The Upper Montgomery Lightning’s 2025 – 2026 regular season kicks off on Friday night when the junior varsity hosts the Silver Spring Blazers. Game time is 9:20 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. The Blazers were formerly named after Blair High School but have changed their name to be more inclusive of the other high schools in their program. Upper Montgomery will be trying to duplicate last season’s fine showing culminating with an eventual loss in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity semifinals to eventual champion, Wootton. Upper Montgomery had a third period lead in that semifinal game and played Wootton the toughest of any team in the county last year, with an overtime loss in the regular season and then the very close playoff loss. That was last season. This year’s junior varsity will be looking to make a name of their own adding to the Lightning’s list of very successful junior varsity seasons.
This year’s junior varsity roster is a good mixture of older experienced students pairing with many new incoming students to the program. With the loss of the team’s top seven scorers from last year, the Lightning will be focused on preventing the opposition from scoring. It may take the team a while to gel offensively and begin popping in the goals. The returning junior varsity members and the incoming ninth grade students have picked up Upper Montgomery’s new systems very well. The team is eager to display its progress in the season opener against Silver Spring. Of note, the Lightning were the only team last week with no game. The other ten junior varsity programs all played last Friday evening. The Blazers took down Walter Johnson in their season opener by a score of 4-2. They followed up that win by beating Churchill 2-1 in overtime in a mid-week contest that just concluded.
In net for the Lightning junior varsity to start the season will be sophomore netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the NOVA Ice Dogs 16U Lower A external travel team. He had ginormous skates to fill last season following in the footsteps of Lightning netminder Ilan Shterenberg. Shterenberg set or tied junior varsity program records for wins in a season (eight), lowest goals against average (1.80), and highest save percentage (.927). Stutsrim-Lyons did just that posting a 5-3-2 record, a 1.99 goals against average, and a new program record .930 save percentage. He also recorded two shutouts, including in his first ever high school start against Richard Montgomery. Backing up Stutsrim-Lyons will be two incoming ninth graders. Stephen Rickman is a 14U Lower A goalie with the Frederick Freeze organization. George Schickler is the younger brother of the Lightning’s junior forward Jackson Schickler.
Having three junior varsity eligible goalies is an abundance of riches and the coaching staff will work to get all three netminder into games this season. The Lightning have also been asked to help other programs in the league by loaning out the junior varsity eligible goalies. Both Rickman and Schickler played in net for Walter Johnson earlier in the week. The Blazers are expected to start Myle Amirthalingam in net. Amirthalingam (14U Lower A) won both of the Blazers games this past week posting a 1.48 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. With junior varsity programs there is such change from year to year that the Lightning’s 9-0 victory over the Blazers last season means absolutely nothing. As Amirthalingam played both games for Silver Spring over the past week, the Blazers may start backup goalie Aden Cohen. For Cohen it would be his first career high school start.
On defense Friday night, the Lightning will play with only two defensive pairings. Last season, Upper Montgomery had eight junior varsity defenders. This season, the team will make due with four. If a defender misses a game, forwards will be brought back to help cover for that game. Junior defender Max Curtusan grew over the summer and looks much more sturdy this season. Look for the big rig defender to clear the crease using his long reach to bottle up opposing forwards. Curtusan will mostly pair with ninth grade defender Lenny Roth. Roth, the younger brother of former Upper Montgomery defender Jake Roth, will use his quick skating ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone.
The Lightning’s alternate captain, 16U Lower A defender Matthew Rivera is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season with five assists in ten games. Rivera has been given the green light to skate the puck up ice creating offensive rushes. His speed and deft puck handling skills should provide Upper Montgomery with two to three high quality scoring chances per game. Rivera’s defensive partner is ninth grade defender Dylan Kim. Kim plays for the Tri-City Eagles external travel team and will continue to improve as the season moves along. For the Blazers, their defensive corps has veteran Ethan Hedberg pairing with new defenders Timothy Newman and Rakshay Narayanan. It is anticipated that the Blazers will drop back forwards to play on defense to make up for their lack of depth.
Offense is likely going to be a struggle this season for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. No returning forward scored more than one goal or four points last season. With the lack of scoring, the coaching staff changed systems this summer to a more defensive structure. The new system puts a primary responsibility on the team’s centers to act as a third defender. Junior Mason Jagoz and incoming ninth grader Wyatt Ostrander will play the majority of their shifts at center. They will also log a substantial amount of time as penalty killers. Their high hockey IQ makes their performance crucial to the success of the team in getting the puck out of the defensive zone.
A few forwards return for the Lightning. Sophomore 16U Upper A Max Israfilbek has the best shot on the team. He may need to sacrifice some offensive chances to become more reliable in the defensive end of the ice. Senior captain Jason Woodman is expected to have his most productive offensive season this year. He has been given a tough job, to absorb abuse in the goal crease and cause the opposition to focus on him rather than the puck carrier. How effective he is at mucking it up in front and causing chaos will determine the fortunes of his forward line. Junior Jackson Schickler will join the team later in the season once his football commitments at Poolesville High School end. Schickler will bring energy and intensity to a team that needs to grow in those gritty areas. Sophomore Decklin Hughes will see plenty of ice time especially if he proves to be reliable in the defensive zone. Hughes is good along the boards and will play the body. The more effective he is in the defensive zone, the more ice time he will earn.
The junior varsity forward ranks will also have a few new faces this year in addition to Ostrander. Ninth grade right wing Tima Zamaray who plays external hockey in the Tri-City Eagles program has the most individual skill of the incoming students. Zamaray’s progress will be quantified by how he uses his individual skill in the team environment. Zamaray will need to adjust to what works and what does not work at the high school level. He too will earn additional shifts by being responsible in the defensive zone. An area where Zamaray should help the team is on the powerplay with his hard shot. The Lightning are pleased with the initial progress of the two students with the least amount of hockey experience, ninth grade forwards Nolan Veilette and Miriam Baron. Both are small in stature but have a big desire to improve and get better. Veilette has adapted to the team’s systems well and Baron shows the eagerness and spunk of someone who is looking to improve every time on the ice. Her improvement over the season will see her earn additional shifts in each game.
Silver Spring is led offensively by ninth grade 16U Upper A forward Rodrick Hobbs. Hobbs scored a hat trick in the Blazers opening game. He also added an assist for a four point evening. Then, against Churchill, he scored the game winning overtime goal. He personally has accounted for four of the Blazers six goals and five of the Blazers nine points. It is no secret what the Lightning must do to stop Silver Spring, stop Hobbs.
The 2025 – 2026 season will be one of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes. It will be exciting and rewarding as the younger skaters grow and blossom. How quickly the team develops the defensive habits and identity necessary to lead the program forward will determine if the Lightning can again challenge the upper echelon junior varsity teams in the county. Or, is the team simply too young and not committed enough defensively to compete now. Friday night will give us some answers as the season finally gets underway. Come along for the ride, it should be a fun season!
#UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!