The Upper Montgomery Lightning junior varsity faces off against the county’s top junior varsity team when they face the high powered Wootton Patriots late on Friday night. Game time is 10:15 pm at Cabin John Ice Rink. The semifinal playoff matchup is between the fourth ranked Lightning and the top seeded Patriots. Although, many observers think the clash is between the top two junior varsity programs in the county. Upper Montgomery is the only team to have played Wootton tough this season, taking the Patriots to overtime in the team’s regular season matchup back in October. Upper Montgomery went up early on Wootton only to have the Patriots chip away and tie the game late in the third period. Patriots defender Jayden Ahn scored the game winner early in the three on three overtime session batting in a third rebound try. The winner of Friday night’s game will be a prohibited favorite to beat BCC in the Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity championship game.
In goal for the Lightning will be ninth grade netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons plays for the Caps Academy 14U lower A external travel team. He has had an outstanding first high school season posting a 5-2-2 record, a very meager 1.87 goals against average, and an eye popping .930 save percentage. Stursrim-Lyons has allowed more than two goals in a game during regulation time only twice this season. He has two shutouts to his credit. Stutsrim-Lyons was solid last week stopping 24 of 25 shots on goal in the junior varsity’s 4-1 quarterfinal round win over Churchill. Wootton will counter in net with sophomore netminder Kevin Yu. Yu has experience at both the junior varsity and varsity level having been Wootton’s primary goalkeeper for the past two seasons. He is 7-0 at the junior varsity level with a 1.00 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. But, he statistics are more of a function of the Patriots dominant roster than his goaltending skill. The Patriots have averaged allowing only 13.43 shots on goal per game this season as they have puck possession throughout most of their games. Upper Montgomery is going to find it difficult to score on Friday night.
On defense the Lightning will need to keep shifts short as several students will have already played in the varsity playoff game earlier in the evening. Playing two games back to back with travel in between rinks is not ideal. The Lightning will be dressing a full defensive corps for the first time in a while. Sophomore 16U Lower A Miles Wendland (5GP, 3A) will likely skate with sophomore 19U AA Avery Evans (5GP, 2G, 4A). Senior team captain Cole Howerton (7GP, 4G, 4A) who has freedom from the coaching staff to roam up ice to join offensive rushes will be paired with sophomore newcomer Max Curtusan, a stay at home defender. Senior stay at home defender and alternate captain Patrick Sell (7GP, 1G, 2A) will be paired with ninth grade Matt Rivera (9G, 5A). Out of necessity it will be necessary for the Upper Montgomery coaching staff to play all three defensive pairings. The earlier varsity game is anticipated to impact the students receiving significant ice time. If the Lightning trail late, the coaching staff may drop down to two defensive pairings with the more offensive defenders asked to push the pace of play.
Wootton’s defense will be a rotation of four primary defenders with several forwards dropping back at times to keep top end talent on the ice while providing some rest to their skaters. Wootton only receives occasional offensive production from their defense. However, the Patriots back end does an excellent job of moving the puck up ice, skating the puck out of the defensive zone, and backchecking to prevent their opponents from getting good looks at the net. This has resulted in shot suppression and low shots on goal totals from their opponents. The Lightning had only fifteen shots on goal in the regular season clash. Patriots ninth grade rearguard Isaac Greene is their top offensive defender (8GP, 2G, 5A). Greene’s defensive partner, ninth grade Nathan Tian (8GP, 3G, 3A) has provided nice support. The Patriots other primary defensive pair is sophomore Nicholas Chung (7GP, 2G, 3A) and sophomore Sam Rubinstein who has two goals in eight games.
On offense, the Lightning will need for depth scoring to emerge again on Friday. Several of the Lightning’s top scorers will be playing back to back in the varsity game as well. Therefore, if several of the junior varsity only skaters are able to step up and produce, it will lighten the load on the team’s top three or four scorers. Senior center AJ Marks leads the team in scoring with (9GP, 5G, 8A). He will center the top line playing alongside ninth grade 14U Lower A Siddy Bhasin (6GP, 5G, 4A). The third forward on that line is going to be junior Jason Woodman. The Lightning’s second line will feature sophomore Jake Hudson (7GP, 6G, 3A) centering his brother ninth grade Luke Hudson (7GP, 1G, 2A) and Jackson Schickler. The third line will be 16U Lower A Aiden Zheng (7GP, 8G, 1A) between sophomore Mason Jagoz (9GP, 1G, 3A) and Decklin Hughes (7GP, 1G, 2A). Ninth grade forward Max Israfilbek will miss the semifinal game while serving his one game supplemental disciplinary suspension resulting from the antics at the end of the Churchill quarterfinal game last week.
Unlike Churchill which had one primary offensive threat, Wootton possesses all kinds of firepower. The Patriots are led offensively by leading scorer, sophomore speedster Nathan Geeng. Geeng has gaudy offensive numbers at the junior varsity level (7GP, 9G, 6A). In the team’s regular season meeting Geeng had three points with a goal and two assists. The second leading Patriots forward scorer is sophomore Brendan Lau (8GP, 6G, 5A). Senior Mitchell Golub has scored plenty at the junior varsity level (8GP, 9G, 4A) with almost all of his offensive production coming against the bottom tier teams in the county. Jaina Kronforst will see action both at forward and on defense during the game. She has high end offensive skills with high scoring totals (5GP, 8G, 3A). Her brother, Drew Kronforst has also put up more than a point per game (7GP, 2G, 6A). The final super offensive minded forward for the Patriots is sophomore Jayden Ahn who also plays regularly for the Patriots varsity squad on defense. His personal statistics this season are (6GP, 4G, 2A) including the overtime game winner in the team’s regular season matchup.
On Friday night join us for a clash of the titans. The two programs that have become bitter rivals over the past few seasons. Expect an all out battle with the Lightning playing a suffocating defensive style mucking up play all over the ice simply chipping puck back to the neutral zone. Upper Montgomery will also be in the shooting lanes in their own zone looking to block shot after Patriots shot. The more the Lightning are able to frustrate Wootton keeping the Patriots from getting to their desired style of play, the greater the chance for Upper Montgomery to come out victorious. The Patriots will look to make the game a track meet going up and down the ice playing a fire wagon style of game with all five skaters constantly joining the rush. Whichever team is able to impose their will and playing style on the other team will come out with a hard earned win. Something to watch out for is whether or not the Lightning’s experienced skaters are able to withstand playing two games back to back. Will they they have enough energy and stamina as the game moves into the third period. It will be a heck of a high school hockey game on Friday night. Be sure to join us for some late night excitement.
#Playoff Wins, #Advance, #Don’t Let the Season End, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!