Category: Lightning Strike Blog

The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program is now halfway through the Spring 2022 high school hockey season. The Rockville Ice Arena High School Spring League is a great way for the student athletes not participating in another high school spring sport to continue to work on their game and develop their individual skills in a competitive team environment. The league is structured as a way for the student athletes to have fun in a safe environment as there is absolutely no checking allowed during the spring season.

For the first time in program history Upper Montgomery has two teams competing in spring league; Team Green and Team White. The teams are relatively evenly split with varsity and junior varsity student athletes playing on both teams. Upper Montgomery Team Green is competitive with a 2-2 record at the halfway point of the spring season. Upper Montgomery Team White is undefeated with a 4-0 record at the halfway point of the spring season.

Having the student athletes able to play an additional eight or nine games with their teammates helps build chemistry. It is also an invaluable opportunity for the coaching staff to take a look at some different line combinations and defensive pairings. The coaches are able to assess the strengths and the areas in need of improvement of the nine incoming student athletes who are joining the program for the fall 2022 season. The coaches are also able to work with the returning student athletes and use the spring season to focus on improving areas of each student’s game.

The 2021-2022 high school ice hockey season is now complete. The Upper Montgomery Lightning coaching staff took some time to reflect on the program’s progress this season and they look ahead to the upcoming 2022 – 2023 season.

Question—What are your thoughts on the second half of the season and how the season concluded?  How would you evaluate the Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season?

Answer—Overall, the coaches are very happy with how the season went and we are excited about the direction of the program.  The varsity squad qualified for the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division 1 playoffs for the first time in program history and competed toe-to-toe with a very good and more experienced Richard Montgomery team.  Similarly, in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division 2 playoffs a senior laden Wootton team was just a bit better at the end of the game. Even though the outcome was not what we had hoped for, the team showed they can compete with some of the best teams in the county.  We may not yet have the most talent in the league and we may not have the most depth in the league, but we outworked many of the teams we played and made the league take notice of Upper Montgomery.

Question—And for the junior varsity?  

Answer—The results speak for themself.  Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Champions in only the second year the program has fielded a junior varsity team.  The junior varsity played well during the regular season, but admittedly most of the teams in the conference did not pull down from varsity their better junior varsity eligible student athletes.  When we watched the junior varsity playoff game before we took on Northwest in the first round of the playoffs, we immediately noticed that those teams pulled down everyone eligible. The pace of the playoff games were much faster and more physical.  While we also pulled down a couple of student athletes from varsity who were junior varsity eligible, everyone picked up their play throughout the playoffs.  Even though our varsity players helped control the pace of the games and played great, seven of the nine goals that we scored in the junior varsity playoffs were scored by student athletes who primarily played junior varsity.  The entire junior varsity playoffs were a great team effort from all our student athletes.

Question—What does winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Championship mean to the program?

Answer— Winning the Junior Varsity Championship means the world to everyone; the student athletes, the program, the coaches, parents, family and friends, alumni, you name it.  Our hope is that how the team came together and competed shows our student athletes (and all of the future incoming student athletes) that hard work and playing together as a team is imperative to becoming a consistent winning program.  The coaches couldn’t be happier with how well the team played.  One of the goals of the coaches since we took over was giving these young men and women that “high school experience”.  In the junior varsity championship game, they were able to play in front of a good crowd, not only parents and family members, but also groups of classmates from their schools who showed up to cheer them on.  There is a different feeling playing for your school and your classmates. Then, celebrating a championship is something these student athletes will remember for the rest of their lives.  Winning the junior varsity championship was important for the program, but the everlasting memory for our student athletes was even more important.

Question—What areas of the team or team play need the biggest improvement and focus over the summer months for the team to continue its development next season?

Answer—Varsity level student athletes need to continue to work on improving their skating, their overall knowledge of the game, and their conditioning throughout the spring and summer.  It will be important for varsity student athletes to begin the fall being in shape, stronger, and better on the ice. This way, we can focus more on team/zone concepts during practice once we get back on the ice as a team in the fall.  Our practice time on the ice is very limited, so we cannot afford to spend too much time working on getting the student athletes back into shape and re-teaching the basics.  We need to focus on defensive zone coverages, breakouts, offensive zone entry, offensive zone positioning, penalty kill, and power play, and we can only do so if the student athletes hit the ice in the fall ready to play.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Skating, skating, and more skating. The legs feed the wolves.  The best way for our junior varsity student athletes to make noticeable improvements in their game is to improve their skating.  Our team concepts of aggressively pursuing the puck defensively and pushing the puck up the ice with movement in the offensive zone requires our student athletes to be able to skate effectively.  Some improvement will come by spending more time on the ice practicing their edges, crossovers, and things they are not as comfortable with, but they can also improve their conditioning, getting stronger, and working on their foot speed off the ice.  Student athletes who are willing to put in the time will notice the difference once we hit the ice again in the fall.

Question—What can student athletes do to prepare themselves for next season?

Answer— Work hard on and off the ice.  It is important for the student athletes to get away from the game some to re-energize.  Several of our student athletes have turned to lacrosse this off-season.  Lacrosse is a great cross-over sport as there are many of the same concepts as there are in ice hockey and it is great for conditioning and footwork.  Several student athletes who had never picked up a lacrosse stick before a couple of months ago were able to make their high school junior varsity or varsity lacrosse teams.  Most high school teams in the area need lacrosse players so even if you haven’t played before, think about trying out for your high school lacrosse team next spring.  We have student athletes that play for Seneca Valley, Clarksburg, Damascus, and Gaithersburg high schools so more than likely you will know someone on your team.  Other members of the program have joined their high school track team to get in better shape and to get faster.  Over the summer, put in the work.  Stay in shape and go running regularly.  Work on your foot speed, do short sprints, ladder drills, cone drills, etc..  Get stronger.  You don’t need to go to the gym and lift heavy weights.  Do pushups, squats, situps, planks, and jump rope.  Here is the key though, you cannot do this once a week or wait until the summer is almost over to start.  Start now and put in the effort several times a week throughout the off-season and you will notice the difference.

Question—For those rising 9^th grade student athletes and other student athletes currently in middle school who will come into the program over the next several years, what are they able to do to connect with the team?  Are there any skills development that they should be working on as they play over the next couple of years?

Answer—Attend as many Upper Montgomery team activities as you can.  We start off with spring hockey which is a good time to come out and meet and play with your new teammates.  Coach Todd offers an inexpensive summer high school boot camp.  The Premier Hockey Camp is completely optional, but it is another great way to get in work on the ice and off the ice with many of their new teammates over the summer.  Starting in mid-August the team starts with off-ice workouts twice a week. The program reserves the roller hockey rink at Ridge Road for a couple of these workout dates to go over basic zone coverages, breakouts, zone entries, etc.. so these are really important for the younger student athletes.  Read through the team playbook that was provided to all student athletes.  There are concepts that you need to know and the coaching staff does not have a lot of time on the ice to be walking through the basics.  Skills development is always important whether it is working on your skating, edges, stick handling, passing, shooting, etc.. and you can work on these skills on your own or through clinics, but the most important detail is that you give 100% every time you are working out and really push yourself.  Don’t go through the motions and expect big changes.  Put in the time and effort.

Question—What are the team’s realistic and stretch goals for next season?

Answer—This is a hard question as there are so many different variables to consider.  Some of the historically great upper teams in the county like Churchill, BCC, and Walter Johnson are losing many seniors, but these programs have deep teams and seem to fill these voids each season.  Some of the better teams in the lower division like Quince Orchard, Blair, and Rockville/Magruder aren’t graduating many student athletes and their higher talented student athletes will be seniors next year.  We are returning almost the entire varsity team from last year and these student athletes will be a year older, stronger, and better. In addition, we have some incoming 9th grade student athletes that will be able to immediately help out on varsity.  The coaches would like to see progress in our program each season.  It is no longer a successful season just to qualify for the division one playoffs. We are striving to advance in the playoffs.

This could mean making it past the first round of the division one or division two playoffs. We are also looking for the progress we can see and feel out on the ice.  Two years ago, we were in most games. But in reality, that was due to having Jonas Clark in net.  We worked hard, but the other teams normally controlled the games with their better talent.  This past season, we competed hard and played well going toe-to-toe with some of the better teams in the county. We often controlled play for long stretches of the game, but it seemed the other teams were able to take advantage of one or two good opportunities while we were not able to capitalize on our chances. This was often the difference in the games we lost.  Next year, it is time to take the next step, to be able to compete with all the teams in the county and be the team that takes advantage of these opportunities rather than giving them up. We want to beat some of the upper teams in the county next season.  We all want to win more and make it further in the playoffs but judging progress solely on wins and loses can be difficult.  Overall, our record this year was similar to our record two years ago, but this past season’s team played so much better and competed at a much higher level. Next season, we will again be looking for the team to take another step forward in that progression.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—The obvious answer is to win a second straight junior varsity championship, but it is hard when you set the bar that high and there are many variables that go into play.  No team will look past us next year. They will all give us their best shot.  It looks like we will have more junior varsity level student athletes next year. More of our varsity student athletes will play a higher level of travel hockey and will not be junior varsity eligible next season. The progress the coaches will be looking for is for our junior varsity level student athletes to step up, help control the games like our more experienced roster did this past year, and to still be able to compete at a high level. When the junior varsity playoffs begin, we want to make a run at another championship.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program begins spring league play tomorrow. It will be an opportunity for the coaching staff to take a look at some different line combinations and defensive pairings ahead of fall practices and to see where some of the new student athletes are at. The Rockville Ice Arena High School Spring League is a great way for the student athletes not participating in another high school spring sport to continue to work on their game and develop their individual skills in a competitive team environment. Upper Montgomery has nine new student athletes joining the program for the spring 2022 season.

For the first time in program history Upper Montgomery will have two teams competing; Team Green and Team White. The teams are relatively evenly split with varsity and junior varsity student athletes playing on both teams. All levels of talent AAA / AA through house / rec play together and the age ranges are high school seniors through next year’s rising 9th graders. The league is structured as a way for the student athletes to have fun in a safe environment as there is absolutely no checking allowed during the spring season.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning are proud to recognize and honor the 18 Lightning student athletes who will be awarded the Maryland Student Hockey League Academic Achievement Award at the team’s end of season party in early May. These 18 student athletes exemplify what it is to be a student athlete, excellence in the classroom and high character. The award is given to a student athlete competing in high school ice hockey who has a weighted grade point average of 3.50 or higher during the first semester of each season. Five student athletes—Andrew Botti, James Botti, Nathan Cassel, Henry Honacki, and Olivia Robbins earned straight A’s. Congratulations to all on your excellent academic performance!

Congratulations also go out to the Churchill Bulldogs of Montgomery Hockey Conference for winning their 10th state championship with a 3-2 double overtime victory over Oakdale in a memorable state final. Depending upon which team a spectator was rooting for, it was either a thrilling victory or a crushing defeat. Churchill forced overtime with a six on five pulled goalie goal with just 13.1 seconds remaining in the third period. For Churchill fans, it was a brilliant faceoff play that led to the tying goal. For Oakdale, it will forever be viewed as an absolutely catastrophic failure in defensive coverage seconds away from an upset victory in the state championship game. Also, a shout out to the Blair Blazers for winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference division two championship with a 6-5 victory over the Whitman Vikings.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program made major strides during the 2021-2022 high school hockey season. The coaching staff is extremely pleased with the team’s accomplishments and big achievements are in store for the program moving forward. This season the program had one objective—that the varsity team qualifying for the Montgomery Hockey Conference division one post season playoff tournament. The program had never before qualified for the division one playoff tournament.

Not only did the team qualify for the division one playoffs, earning the 10th seed out of the 12 teams that qualified, it battled Richard Montgomery all game before falling 4-2. In the division two playoffs, the Upper Montgomery jumped out to an early two goal lead and were tied with perennial hockey power Wootton 3-3 with six minutes left in the game before succumbing late. The young Lightning will be losing only three seniors to graduation and the team is trending upward. Next season, expect the goals for the team to be much loftier. The coaching staff will be looking for the experiences of this season to carry over. With an entire (fingers crossed) COVID free offseason, Upper Montgomery should be poised to take another giant leap forward in the fall of 2022.

Congratulations go out to the Churchill Bulldogs, Walter Johnson Wildcats, St. John’s Cadets, and Quince Orchard Cougars who were the four Montgomery County teams who made the Maryland Student Hockey League state playoffs. Also, a shout out to the Blair Blazers for winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference division two championship with a 6-5 victory over the Whitman Vikings.

The Lightning offense was led all year by the first line of Chris Hassett (15 GP, 17 goals, 16 assists), Ryan Jacobson (11 GP, 7 goals, 10 assists), and Nathan Cassel (12 GP, 11 goals, 6 assists). All three student athletes are in 9th or 10th grade. The future is very bright for this trio. Depth scoring is an area of immediate need for the team next season. The second line started to find its scoring touch later on in the season. Hunter Cameron had (15 GP, 6 goals, 7 assists) and Bradley Cupples (15 GP, 1 goal, 11 assists). Against the top tier division one teams, the Lightning found it more difficult to find the back of the net.

On defense, James Botti led the group offensively with (13 GP, 5 goals, 10 assists). Through 2/3rds of the season, the Lightning had given up the fewest goals in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, thanks in part to the stellar play of Will Mellen in net. One of the primary reasons for the five game winning streak in the middle of the season was the Upper Montgomery penalty kill which was excellent during the regular season, killing off 44 of the 48 opponents’ powerplays, 91.7%. In the playoffs, the penalty kill fell off somewhat. Along with James Botti, George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Gean, and Andrew Botti worked hard in the defensive zone to limit the opposition from getting many high danger scoring opportunities. The team found an identity when they clogged up the ice and mucked up the game making it difficult for teams to get many good looks at the net. In games that were played with more of an up and down the ice style of play, the young Lightning struggled against AAA travel level senior and junior student athletes.

Three Upper Montgomery Lightning student athletes were recognized by the conference for their outstanding play this past season. Andrew Botti, 9th grade defender and Will Mellen, sophomore goaltender were both named to the Montgomery Hockey Conference 2nd team division two team. Chris Hassett was an honorable mention at the forward position.

In an unexpected development, the Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity completed a turnaround for the ages. Finishing dead last in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity standings last season in its first year of existence, the team was looking to play competitive hockey this year against the more established programs. After battling to a 2-4-2 record over the first half of the season and hovering in the middle of the conference standings, Lightning struck. The team found some additional offensive firepower and won its final three regular season games. The hot finish to the season landed the junior varsity in second place in the conference standings by virtue of a tiebreaker over Rockville/Blair. Three inspiring playoff performances later (a come from behind shootout win over Northwest in the quarterfinals, easily handling Rockville/Blair 6-2 in the semi-finals after falling behind early in the contest, and then the program defining 2-1 win over undefeated (10-0), top seed Richard Montgomery in the final and the Upper Montgomery Lightning were the 2021-2022 Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity CHAMPIONS!!!

The offensive leaders for the junior varsity were Brandon Bernard (13 GP, 6 goals, 9 assists), Joshua Miller (14 GP, 8 goals, 4 assists), Bradley Cupples (10 GP, 6 goals, 6 assists), and Josh Nadler (12 GP, 5 goals, 2 assists). Landon Bernard had a terrific second half of the season and finished with an outstanding 2.69 goals against average. The team received depth scoring from James Hyman, Lucas Eyman, and Henry Honacki who were all integral parts of the team. Adam Levine scored two incredibly important goals in the playoffs, the Lightning’s first goal of game in both the semi-final game and then again in the championship final. Cole Howerton, Patrick Sell, Andrew Gean and Stephen Shkeda formed a defensive core that gave up only eight goals over the final six games of the regular season. As the season continued, the team got better and better and played more as a team and for each other. The goal will be to ramp it up right from the start of next season in an attempt to defend the title.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning defeated top seeded and undefeated Richard Montgomery 2-1 at Laurel Ice Gardens in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game. The win completes a stunning turnaround from last season when the Lightning finished dead last in the conference standings and were not very competitive. This year, the Upper Montgomery Lightning are CHAMPIONS!

Upper Montgomery was a heavy underdog coming into the game to Richard Montgomery even while finishing second in the regular season conference standings. The Rockets had blown through the regular season and their first two playoff games to arrive at the championship final with a 10-0 record and having outscored their opponents 53-12. It was clear from the beginning of the game that the Lightning would not be intimidated. The Lightning competed all over the ice and did not allow Richard Montgomery many good scoring opportunities. A rather uneventful first period ended with no score and low shot totals for both teams. The feel of the game was that the first goal would be critical to deciding the eventual champion.

As the game went along in the second period, Upper Montgomery continued to gain confidence. After a failed powerplay opportunity, Upper Montgomery would score first in what would be the monumental moment of the game. Lightning defender Geroge Benedick controlled the puck in the offensive zone. While skating left, he passed the puck deep into the left corner to Bradley Cupples. Adam Levine who had been covering for Benedick at the right point, broke down the center of the slot and received a nice pass in stride from Cupples. He shot low, stick side back across where Rockets’ netminder Ian Hutchinson has just moved across the goal crease. Levine’s shot slid just inside the left post giving Upper Montgomery the lead late in the second period.

With just over five minutes left in the game, the Lightning would receive a very important insurance goal. Stephen Shkeda kept the puck in the zone at the left point. He fired a wrist shot at the net. It appeared to be a harmless shot that Hutchinson was following all the way in. As the puck went past him in the faceoff circle, Joshua Miller stuck his stick out waist high and deflected the puck. The trajectory of the shot changed just enough that the puck floated over the catching glove of Hutchinson and into the top right corner of the net. Now up 2-0, Upper Montgomery faced a very nerve wracking five plus minutes of high drama.

Richard Montgomery turned up the pressure and was able to cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:22 left in the game. Tyler Senko found the puck loose in a pig pile in front of the crease and fired it past Landon Bernard (19 saves, .950 save percentage, one goal allowed). The final three minutes of the game were intense with Richard Montgomery pressing to score the tying goal. Upper Montgomery forwards and defenders were sliding all over the ice giving everything they had to get the puck across the blue line out of the defensive zone. Once at the red line with possession, pucks were dumped deep into the Rockets end of the ice. With 47 seconds left, Richard Montgomery pulled Hutchinson for an extra skater. Upper Montgomery continued to defend and prevented the Rockets from getting good looks at the net. One last clearing effort into the neutral zone as the clock reached zero coincided with the Lightning streaming off the bench. Sticks and gloves were thrown into the air as they swarmed around Bernard celebrating the first championship in Upper Montgomery history.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity advanced to the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game with a dominating 6-2 win over Rockville/Blair on Wednesday. The Lightning will play undefeated and highly favored Richard Montgomery tomorrow afternoon at Laurel Ice Gardens. Game time is early at 4:15 pm.

After falling behind early on a fluky goal, the Lightning roared back with a complete team effort. Six different student athletes scored goals and only three student athletes had more than one point; Joshua Miller with one goal and two assists, Adam Levine with one goal and one assist, and Patrick Sell setting an Upper Montgomery program record with four assists.

Levine started the onslaught with a wrist shot from the lower portion of the left wing faceoff circle. Three minutes later James Hyman tapped in a rebound that snuck behind Rockville/Blair netminder Sean Connelly. Just before the end of the period Brandon Bernard followed with a wrist shot from the top of the slot that beat Connelly high stick side. With the majority of play in the offensive zone, at the end of the first period the Lightning had a 3-1 advantage and were outshooting Rockville/Blair 10-2.

Upper Montgomery extended the lead to 4-1 early in the second period when Bradley Cupples knocked in a rebound off of a Joshua Miller semi-breakaway. For the rest of the second period, the Lightning played responsible defensive hockey. Landon Bernard did not face many high quality scoring chances throughout the entire game.

After an early Rockville/Blair goal to start the third period, the Lightning caught a break as Patrick Sell’s wrist shot from the point hit TJ Gottesman in the back. Somehow, the puck tricked over Gottesman’s shoulder and into the net to provide Upper Montgomery some breathing room with nine minutes left in the game. A late goal by Joshua Miller provided the final margin of victory in a game that showcased how well the junior varsity progressed from the beginning of the season. Tomorrow, the biggest challenge awaits the team in the championship game, finding a way to conquer the Richard Montgomery Rockets who have outscored their opponents 53-12 on the season on the way to their 10-0 undefeated record.

The Upper Montgomery Lightning won its first ever junior varsity playoff game late Friday night with a come from behind 2-1 shootout victory over the Northwest Jaguars at Cabin John Ice Rink. With the win, Upper Montgomery advances to the junior varsity semi-final round hosting Rockville/Blair on Wednesday evening at 6:40 pm at Laurel Ice Gardens.

In a gritty and tightly contested game, Upper Montgomery defended all over the ice and limited the Jaguars to just nine shots on goal through regulation and overtime. The Lightning defended well on Jaguars leading scorer Brady Graham holding him to a single assist. Graham had entered the game scoring 11 goals in six junior varsity games and his 11 goals led the Montgomery Hockey Conference by a wide margin.

With less than five minutes to go in the game, Upper Montgomery scored a powerplay goal draw even at 1-1. Josh Nadler collected a shot by George Benedick that was wide of the net and scored on a wrap around attempt that banked in off the skate of Jaguars’ goalie Joseph Dean with traffic out in front.

After a wild, but scoreless five minute overtime period played three on three, Upper Montgomery excelled in the shootout. Joshua Miller, Bradley Cupples, Josh Nadler, and Brandon Bernard all scored for the Lightning. Landon Bernard was huge in net stopping the breakaway attempts of Graham and Benjamin Linteris to secure the victory.

The remaining teams alive in the junior varsity playoffs are:

Whitman (5) versus Richard Montgomery (1)

Rockville/Blair (3) versus Upper Montgomery (2)

We’ve reached the end of the 2021-2022 high school hockey regular season. For the Upper Montgomery Lightning, the young team is trending upward and there is much to be excited about over the next couple of seasons. The young Lightning squad was much more competitive this season while playing against a higher level of competition. After three straight one goal defeats to begin the season, and then a tie, the team turned its season around by winning five straight games in the middle of the season. Included in this stretch was a hard fought, signature win over the Whitman Vikings. Although encountering a rough patch at the end of the season, the team was competitive against more experienced teams from the top division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC). For the first time ever in program history, the Lightning qualified for the MHC division one playoffs. A first round game versus the favored and veteran Richard Montgomery Rockets is upcoming next Friday night.

In the upcoming division one playoffs and then likely in the division two playoff tournament, the team will need to improve in several areas; defensive structure, powerplay efficiency, depth scoring, and team based play. Additionally, relying on the top line of Chris Hasset, Ryan Jacobson, and Nathan Cassel to carry the offensive load will not be enough. If the team begins to struggle offensively, expect the coaching staff to quickly change up the lines to try and jump start the offense.

Congratulations go out to the Churchill Bulldogs (Varsity) and the Richard Montgomery Rockets (Junior Varsity) for winning the 2021-2022 Montgomery Hockey Conference regular season championships. Although both squads will be favored in the upcoming playoffs, there are sure to be some surprises in both post season tournaments.

The Lightning offense was led all year by the first line of Chris Hassett (13 GP, 14 goals, 15 assists), Ryan Jacobson (10 GP, 7 goals, 9 assists), and Nathan Cassel (10 GP, 11 goals, 6 assists). Hassett finished 13th in the Maryland State Hockey League statistics in scoring with his 29 points. All three student athletes are in 9th or 10th grade. The future is very bright for this trio. The second line started to find its scoring touch later on in the season. Hunter Cameron (13 GP, 5 goals, 7 assists), Bradley Cupples (13 GP, 1 goal, 12 assists), and Olivia Robbins (9 GP, 1 goal, 3 assists) began to chip in and take some of the pressure off the top line. Against the top tier division one teams, the Lightning found it more difficult to find the back of the net. It was difficult for the third line to achieve chemistry with different line combinations dressed throughout the season.

On defense, James Botti led the group offensively with (11 GP, 4 goals, 9 assists). All four of James’ goals came in the same game versus Wilson. While other defenders chipped in with points, it was the Lightning’s defensive abilities that stood out. Through 2/3rds of the season, the Lightning had given up the fewest goals in the MHC. One of the primary reasons why was the Upper Montgomery penalty kill which was excellent during the regular season, killing off 44 of the 48 opponents’ powerplays, 91.7%. Along with James Botti, George Benedick, Ethan Hockey, Andrew Gean, and Andrew Botti worked hard in the defensive zone to limit the opposition from getting many high danger scoring opportunities. The team found an identity when they clogged up the ice and mucked up the game making it difficult for teams to get many good looks at the net.

In goal, Will Mellen led the way. Mellen led all goalies in the Montgomery Hockey Conference who played in at least half their team’s games with a 2.36 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. He also shared the MHC lead with two shutouts. Landon Bernard saw more extensive varsity action this season picking up his first career high school varsity win in the game against the West Virginia Vipers. He also played extremely well in the road game versus highly ranked Washington County. If the strong goaltending keeps up, the Lightning will be in every game this post season and will have a chance to create some noise with an upset or two in the varsity playoffs and a long run in the junior varsity playoffs.

The Upper Montgomery junior varsity squad recovered nicely from an inconsistent start of the season to finish second in the regular season standings behind Richard Montgomery. The team finished with a 5-3 conference record and a 5-4-2 record overall on the season. Over the final three games of the regular season, the team jelled and played excellent hockey, giving up only four goals against while scoring 15 goals in dominating wins against Rockville, Northwest, and Churchill. The coaching staff’s message of relentless effort and consistency sunk in mid-way through the season and the team responded. The junior varsity team was vastly improved over last season’s team which finished last in the conference with a record of 1-6-1 while being soundly outplayed in many of the games. Not so this season, and it is a testament to the student athletes who came together as a team and found ways to win games. Several late goals against and an atrocious powerplay prevented the team from having an even better season as both non-conference ties and one of the conference losses really should have been wins.

In goal, Landon Bernard started each game. He played well finishing the season with a 3.08 goals against average and an .876 save percentage. However, those individual statistics are misleading and skewed by the game that the junior varsity played against Landon School. The local private school teams are a step up in competition and are similar to playing against a varsity team in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Omitting that game, Bernard’s individual statistics would be a very stout 2.57 goals against average and an .892 save percentage.

On defense, both Cole Howerton and Patrick Sell improved as the season went along. As 9th grade defenders they frequently played against forwards two grades more experienced. Several varsity student athletes dropped down to help out on defense and provide a calming influence. Andrew Gean, George Benedick, Stephen Shkeda, and Bradley Cupples played several games on the back line for the junior varsity providing much needed leadership and guidance.

Offensively, the team was led by four student athletes; Brandon Bernard led the team in scoring (10 GP, 5 G, 9 A). Bradley Cupples was next with (7 GP, 5 G, 4 A). Joshua Miller led the team with six goals in 11 games including several outstanding solo breakaway goals. Josh Nadler chipped in and scored four goals in his first high school season. The Upper Montgomery powerplay was downright awful during the regular season (2 for 35, 5.7%) and with just an average level of performance would have added goals and wins for the program. A bright spot was the penalty kill. The Upper Montgomery junior varsity penalty kill was excellent this season (39 of 43, 90.7%) and lately the Lightning have owned puck possession during their opponents’ powerplays.

The next few weeks will be fun. A varsity division one playoff game followed by a division two playoff tournament. For the junior varsity defending turf and looking to play deep into the junior varsity playoff tournament. Go Lightning!

The Upper Montgomery Lightning have qualified for the Montgomery Hockey Conference division one playoff tournament for the first time in program history. The Lightning received the 10th seed and will play at 7th seed Richard Montgomery on Friday night at Rockville Ice Arena. Game time is 9:20 pm. The playoff game between Upper Montgomery and Richard Montgomery will be a rematch of a game played last month, won by Richard Montgomery 4-1. The game was tied 1-1 late in the second period and was much closer than the final score indicates. Upper Montgomery played the first game against Richard Montgomery without senior defender James Botti and 9th grade forward Nathan Cassel. Upper Montgomery generated many scoring changes without two of its top four offensive weapons but could not put the puck behind Rockets netminder Henry Darko.

The full playoff bracket is below:

Montgomery Hockey Conference Division One Varsity Playoffs—-Round 1

All games will be played on Friday, February 11.

Whitman (9) at Wootton (8)—8:15pm—Cabin John—Winner plays at (1) Churchill on Friday, February 11th.—Whitman wins 2-0.

Sherwood (12) at Blair (5)—8:45pm—Rockville Rink 3—Winner plays at (4) Quince Orchard on Friday, February 11th.—Blair wins 5-4 (shootout 4-3).

Rockville (11) at St. Johns (6)—9:00pm–Rockville Rink 1–Winner plays at (3) BCC on Friday, February 11th.—St. Johns wins 2-1 (shootout 3-0)

Upper Montgomery (10) at Richard Montgomery (7)—9:20pm Rockville Rink 2—Winner plays at (2) Walter Johnson on Friday, February 11th.—Richard Montgomery wins 4-2.

Montgomery Hockey Conference Division One Varsity Playoffs—-Winner Advances to State Playoffs

All games will be played on Friday, February 18.

Whitman (9) at Churchill (1)

Blair (5) at Quince Orchard (4)

St. Johns (6) at BCC (3)

Richard Montgomery (7) at Walter Johnson (2)

As the Upper Montgomery Lightning have reached the mid-point of the 2021-2022 season, the coaches reflected on how they view the team’s progress thus far and look ahead to the remainder of the season. After soundly beating the Wilson Stars coming out of the winter break, the team now has a 5-3-1 record on the season and is poised to earn its first ever division one playoff appearance.

Question—What are your thoughts about the first half of the season?  How would you evaluate the Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program?

Answer—Overall we are very happy with how the team has played and progressed during the early portion of the season.  Starting off with three hard fought one goal losses to three very good teams and then coming back to have a six game unbeaten streak, 5-0-1 since then shows the team’s growth and determination.  If you look at our varsity roster, about 2/3’s of our student athletes are 9th or 10th graders. While everyone playing is high school aged, there is still a large difference in size and strength from when you are 14/15/16 years old to when you are 17/18 years old.  On top of that, we have had a very limited number of practices and with student athletes coming from six different high schools and several different hockey clubs it takes a while to jell. Not having had very much time to play together it took a bit of time for everyone to play as a coordinated team.  Our goal from the beginning of the season has been to qualify for the division one playoffs and with continued hard work, we should get there.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Our junior varsity student athletes and the junior varsity games have been so much fun.  We love that the junior varsity student athletes come out and just love to play the game of hockey.  They go out when called upon and play hard. It seems like everyone on the bench is just as happy when we score as the student athlete who actually scored the goal.  Junior varsity student athletes work hard and give it their all each shift of every game.  The coaches have been using the junior varsity games to coach up the student athletes since we have not had many practices. The team is growing, and the student athletes have been really listening to the instruction they have been provided and they have been trying to implement what we are teaching them.  Lately, we have been talking about playing smarter rather than harder and anticipating the game rather than reacting when on the ice.  This is much different than how many of them have been coached in their prior seasons. We are encouraged watching the team go out each game as they learn to incorporate what we are coaching them into game play.

Question—What, or who, has been the biggest surprise thus far?

Answer—Everyone has progressed nicely since last season or since spring hockey.  The entire team dynamic has changed since last year.  Last year’s games would normally be somewhat close on the scoreboard, but we would be outplayed and outshot considerably, sometimes as much as five to one in shots on goal. The team survived with Hall of Fame netminder Jonas Clark in net keeping the games respectable.  This year, we have controlled the games that we won in all aspects (offense, defense, and in net) and even controlled the play for good parts of the games that we have come up just short.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—We don’t usually like to point out any student athletes in particular, but the two Josh’s come to mind.  Josh Nadler is a 9th grader and looked good in spring hockey. He has really stepped up on the ice and as a leader for the junior varsity team.  Joshua Miller is a senior but did not play last season in our first year coaching the team, so we hadn’t seen him play before.  He has come in and really added a spark to the junior varsity team with his speed and anticipation. It is good for the younger student athletes to see how he plays.  We are happy with how everyone has progressed overall.

Question—What area needs the biggest improvement for the team to reach its full potential in the second half of the season?

Answer—The coaches have been talking with the student athletes about playing with a sense of urgency every second of every shift regardless of what the score is or who we are playing.  We ask the team to visualize the last couple of minutes of the Blair game, when we flew around the ice, pulled our goalie, and scored two goals with several chances to get the third goal and tie the game, and to take that sense of urgency and play every shift that way.  Other teams may have older, and higher level, travel team student athletes, but as Coach Scott says every game, “Hard work will beat better talent”.  We need to be the team that outworks everyone else.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Same thing for the junior varsity.  We need to improve playing with that sense of urgency every shift.  We need to try and win every shift, every race, every battle.  We also want to see the team play with more confidence out there on the ice.  Other than the Landon game, we have won or been in every game and can absolutely compete with all the other junior varsity teams in the league.  Let’s play with the confidence of one of the better junior varsity teams in the league.  Lastly, we need to work on anticipation rather than reacting.  High school hockey is so much bigger and faster than what most of our young student athletes are used to playing and there is not enough time to react to the play on the ice.  We need to anticipate what may happen to be in better position to make plays.  The coaching staff would rather the team anticipate and be wrong, rather than be standing around playing it safe trying not to make a mistake.

Question—What are the team’s goals for the remainder of the season?

Answer—In all regards, we are a young team.  We have a couple of seniors and juniors who have been a huge part of this team for the past three to four years, but the majority of our student athletes are 9th graders and 10th graders. We have heard of current middle school students that should be coming into the system and we continue to build towards the future.  With that being said, our stated goal this season has been to make the division 1 playoffs this year. We want to face the best teams we can to finish out the season.  We get better by playing the better teams, not by beating inferior teams.

Question—And for the junior varsity?

Answer—Our overall goal is to develop our junior varsity student athletes into future varsity contributors and that will continue to be our focus.  Teaching and coaching the junior varsity how to play the right way, how to improve their game, and continue to develop up through the end of the season as we enter into the junior varsity playoffs.  Each game is a valuable teaching tool so getting to play a couple of junior varsity playoff games and getting a sense of what is necessary to win in the playoffs is important for the development of our junior varsity student athletes.

Question—How big was the Whitman victory in terms of the growth of the program?

Answer—There is a stigma in the Montgomery Hockey Conference about the disparity in levels of the teams in division one versus division two. It was important for our team and our student athletes to see firsthand that they can compete with teams in the upper division.  Even though Blair and Quince Orchard are in our division and are really good teams that we competed with toe to toe, it was important for our players to beat a good Whitman team who is in division one to know that we belong and that we have a bright future.  The confidence from that win was invaluable.

Question—What would you tell student athletes eligible to participate with Upper Montgomery to get them excited for joining the team next season or playing with Upper Montgomery during the upcoming spring 2022 season?

Answer—First, taking away the game of hockey, the most important thing to be excited about is getting to come in and become teammates and friends with the rest of the students.  Our student athletes are great young people, and they all get along so well.  We have student athletes from six different high schools so it is a chance to meet and make new friends and play with teammates who you may not have had the chance of playing with before.  From a hockey perspective, we are excited about where our program is headed.  Two years ago, the team barely had enough student athletes to field a varsity team.  We now have a full varsity team and almost a complete junior varsity team. We are working to develop our student athletes over the coming years to be one of the best high school programs in the county.  Spring hockey is a great opportunity for new student athletes of the program and rising 8th graders to get a sense of the level of play in high school hockey. They can get a feel for the team and our style of play, start meeting your teammates for years to come, and allow the coaches to evaluate your game and start coaching you up before you actually start high school. 

Question—What message would you like to communicate to the Upper Montgomery Lightning supporters and fan base?

Answer—Over the years our sons would leave MYHA practices early on Friday evenings just as the crowds of high school teams would be arriving to watch their classmates play hockey.  We would stay and watch the high school games and you got such a sense of how different the atmosphere is with your classmates and friends in the stands cheering on your school and it was just incredible.  We want our student athletes to get this same feeling.  Last year was a season played under Covid restrictions and most games were limited to just one parent and no other fans.  We are still in the midst of the pandemic, and everyone needs to be careful, but we can start to see things building this year.  The first couple of games our supporters were mostly family a good amount of our junior varsity student athletes.  We then noticed the next couple of game, more friends and classmates with green jerseys in the stands.  Then we got to the Northwest game.  Northwest is known for having a lot of fans at their games, but we looked over from the bench and saw a large crowd, mostly in green and white and even some signs posted around the glass.  We can’t tell you how much of a boost this gave our student athletes and really gave us a big advantage. And it showed on the ice as well as we dominated against Northwest. It was no longer just about our team playing for themselves and their parents, but for their classmates, for their schools, and for the Upper Montgomery community.  Please continue to come out and support, bring more friends and classmates, and cheer our student athletes on as we push to qualify for the division one conference tournament and then participate in the division two playoff tournament.