The Upper Montgomery Lightning will be in for a treat this upcoming Friday evening as they travel to the Medstar Iceplex, home of the Washington Capitals practice facility, to take on the DC Stars. The double header for the teams features a junior varsity tilt immediately followed by a varsity showdown. Many of the Upper Montgomery Lightning students will be playing in both games. A significantly fewer number of the DC Stars student athletes will pull double duty. Puck drop for the junior varsity is 5:00 pm followed by the varsity game at 6:40 pm.
Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity played a heck of a first half of the game against the Rockville / Magruder Rams this past Friday evening. It was a tremendous physical defensive display which had the Lightning nose to nose with the Rams trailing only 1-0. The second half of the game, Upper Montgomery was too stationary and got completely away from its system. This disintegration of play allowed the Rams skaters time and space which led to a bevy of shots on Lightning ninth grade goalie George Schickler making his first start for the team. The Rams offense eventually got going sending Upper Montgomery to a lopsided loss even through the team played substantially better than in the season opener. The DC Stars enter Friday’s contest with a 1-2 record having beaten only lowly Walter Johnson. The Stars were soundly beaten by six goals against both BCC and Sherwood.
It is an important contest for both teams as a DC Stars win likely solidifies the Stars a spot in the eight team junior varsity playoff tournament. Likewise, a win by Upper Montgomery against the DC Stars coupled with a win over the aforementioned lowly Walter Johnson Wildcats at the end of the season may be just enough to qualify the Lightning. Unlike in prior years, the bottom three junior varsity teams will not qualify for the junior varsity playoffs. Two of those teams will be Richard Montgomery and Walter Johnson. The third will come from a pool of the DC Stars, the Upper Montgomery Lightning, and the Whitman Vikings.
In net for the Lightning will be standout sophomore 16U Lower A goalie Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons started the season opener for the Lightning against Silver Spring stopping 39 of the 42 shots that he faced. The DC Stars have been rotating their goalies. Starter, 14U Upper A Peter O’Shaughnessy has a 1-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average, and a .982 save percentage. He replaced Stutsrim-Lyons on the Caps Academy external travel team when Stutsrim-Lyons aged up into the 16U age group. O’Shaughnessy’s backup, Rhys Seiden-Maloney has been much less successful this year with an 0-2 record, a soaring 8.73 goals against average, and a .794 save percentage. If the Stars split their goalies during the game, Upper Montgomery will need to take advantage of their offensive chances when Seiden-Maloney is in the game.
On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with their same two defensive pairings. Junior defender Max Curtusan is playing much more confidently this season. He has been strong around the net using his size and long reach to break up plays. He will mostly pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth, the younger brother of former Upper Montgomery defender Jake Roth, will use his quick skating ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone. He has shown some grit as well taking a roughing penalty in each game. The Lightning’s alternate captain, 16U Lower A defender Matt Rivera is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season with five assists in ten games. Rivera has been given the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. His persistence paid off with an end to end rush goal at the end of the second period last week providing Upper Montgomery with the team’s only goal. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team. His play will continue to improve as the season moves along. For the Stars, their defensive corps is led by 16U Lower A Thatcher Norton. He will play along with four other Stars defenders, Niklas Olson, Alexander Smith, Nolan Smith, and Roman Stoinski. The Stars five defenders have combined to contribute zero points in their three games.
As the team’s first two games have illustrated, offense is going to be a continuing struggle all season long for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. Playing last week without 16U Upper A forward Max Israfilbek did not help. Israfilbek who scored the Lightning’s two goals against Silver Spring returns to action this week. Against Silver Spring he scored two powerplay goals including one on a penalty shot. Israfilbek has the best shot on the team. He may need to sacrifice some offensive chances to become more reliable in the defensive end of the ice. In addition, junior forward Jackson Schickler makes his season debut for Upper Montgomery. The expectation is that with these two forwards in the lineup the forward lines will be more evenly balanced.
Last week against Rockville / Magruder, Upper Montgomery skated with nine forwards which included two goalies skating out and two very new ninth grade forwards. Expecting the lack of scoring, the coaching staff changed systems this summer to a more defensive structure. The new system puts a primary responsibility on the team’s centers to act as a third defender. Junior Mason Jagoz and ninth grader Wyatt Ostrander have played the majority of their shifts at center. They have also logged a substantial amount of time as penalty killers. Their high hockey IQ makes their performance crucial to the success of the team in getting the puck out of the defensive zone. There is a feeling that the forwards lines may be juggled ahead of the game against the DC Stars.
Senior captain Jason Woodman provides veteran leadership and is expected to have his most productive offensive season this year. He has been given a tough job, to absorb abuse in the goal crease and cause the opposition to focus on him rather than the puck carrier. How effective he is at mucking it up in front and causing chaos will determine the fortunes of his forward line and the Lightning’s powerplay. He did his job well on the Lightning’s lone powerplay against Silver Spring earning an assist. Sophomore Decklin Hughes is the best faceoff performer on the team. He will miss the game against the DC Stars.
The junior varsity forward ranks also have a few new faces this year in addition to Ostrander. Ninth grade right wing Tima Zamaray who plays external hockey in the Tri-City Eagles program has the most individual skill of the incoming students. Zamaray’s progress will be quantified not by his individual talent but rather how he uses his individual skill in the team environment. Zamaray will need to adjust to what works and what does not work at the high school level. He too will earn additional shifts by being responsible in the defensive zone. A lack of interest in his own defensive zone will likely lead to time sitting next to the coaching staff on the bench.
The Lightning are pleased with the initial progress of the two students on the roster with the least amount of hockey experience, ninth grade forwards Nolan Veillette and Miriam Baron. Both are small in stature but have a big desire to improve and get better. Veillette has adapted to the team’s systems well making a nice play or two in each game. Baron shows the eagerness and spunk of someone who is looking to improve every time she is on the ice. Her improvement from the first game to last week’s performance against Rockville / Magruder was noticeable especially when she was alone in front and drew the only penalty called on the Rams.
The DC Stars are led offensively by junior Harry Fishman who has two goals in two games. He is complemented by junior classmate Gabriel Ingram who has three goals in three games. None of the other DC Stars skaters has more than one goal or two points. However, Upper Montgomery should not be deceived into thinking that the game will be easy. For teams that play a defensive style, sometimes one or two goals are enough to secure victory.
As has been mentioned over and over, the 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. With nine incoming ninth graders, it will be exciting and rewarding as these younger students grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the necessary defensive habits and rough and tough identity will determine if the Lightning can challenge the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county. Or, the team may simply be too young and inexperienced to compete on the defensive end of the ice this season. Friday night’s showdown against a similarly hungry DC Stars team will be the start of progress for one of the programs. Hoping that the green and gold compete hard and come out with their initial victory of the season.
#UML, #In the Win Column, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!