The 2022 – 2023 high school hockey season has been a season of historic feats for the Upper Montgomery Lightning. Hopefully, the team continues to make history over the final month or so of the season. Currently, the team sits firmly in the sixth position in the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC) rankings. This is the highest ranking ever for the program. The team has almost definitely secured home ice advantage for the opening round of the MHC playoffs. This would be another first for the program and is significant because it affords the team the last line change so the coaching staff can create favorable line matchups.
Other firsts that the program has achieved this year:
–Gaining the program’s first ever points against one of the top four teams in the county with a 2-2 tie against BCC early in the season.
–Beating Wootton for the first time ever in December just prior to winter break. The 8-2 pounding of the Patriots broke a fourteen year period without a victory against what has been one of the historically top teams in the county. The Lightning proved that the pre-winter break win was no fluke by sweeping the Patriots coming out of the winter break with a 4-2 victory.
–With last week’s 5-3 victory over undefeated and second ranked Quince Orchard, the program beat their highest ranked opponent in team history.
–The victory over Quince Orchard is likely to push Upper Montgomery into its highest ever Maryland / District of Columbia state ranking. The team is currently ranked 23rd in the state. The rankings include the top tier private schools that recruit in student athletes.
If the team is able to win its first round playoff game this season, it will be the first time in the program’s history that the team would play for an opportunity to reach the state playoff tournament. While reaching the state tournament is a lofty goal, it is certainly an aspiration that is no longer farfetched.
Key for the program this season has been the maturation of the team’s core group of student athletes. It makes a world of difference to field a roster of experienced student athletes rather than relying on highly talented 9th graders and sophomores. The offensive production this year is more evenly distributed. Last year, the team had only five skaters score five or more goals for the entire season. Already this year (2/3rds through the season), the team has six student athletes with five or more goals with several more skaters in striking distance of achieving this accomplishment.
What has really helped the Lightning explode up the conference standings and rankings has been the team’s defense five on five. Upper Montgomery is giving up fewer chances than over the past two seasons. Limiting the opposition’s chances and playing a tighter defensive system has made it difficult for teams to score against Upper Montgomery. Not yielding too many goals has allowed the offensive firepower to carry the Lightning to victories. The Lightning are averaging 1.3 more goals per game than last season (5.36 to 4.06) playing against a tougher schedule as part of division one.
Riding a five game winning streak and having won six of their past seven games, the Lightning have played their way into the conversation as one of the teams to watch out for. Upper Montgomery is no longer sneaking up on the top echelon programs. If Upper Montgomery can win its first round playoff game, the team will have an outside chance at the state playoff tournament. It would not shock anyone in the county if Upper Montgomery were to continue on its historic season. With two games left until the playoffs begin, excitement is growing. There is anticipation that something special is in store.
The Lightning junior varsity opens the defense of their 2021 – 2022 junior varsity championship on the road this week against third seeded Whitman. The junior varsity season was up and down with some nice wins, some aggravating losses, and a few ties that the team felt should have been wins. Upper Montgomery junior varsity finished the regular season with a 4-4-2 overall record and 2-2-2 in the conference standings, playing many competitive games against the top tier junior varsity teams in the county.
Offensively, the season has been challenging for the junior varsity, especially against the top tier teams. Goals have just been hard to come by. The playoffs will be more difficult as the team will be missing some key student athletes for the Whitman playoff game which will make the task all the more difficult. It will be up to the junior varsity team to elevate their game to pull off the upset. Whitman is a more talented team, but a gutsy effort and determination could propel the Lightning to an unexpected win. In the single elimination tournament, a loss would end the Lightning’s season.