Category: Lightning Strike Blog

In late February, the Upper Montgomery Lightning program was informed that senior defender Brady Berkhammer was named to the Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) All-State Second Team. It is the first time in six seasons that the Lightning have had a student-athlete recognized at the state level. For Berkhammer, his senior season saw a mammoth increase in his offensive statistical performance.

The state recognition follows a senior season in which Berkhammer was named to the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) First Team Division Two All-Division Team and to the MHC First Team All-Conference Team.

Brady’s individual statistics this season were 14 Goals and 17 assists for 31 points in 14 games. Inside the MHC, Brady tied for the conference lead in goals by a defender, was the conference leader in assists, and was first in points scored by a defender. When including all skaters, Brady was tied for fourth in goals, remained first in assists, and was second overall in points. At the state level, for defenders, Brady was third in goals, assists, and points. 

Brady’s career statistics finished with 64 varsity games played, 19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points.  He collected his 50^th  career assist on Miles Gleason’s powerplay goal against Whitman in the opening round of the MHC playoffs. Reaching 50 career assists guaranteed Brady’s automatic induction into the MSHL Hockey Hall of Fame.

The entire Upper Montgomery Lightning family congratulates Brady on his terrific senior season!

Earlier this month, the Upper Montgomery Lightning held its annual year-end team celebration. The 2025-2026 Lightning varsity squad once again advanced to within one game of making the Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) state playoffs. This is the third time in the last four seasons that the program advanced to the quarterfinals of the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) playoffs. The winners of the MHC quarterfinal games automatically advance to the MSHL state tournament. The Lightning junior varsity squad advanced to the semifinals of the MHC junior varsity playoff tournament. It is the second consecutive season in which the junior varsity has lost a very close game in the semifinals.

The year-end team celebration was also a chance to honor the graduating seniors of the program:

Jason Woodman—Heading to Mississippi State to study in their renowned wildlife and fisheries program.

Owen Robbins—Heading to play junior hockey for the Connecticut Nor’Easter in the Eastern Hockey League while continuing his studies as a mathematics major at Montgomery College.

Brady Berkhammer—Heading to Montgomery College in the fall.

Philip Shkeda—Heading to Ohio State to study Industrial Engineering.

The program also honored several student-athletes for their individual performances this past season.

Seventeen of the twenty-four student-athletes received academic achievement awards from the MSHL.

Ilan Shterenberg—Voted by the other coaches in the MHC as Honorable Mention Division 2 goalie.

Tima Zamaray—Received the Junior Varsity Rocket Richard Award for most goals with 11. Received the Junior Varsity Art Ross Award for most points with 14.

Matt Rivera—Set a junior varsity playoff record for goals in a game with four. Tied the junior varsity program record for points in a playoff game with four.  Set the junior varsity program record for goals by a defender in a season with eight.  Set the junior varsity program record for points in a season by a defender with twelve.

Miles Gleason—Named to the First Team Division Two All-Conference Team as a forward. Received the Varsity Rocket Richard Award for most goals with 17.

Owen Robbins—Named to the First Team Division Two All-Conference Team as a forward.

Jason Woodman—Awarded the UML 2025/2026 season Hobey Baker Award.

Brady Berkhammer—Named to the First Team Division Two All-Conference Team as a defender. Also named to the First Team MHC All-Conference Team as a defender. Named to the Second Team MSHL All-State Team, becoming the first Upper Montgomery student-athlete to earn all-state honors in six seasons.

This season Brady’s individual statistics at the state level—Third in Goals, Assists, and Points.  Inside of MHC, for defenders tied for first in goals, first in assists, and first in points.  For all skaters, Brady was tied for fourth in goals with 14, first in assists with 17, and second in points with 31. Brady’s career statistics: 64 Varsity Games, 19 Goals, and 50 Assists.  His 50^th career assist, on Miles Gleason’s powerplay goal against Whitman in the playoffs, guaranteed Brady’s automatic induction into the MSHL Hockey Hall of Fame. Brady received the Varsity Art Ross Award for most points with 31.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

As the Upper Montgomery families enjoy the start of summer, the Lightning program is gearing up for the 2026 – 2027 high school hockey season. Many of the team’s student-athletes are participating in various camps and clinics over the summer to improve their individual skill level. The team is just a few short weeks away from organized dryland workouts, beginning once the school year starts at the end of August. Then, the team will hit the ice for its first evaluation session scheduled for Monday evening, September 14.

This year, all team practices will be held on Monday evenings at either Cabin John Ice Rink or Skate Frederick. It is a much better schedule with no afternoon practices in Frederick, where students would have to rush directly from school to the ice rink. With the graduation of last season’s four seniors, the program will proceed through a natural cycle where younger student-athletes will have ample opportunity to earn significant playing time. With the exception of sophomore 16U AA Miles Gleason and senior 18U Upper A Aiden Zheng, almost all of the Lightning’s leading scorers from last season have graduated. The Lightning’s defense and goaltending are expected to be solid next season. The coaching staff is hard at work installing a playing style that will accentuate the strengths of the students, keeping the team competitive against the other programs in the county. It is anticipated once again this season that there will be very few students who do not receive varsity playing time.

Additionally, the Montgomery Hockey Conference recently announced the return of Gaithersburg High School and Watkins Mill High School to the Upper Montgomery program. These additions will bolster the team’s lineup as two student-athletes from Gaithersburg will participate with the program. The team will again have only four seniors this season, further reinforcing the youth of the students. The younger students will be counted on to play large roles sooner than would normally occur, but early varsity playing time will assist in their development down the road.

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning began the recent 2026 spring hockey season with a win and a tie. While those were impressive results, the program is not concerned with the outcome of any spring hockey game. More important for the coaches is how the students are playing the team’s systems and their compete level. The coaching staff provided each student athlete with a list of three primary skills to improve upon before the fall 2026 – 2027 hockey season. The spring league games are a wonderful opportunity for the students to practice those skills in a live game environment.

The program also welcomed six new student athletes to the team: goalie Cooper Sullivan, defender Owen Hinchliffe, and forwards Kyle Zheng, Cameron Newton, Parker Zimmerman, and Aditya Samarth. Over the next four seasons, these students will grow and develop. All six will immediately fight for playing time on the Lightning junior varsity next season, and a few of the newcomers may see some occasional playing time with the varsity.

Two returning students have improved throughout the spring season. Both defender Dylan Kim and forward Nolan Veillette have worked hard to get better. They have followed the coaching instructions provided and translated the feedback into action. Their improvement should be noticeable next season during the junior varsity game competitions. After the spring season, the next time the Lightning are on the ice is in September after Labor Day, so it will be up to all the students to put in the effort during the off season to improve their game.

#Skills Development, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning were the talk of the Montgomery Hockey Conference after the initial rounds of both the varsity and the junior varsity playoffs. With two huge upsets, the Lightning’s playoff journeys continued. The varsity advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were matched up against the second-seeded Walter Johnson Wildcats, with the winner earning a spot in the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs. The junior varsity advanced to the semifinals, where a matchup against the DC Stars awaited at the end of February.

The Upper Montgomery varsity team struggled through the regular season with a patchwork lineup for almost every game. The team’s leading student athletes missed time due to external travel team conflicts, long-term injuries, and non-hockey related long-term illnesses. The upset of seventh ranked, Division One opponent Whitman pushed the Lightning into an unexpected matchup against the Wildcats. It was the third time in the past four seasons that Upper Montgomery was one game away from the state playoffs. With a full roster available for the game against Walter Johnson, Upper Montgomery was looking to pull off a second consecutive monumental upset while making history, the program’s first bid to the state playoff tournament.

The game began just as Upper Montgomery had planned. Five minutes into the contest, the game was knotted up at zero. Then, off a faceoff win in the Upper Montgomery defensive zone, the Wildcats leading scorer, senior captain Henry Horwell, fired a wrist shot from the slot into the net. Even though trailing early, Upper Montgomery continued with the game plan. Off a turnover in the Lightning defensive zone, Wildcats forward Cameron Fisher scored with less than two minutes remaining in the opening period. Upper Montgomery never recovered, eventually falling by a score of 7-0. The loss ended the high school careers of Upper Montgomery’s four seniors, Jason Woodman, Philip Shkeda, Brady Berkhammer, and Owen Robbins. They will be missed.

The junior varsity entered the semifinal game as the favorites to advance to the junior varsity finals. The DC Stars only made the semifinal contest because the Silver Spring goalie was unavailable at the start of their opening-round playoff game. Unfortunately, the Lightning quickly fell behind three to nothing before the game was four minutes old. Upper Montgomery gallantly responded, cutting the margin to one over the next few minutes of action. The second period saw each team trade goals twice, setting the stage for a wild third period with the Stars holding on to a 5-4 lead.

Two DC Stars goals expanded their lead to 7-4 before the Lightning brought the game back to a one goal margin once again with six and a half minutes to play. Upper Montgomery threatened over the final minutes of action, including late in the game with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker, but the team was unsuccessful in tying the game. At the conclusion of the back and forth game, the Lightning student athletes felt as if they had let a golden opportunity slip by. It was the second straight season that the Lightning junior varsity had advanced to the semifinals of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs before losing a very close game.

#Looking Ahead, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning were the talk of the Montgomery Hockey Conference after the initial rounds of both the varsity and the junior varsity playoffs. With two huge upsets, the Lightning program is well positioned to make history during the 2025 – 2026 season.

The Upper Montgomery varsity team struggled through the regular season with a patch work lineup for almost every game. The team’s leading student athletes missed time due to external travel team conflicts, long-term injuries, and non-hockey related long-term illnesses. Entering the opening round of the varsity playoffs, the tenth ranked Lightning were seeded opposite seventh ranked and Division One opponent Whitman. Once again in the opening round playoff matchup Upper Montgomery would be shorthanded as team captain and 18U AAA senior center Owen Robbins would be out of town with his external travel team. His younger sister, 16U AA sophomore defender Lillian Robbins would also be out of town with her external travel team.

The matchup was thought to be one sided with most in the county certain that the Vikings would expose the youth of the Lightning and easily advanced to the quarterfinal round to face off with second seeded Walter Johnson. The Upper Montgomery coaching staff thought differently. They devised a stellar game plan that fooled the Lightning’s own spectators as well as the Whitman coaching staff which made no adjustments whatsoever throughout the game. Adhering to a defensive mindset, the students executed very, very well limiting Whitman. Although vastly outshot, Upper Montgomery was in the game throughout. With each shift, Upper Montgomery’s confidence grew and Whitman found themselves in a battle they did not anticipate.

At the end of the opening period of play, Lightning 16U AAA junior goaltender Ilan Shterenberg stood out making eighteen big saves, while keeping Whitman off the scoreboard. At the other end of the ice, Upper Montgomery placed zero shots on goal. The second period saw Whitman take the lead on a poor shorthanded clear by the Lightning. Then, Upper Montgomery scored on the powerplay to even the game at one mid-way through the second period. Ten seconds after the Lightning knotted the score, Whitman went back ahead. Shterenberg had zero chance on either Whitman goal as his own skaters failed him on both occasions. After two periods of play, Whitman held a 2-1 lead and were outshooting Upper Montgomery 35-7.

On Upper Montgomery’s opening goal, senior 18U AA defender Brady Berkhammer recorded his fiftieth career assist. This significant milestone automatically qualified Berkhammer for induction into the Maryland Student Hockey League Hall of Fame.

In the third period, Whitman’s most talented skater took a horrible penalty in the offensive zone slashing the stick out of Upper Montgomery ninth grade defender Lenny Roth’s hand far away from the goal. On the resulting powerplay, Berkhammer scored tying the game at two. Play continued as it had throughout the game with Whitman beginning to feel the pressure and taking uncharacteristic chances. The Upper Montgomery game plan baited the Vikings into forcing plays. With just over two minutes remaining in the game Berkhammer made an absolutely brilliant individual rush up ice scoring the game winning goal on a shot short side high into the top corner of the net.

Shterenberg and the defense made the 3-2 final score hold up as the Lightning negated the Vikings extra skater advantage at the conclusion of the game. For Shterenberg, who missed last year’s playoffs, it was his first career varsity playoff victory. He made a career high 53 saves on 55 shots on goal, .964 save percentage. The Lightning blocked an astounding 35 additional shots. At the other end of the ice, Upper Montgomery finished with ten total shots on goal. The team’s adherence to the defensive game plan confused Whitman’s student athletes and brought Upper Montgomery to within one victory of a covered place in the state playoffs. This will be Upper Montgomery’s third attempt in the seventeen years of the program to qualify for its first state playoff berth.

Prior to the Lightning’s varsity playoff victory, Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity sprung an even greater upset. In the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs, the program upset the second seeded Northwest / Quince Orchard / Wootton combined team. Using a physical hard hitting dump and chase style, Upper Montgomery forced the combined team into spending significant time in their own defensive zone. This negated their preferred up tempo free skating offensive style. Scoring first definitely helped as sophomore 16U Lower A defender Matt Rivera lit the lamp early in the game to announce that Upper Montgomery was going to be in the contest all game long.

The first period concluded with the Lightning trailing 2-1. However, in a game most predicted to be a blowout, the one goal deficit was easy to overcome. Just one shot was needed. Deep into the second period, Rivera potted his second goal of the game with under a minute to play, pulling Upper Montgomery even at two before the end of the middle frame. Three straight powerplays at the beginning of the third period gave the combined team some momentum. A goal that Lightning ninth grade goalie George Schickler would like back put the combined team ahead with ten minutes to play.

With under four minutes left in the game, Upper Montgomery went to its first powerplay of the evening after having already been shorthanded five times in the game. Then, forty seconds later, a second penalty gave the Lightning a five on three skater advantage. Rivera scored on the five on three powerplay with a blast from the point. Then, on the tail end of the five on four powerplay, Rivera scored on an individual rush to put the Lightning ahead 4-3 with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation. Rivera’s four goal performance set many junior varsity program records. Strong defense down the stretch with the combined team’s goalie pulled led to an empty net goal by Schickler’s older brother Jackson to close out the upset win.

In an interesting dynamic, Upper Montgomery will play sixth seed DC Stars as the Stars beat number three seed Silver Spring because the Silver Spring goalie was late to the game. This permitted the Stars to score three empty net goals at the beginning of the contest coupled with an empty net goal as the end of the game to pull out the unexpected victory. Upper Montgomery beat the DC Stars by a score of 7-2 in their regular season meeting and will be looking for a repeat performance in the upcoming semifinal matchup at the end of February.

#Advance to State Playoffs, #Advance to JV Championship, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The 2025 – 2026 high school hockey season is coming up on the most important time of the year, the playoffs. The Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs begin on Friday, January 16th. The varsity playoffs begin two weeks later on Friday, January 30th.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity will face off against the the combined Northwest / Quince Orchard / Wootton squad in the quarterfinal round of the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. The regular season game between the two programs was a wildly entertaining 7-4 victory for the combined team. The game was much closer than the final score would indicate with the Lightning closing the deficit to one goal o two different occasions in the third period before Northwest / Quince Orchard / Wootton scored two late goals to salt away the victory. Even though this is the seventh seeded Lightning versus the second seeded combined team, this game comes with a caveat. With the game being played on the opening night of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, many travel level student athletes are likely to miss the game as it is an enormously popular travel team tournament weekend. Additionally, families may be leaving town for the long three day weekend. So, maybe the primary key to the contest is which student athletes are actually in town and available to play in the game. In prior seasons, the quarterfinal round has had multiple upsets depending upon which teams had the majority of its squad intact for the quarterfinal round games.

When Upper Montgomery has played the upper echelon teams in the county, the Lightning have been heavily outshot in each game. Thus, the team will need to make every offensive opportunity count. The team’s overall focus on defense first hockey is to lighten the need to keep pace offensively and score toe to toe with the top teams. Upper Montgomery has averaged 2.89 goals per game this season. However, if you remove the two games where the Lightning exploded for goals against the weaker teams they played, the goals per game average sinks to an average of only 1.86 goals per game. It is hard to win hockey games averaging less than two goals per game. On the flip side, the team has averaged giving up five goals per game. The goals per game average increases in games that the Lightning’s starting junior varsity goalie, sophomore 16U Lower A Porter Stutsrim-Lyons has not been in net.

Sophomore 16U Lower A Matt Rivera (8GP, 4G, 2A) will play with ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Junior hard nosed defender Max Curtusan will use his big frame to body up the combined team’s forwards. Curtusan will play with smooth skating ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. If any defender struggles or gets into penalty trouble, this may be another game where Upper Montgomery senior captain Jason Woodman (9G, 4A) drops back to play on defense. Rivera has scored each of his four goals on the season off of end to end rushes up ice. He is tied for second on the team with his four goals. The young defenders getting to play significant minutes in the playoff contest will illustrate how much they have improved since the off-ice preseason practices began in August.

Ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray leads the junior varsity in scoring with (9GP, 9G, 3A) and is coming off of a recent four goal game versus Walter Johnson. Zamaray had a personal four game goal streak snapped against BCC. Junior forward Mason Jagoz (8GP, 4G, 5A) including a hat-trick against the DC Stars and four assists against Walter Johnson is second on the team in points while his five assists lead the Lightning junior varsity. His four goals are tied with Rivera for second on the team. He returns after missing the game against the Barons. Ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander (9GP, 2G, 3A) is still basking in glory after scoring the game winning goal in the final minute against the Wildcats to help push Upper Montgomery into the playoffs.

As has been mentioned over and over this fall and winter, the 2025 – 2026 season was thought to be one where the coaching staff was focused on individual student growth and development. With eight incoming junior varsity students in their first season of high school hockey, the program was looking for all eight of these students to contribute to the program over the next four seasons. The playing time received this season should definitely help each student become better in the years to come when Upper Montgomery is likely to be better positioned to again challenge for the junior varsity championship. The program won the Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Championship four years ago during the 2021 – 2022 season. This season, the team may simply be too young and inexperienced to compete on the defensive end of the ice. The quarterfinal game against the combined Northwest / Quince Orchard / Wootton team is a terrific opportunity for the Lightning to spring an upset and move on to the semifinal round of the playoffs. Getting to the semifinal round of the playoffs would equal the performance of last year’s junior varsity team that also advanced to the semifinals before losing a hard fought game to top seeded Wootton.

The Upper Montgomery varsity team has one final regular season game remaining against BCC. Then, the following week the varsity playoffs will commence. Upper Montgomery’s primary varsity goaltender junior 16U AAA Ilan Shterenberg gives the Lightning a chance in every game he plays. He enters the BCC game with a 2-4 record, a .895 save percentage, and a 3.77 goals against average. If he is on his game, Upper Montgomery can beat any team in the conference.

The Lightning’s leading scorer, also the leading defensive scorer for all of Montgomery County, as well as the second leading defensive scorer throughout the entire Maryland Student Hockey League, senior 18U AA Brady Berkhammer will once again lead the Lightning’s backline. He has been exceedingly good so far this season averaging two and a half points per game with (11GP, 11G, 16A). Berkhammer is also within a few points of the lead for the entire Montgomery Hockey Conference in scoring with his 27 points. His eleven goals, 16 assists, and 27 total points are all personal single season career highs.

Upper Montgomery’s top line of senior 18U AAA center and team captain Owen Robbins (6GP, 4G, 11A), flanked by fellow senior and last year’s leading scorer Philip Shkeda (5GP, 6G, 5A), paired with ninth grade 16U AA Miles Gleason (7GP, 16G, 7A) has been DOMINANT. The problem has been the Lightning have had this line available only three times this season. Robbins has missed time with his external travel team. Shkeda returned for the team’s last game after being out long-term with an upper body injury. Gleason just recently returned from his own month long absence due to a medical issue. Gleason has provided instant offense this season with three points or more in four of the seven games he has played in during his inaugural season. In their absence, junior 16U Upper A forward Aiden Zheng (10GP, 3G, 5A) has stepped up and provided a spark. He has scored in three of the previous five games. His hustle, energy, and defensive backchecking are examples for the younger students who should be watching how Zheng plays away from the puck.

It is now time for the students to parlay the learning and development they gained in the regular season into substantive results during the stretch run and the playoffs. It is all going to come down to commitment on the defensive end of the ice. If the team plays with the defensive habits taught by the coaching staff, and plays with the urgency and edge necessary to win in the post-season, the Lightning can beat any team in the county that they would face off against in the playoffs. Or, is the team simply unwilling to commit to the style of hockey necessary to win and advance.  The squad’s performance leading up to the end of the regular season will tell us a lot about the team’s fortunes and what to expect in the end of season playoffs tournaments.

#Playoff Wins, #Advance, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The December holiday break gives us a moment to look back on the first several months of the 2025 – 2026 high school hockey season. For the Upper Montgomery Lightning the final quarter of the season is critically important. The varsity has struggled to a 2-7 record in a season where the game day lineup has had zero semblance of consistency on a week to week basis. Three long term injuries combined with constant lineup juggling when the team’s highly talented members have been out of town with their external travel teams has crippled the anticipated varsity roster. Horrible team defensive play and spotty goaltending have driven what was a promising start to the season after an 8-0 lopsided shutout of the DC Stars into a season that can only be saved with playoff victories.

The program’s defense first mindset disappeared with the team’s unexpected explosion of goals five periods into the season. Offensively, when playing with the expected lineup, the team has received several standout performances. The Lightning’s leading scorer, also the leading defensive scorer for all of Montgomery County, as well as the second leading defensive scorer throughout the entire Maryland Student Hockey League, senior 18U AA Brady Berkhammer has been excellent this season with (9GP, 11G, 13A). Berkhammer is also tied for the lead for the entire Montgomery Hockey Conference in scoring with his 24 points. His eleven goals and 24 total points are both personal single season career highs.

Upper Montgomery’s top line of senior 18U AAA center and team captain Owen Robbins (4GP, 2G, 8A), flanked by fellow senior and last year’s leading scorer Philip Shkeda (4GP, 6G, 4A), paired with ninth grade 16U AA Miles Gleason (5GP, 12G, 5A) has been DOMINANT. The problem has been the Lightning have had this line available only twice this season. Robbins has missed time with his external travel team. Shkeda is still out until next week with an upper body injury. The good news is that Gleason returned from his own recent month long absence due to a medical issue. In his return, Gleason provided instant offense with two goals and two assists. He now has four points or more in three of the five games he has played in during his inaugural season. Junior 16U Upper A forward Aiden Zheng (8GP, 3G, 5A) has stepped up and provided a spark. He has scored in three of the previous four games. His hustle, energy, and defensive backchecking are examples for the younger students who should be watching how Zheng plays away from the puck. The younger students and depth skaters have not been able to contribute much offensively and have been inconsistent from game to game.

Upper Montgomery’s primary goaltender junior 16U AAA Ilan Shterenberg pitched a 25 save shutout in the season opener. Overall, he has a .907 save percentage and a 3.46 goals against average. When he has been out of town with his external travel team, the Lightning’s younger netminders have filled in. The defense in front of the goalies has been porous as Upper Montgomery has given up the second most goals in the county (56) for an average of 6.22 goals against per game. The number of breakaways given up has been astonishing. Then, when the defense plays well for long stretches during a game, weak goals have gone in past the Lightning’s quartet of goalies.

The only way to accomplish a season turnaround and win playoff games is on the defensive side of the ice. The team must be committed defensively and stick to the team’s systems. The Lightning must suffocate the game and play very physical against high powered offensive skaters. The goaltending also needs to be better. There have been several games recently when a soft goal or two against has deflated the team and sucked the energy out of a comeback rally. Most of the Lightning’s games will come down to which team is better in their own defensive end of the ice. Will the Lightning skaters show the urgency necessary to limit and contain the opponents, or will the team allow skaters to float all over the ice unencumbered? There has been too much watching the opponents skate around and swiping at pucks during the first half of the season rather than hard nosed, aggressive, physical defensive play. 

The Lightning junior varsity has done a pretty good job of adhering to the team’s systems. The challenge at the junior varsity level has been that the young Lightning are playing with eight incoming ninth graders. These young students are learning how to play at the high school level where the competition is much more advanced than at the youth hockey level. So, plays that used to work for these students are counteracted at the higher level of play. The junior varsity’s schedule has been the most difficult of any team in the county. The junior varsity has been competitive against the best teams in the county losing by close margins to the top ranked teams, and playing with these top teams for much of the games. Even so, the team’s 1-6 record is not where the program would like to be. An upcoming game against Walter Johnson will determine if the Lightning qualify for the junior varsity playoffs.

Offensively, Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity has struggled to score all season long. Some of the lack of scoring is the youth of the team. Another core reason for the tepid offense is that the Lightning have played the toughest schedule of the junior varsity teams in the county. Recently, unexpected scoring has emerged from junior forward Mason Jagoz (7GP, 4G, 1A) including a hat-trick against the DC Stars. Ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray leads the junior varsity in goals and scoring with (7GP, 5G, 3A). Sophomore 16U Lower A Matt Rivera (7GP, 3G, 2A) has blossomed at the junior varsity level this season. He has scored on several end to end rushes from his defensive position. He is also playing more confidently at the varsity level as well where his play has gotten better as the season has gone along. Senior team captain Jason Woodman has (7GP, 3A), sophomore center Decklin Hughes (6GP, 1G, 2A) and ninth grade center Wyatt Ostrander (7GP, 1G, 2A) have all chipped in with three points. Sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek (6GP, 2G) has gone scoreless in the last five games since scoring twice in the season opener. Junior center Jackson Schickler scored last game as he rounds into shape after missing most of the season due to an upper body injury suffered this fall with Poolesville High School’s football team. 

It is now time for the students to parlay the learning and development over the initial two thirds of the season into substantive results during the stretch run. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits and edge necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon teams in the county.  Or, is the team simply too young to compete right now this season.  The squad’s performance leading up to the end of the season will tell us a lot about the team’s fortunes and what to expect in the end of season playoffs.

#Second Half Wins, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

The Thanksgiving holiday break signifies the mid-point of the high school hockey season. For the Upper Montgomery Lightning getting into the second half of the season can’t arrive soon enough. Both the varsity and junior varsity have struggled at the start of the season with matching 1-5 records. The Upper Montgomery varsity opened the season with an 8-0 shutout of the DC Stars, had a big lead against the Silver Spring Blazers entering the third period in week two, and then have played very few good periods of hockey since. The defense first mindset disappeared with the teams unexpected explosion of goals five periods into the season. The varsity lineup has had zero semblance of consistency on a week to week basis. Three long term injuries combined with constant lineup juggling when highly talented members of the team have been of town with their external travel teams has crippled the anticipated varsity roster.

Offensively, when playing with the expected lineup, the team has received several standout performances. The Lightning’s leading defensive (and overall) scorer, senior 18U AA Brady Berkhammer has been awesome so far this season, (6GP, 7G, 11A). He is tied for the county lead in scoring with 18 points. He is by far the leading defensive scorer, six points clear of the closest defensive scorer in the county. He is the leading defensive scorer for all of the Maryland Student Hockey League. Upper Montgomery’s top line of senior 18U AAA center, and team captain, Owen Robbins (3GP, 2G, 7A), flanked by fellow senior and last season’s leading scorer Philip Shkeda (4GP, 6G, 4A), paired with ninth grade 16U AA Miles Gleason (3GP, 9G, 3A) have been DOMINANT. Unfortunately, the trio has played together only twice this season. Robbins has missed half of the initial portion of the season with his external travel team. Shkeda is still out for the next month or so with an upper body injury. The good news is that Gleason is expected to return this week from his own recent month long absence due to a medical issue. Outside of  junior 16U Upper A forward Aiden Zheng (5GP, 2G, 3A), the younger student and depth skaters have not been able to contribute offensively.

On defense, several younger students have played meaningful minutes alongside Berkhammer and junior 16U Upper A Miles Wendland. This experience will help in future seasons, but the young defenders are at a size and speed disadvantage currently. This may be one of the reasons that the team’s penalty kill has been abominable. Upper Montgomery has successfully killed off three powerplays during the opening six games while giving up five powerplay markers to the opponents.

Upper Montgomery’s primary goaltender junior 16U AAA Ilan Shterenberg pitched a 25 save shutout in the season opener. Overall, he has a .900 save percentage and a 3.56 goals against average. When he has been out of town with his external travel team, the Lightning’s younger netminders have stepped in. The defense in front of them has been porous as Upper Montgomery has given up the most goals in the county through the first half of the season. Since the opening night shutout, goals scored against the Lightning each game have been eight, nine, six, nine, and seven. The number of breakaways given up has been astonishing. Then, when the defense plays well for a long stretch during a game, weak goals have gone in past the Lightning’s quartet of goalies.

With rematches to come against teams Upper Montgomery has faced during the first half of the season, the Lightning will be looking to change their fortune. The only way to accomplish a season turnaround is on the defensive side of the ice. The team must be committed defensively and stick to the team’s systems. The Lightning must suffocate the game and play very physical against high powered offensive skaters. The goaltending also needs to be better. There have been several games recently when a soft goal or two against has deflated the team and sucked the energy out of a comeback rally. Most of the Lightning’s game will come down to which team is better in their own defensive end of the ice. Will the Lightning skaters show the urgency necessary to limit and contain the opponents, or will the team allow skater to float all over the ice unencumbered. There was too much watching and swiping at pucks during the first half of the season rather than hard nosed aggressive physical play. 

The Lightning junior varsity has done a pretty good job of adhering to the team’s systems. The challenge at the junior varsity level has been that the young Lightning are playing with eight incoming ninth graders. These young students are learning how to play at the high school level where the competition is much more advanced than at the youth hockey level. So, plays that used to work for these students are counteracted at the higher level of play. The junior varsity’s schedule has been very difficult. The team has been competitive against the best teams in the county losing by close margins to the top ranked teams, and playing with these top teams for much of the games.

Offensively, the team is led in scoring by ninth grade forward Tima Zamaray (6GP, 4G, 3A). Junior Mason Jagoz had a hat-trick in the team’s win against the DC Stars and is tied for the team lead in goals (6GP, 4G, 1A). From the defensive side of the ice, sophomore Matt Rivera has flourished offensive as he has gained confidence in his second season. He has scored on three end-to-end rushes over the first six games of the season. The team has picked up some additional depth scoring from Wyatt Ostrander, Max Israfilbek, and Jason Woodman. Zamaray, Ostrander, ninth grade defender Lenny Roth, and sophomore goaltender Porter Stutsrim-Lyons (skating out) have each scored their first career high school goals.

The young defenders, Dylan Kim and Lenny Roth have come a very long way from the summer off-ice workouts. They have adapted quickly to how they have to play at this level to be successful. Due to the weekly varsity lineup shuffling, each has played some unanticipated games with the varsity this season. Junior Max Curtusan has laid the body well and has improved significantly from last season.

In goal, the Lightning’s three goalies have each played in games this year. Stutsrim Lyons has the most experience and it has shown as he has a .926 save percentage and a 2.52 goals against average. Both Stephen Rickman and George Schickler have bright futures. To gain extra experience they have been staffing the Walter Johnson junior varsity games as the Wildcats do not have a junior varsity eligible goaltender.

The first half of the 2025 – 2026 season has been one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes.  It is now time for the students to parlay the learning and development into substantive results during the second half of the season. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits and edge necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon teams in the county.  Or, is the team simply too young to compete right now this season.  The squad’s performance leading up to the December holiday break will tell us a lot.

#Second Half Wins, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!