lower A should be motivated to show he has the all around game to excel at the junior varsity level and compete for varsity playing time.  Other incoming ninth grade forwards are scrappy Decklin Hughes and Max Israfilbek, along with sophomore Mason Jagoz.  Jagoz played high school hockey in Frederick last season.  All of the new forwards in the program will be relied upon to play regular shifts for the junior varsity as they grow and develop to the speed and intensity of high school game action.  Richard Montgomery will field a lineup littered with incoming ninth grade forwards as well.  Bennett Parisi saw game action last season for the Rockets as did Conor Rosier, but most of the Richard Montgomery forwards will be playing in their first ever high school hockey game. 

The 2024 – 2025 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 junior varsity teams in the county.  Or, is the team simply too young 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!