The Upper Montgomery Lightning play a critical contest against the Rockville / Magruder Rams on Friday night in a game that will likely determine which program finishes with the all important sixth seed in the Montgomery Hockey Conference rankings. Game time is 9:00 pm at Rockville Ice Arena. It will be a rematch of an early season thriller that ended up tied 5-5. Rockville / Magruder sent the game into overtime by scoring with the goalie pulled in favor of an extra skater with 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Upper Montgomery dominated the overtime period with several great scoring chances but could not put another shot past Rams senior goaltender Sean Connelly.
The programs are headed in opposite directions. Upper Montgomery has won four of its last five games with its only loss to highly ranked Wootton. The Lightning will also be looking to play much better than their performance last week against Northwest / Quince Orchard when Upper Montgomery struggled to a 7-4 victory over the last place team in the conference. Rockville / Magruder has lost three of its last four outings getting blown out by top ranked teams, Walter Johnson, Whitman, and Churchill. The Rams currently have the inside track on the sixth seed by virtue of their 8-6 win over Sherwood. The Sherwood win is the best victory that any of the division two teams have secured this season. After next week’s clash, Rockville / Magruder has only last place Northwest / Quince Orchard left on their schedule. Upper Montgomery would have two opportunities to jump ahead of Rockville / Magruder with a victory against either Churchill or Whitman.
Upper Montgomery has a distinct advantage in net. Sophomore 16U AA goalie Ilan Shterenberg has been steady this season with a 6-3-1 record, a 4.05 goals against average, and an .890 save percentage. There have been games in which Shterenberg has been really, really good (Wootton, BCC, DC Stars) and there have been some games that an extra save or two would have made the game a little easier for the Lightning (Rockville / Magruder, Northwest / Quince Orchard). In his first year as a starter at the varsity level, Shterenberg will be looking to build upon some recent good outings and gain additional consistency. He will again be backed up by ninth grade 14U Lower A netminder Porter Stutsrim-Lyons. Stutsrim-Lyons has started off his high school career strongly playing for Upper Montgomery’s junior varsity. Stutsrim-Lyons is 4-2-2 on the season with a 1.98 goals against average and a .927 save percentage in leading the Lightning junior varsity to the number four seed in the upcoming Montgomery Hockey Conference junior varsity playoffs.
In net for Rockville / Magruder celebrating their senior night will be senior goaltender Sean Connelly. Connelly has been up and down all season. He has a 5-3-1 record, a 4.46 goals against average, and an .830 save percentage. In his last four games he has given up six, six, seven, and nine goals. Against the top teams in the county, Connelly has struggled. Against the bottom two or three teams in the county, Connelly has played well. He gave up five goals on twenty two shots in the first game against Upper Montgomery.
On defense, the Lightning have all of their defense available for the game. The Lightning’s most experienced defender, junior 16U AA Brady Berkhammer (10GP, 3G, 10A) will pair with ninth grade defender 14U AA Lillian Robbins (6GP, 4A). Berkhammer had a three point night against Northwest / Quince Orchard last week and has tied his career high in point for a season with thirteen. His first career two goal game against the Jaguars on Halloween as part of a four point game. Sophomore 16U Lower A Miles Wendland (9GP, 3A) will skate with senior Cole Howerton (9GP, 2A). Senior Patrick Sell and ninth grade defender Matt Rivera will likely see limited action.
With mega star senior defender 18U AAA Andrew Pfeufer (6GP, 12G, 4A) the Rams are all set on defense. They will also deploy tough customer senior 18U AA Aiden Ward (10GP, 5G, 6A). Ward is a wide body defender who hits like a mack truck. Juniors Max Yuen (16U Lower A) and Lincoln Herrick are entering their third season of varsity competition and they provide excellent depth on defense. Ninth grade defender 16U Lower A Lukas Aagaard and Senior Calder Wilcox will see game action this week against the Lightning as well. The Rams defense will be much more talented than what Upper Montgomery faced last week against Northwest / Quince Orchard.
Offensively, Upper Montgomery will look to consistently roll three lines during the game. With senior 18U AA forward Nathan Cassel returning to the lineup last week and putting up four points with a goal and three assists, (3GP, 4G, 4A) he will again play with senior 18U Upper A center Henry Honacki (10GP, 11G, 4A) and left wing Philip Shkeda (8GP, 4G, 9A). Honacki leads the team in goals with eleven, having scored two goals in each of the past three games. Honacki has scored four powerplay goals to go along with two game winning goals. He has scored the game winning goal in two of the last three Upper Montgomery wins. His game winning overtime goal with eleven seconds remaining in the extra period helped the Lightning overcome the DC Stars in Mid-December. Honacki is on a four game goal scoring streak. Cassel had a hat-trick in the earlier matchup against the Rams.
Meanwhile, depth scoring came to the forefront last week against Northwest / Quince Orchard. The Lightning will be playing without junior 16U AAA center Owen Robbins (7GP, 7G, 4A). Thus, it will be imperative for the second and third lines to contribute offensively against Rockville / Magruder. Sophomore 16U Lower A forward Aiden Zheng (10GP, 3G, 6A) and senior forward Josh Nadler will need to contribute additional scoring. Sophomore center Jake Hudson (8GP, 2G, 6A) scored two goals last week. He has begun to feel more comfortable on the ice since being moved back to center. He has become more involved and noticeable using his strength and size to create opportunities. Ninth grade 14U Lower A forward Siddy Bhasin (7GP, 1G, 4A) and senior forwards AJ Marks and TJ Gottesman will need to provide energy and play excellent defense when on the ice.
The Rams top returning forward scorer from last season senior Brendyn Iliff (10GP, 5G, 6A) is on a similar scoring pace as last season. He had two assists in the earlier season matchup with the Lightning. Iliff will play plenty with junior Toyin Okunseinde (8GP, 4G, 4A). Cameron Gifford (10GP, 9G, 5A), a 14U AAA center, scored a hat-trick against the Lightning in October including the game tying goal with 1.4 seconds remaining to burst the Lightning’s bubble and salve standings points for the Rams. Rowen Pierson, a 16U Lower A center out long term with an upper body injury will return against Upper Montgomery. Ninth grade 14U AA forward Alexander Johnston (8GP, 3G) scored in the first game against the Lightning. Upper Montgomery will have to contend with these talented Rams’ skaters while at the same time being hyper aware of where Pfeufer and Ward are at all times.
The first half of the 2024 – 2025 season started out well for Upper Montgomery. Once thought of as a season of growth and development for the green and gold’s younger student athletes, this year is quickly turning into an opportunity to compete deep into the Montgomery Hockey Conference playoffs. The Lightning are already assured of their first conference winning record since the 2018 – 2019 campaign. Upper Montgomery has an opportunity to secure the sixth seed in the conference rankings with a win over Rockville / Magruder. It won’t be easy. These two programs are the most similarly matched of any two teams in the county. The last two games between the squads have gone to overtime. The game between the teams three years ago was won in the last minute by the Rams. The Lightning’s student athletes better understand the stakes of the matchup and come ready to play with urgency. History between the teams tells us that the game will be very close late into the third period. The green and gold’s faithful spectators will be on the edge of their seats cheering on their team to what will hopefully be a hard fought victory.
#Second Half Surge, #Four Game Winning Streak, #UML, #Bleed Green, #Go Bolts!