The 98s spent part of their vacation up north participating in the Bell Capital Cup in Ottawa, although plagued by inconsistent play the Vipers finished the tourney with a 1-2-1 record but returned with plenty of good memories and a very good time had by all the players and families.
Vipers 3 Upper Ottawa Valley Aces 3
In a game the Vipers should have won they had to battle from behind to earn the tie n this one after giving up 3 first period goals. The Vipers 3 goals came from Kyle Lynch who was clearly the best player on the ice for both teams. His second coming with just 3 seconds left in the second period to pull the Vipers within one. His third was the best goal that was scored all year by a Viper, as he split two defenders was slashed down to his knees and while sliding on his knees managed to shoot to the far side up under the bar for the tie. The Vipers controlled the final period but could not take the lead. Kyle Hentosh, Dante Maribito and Brendan White picked up lone assists. Kyle Lynch was named the game MVP and Brendan White received the Hardest Worker Award.
Vipers 6 Bedford Blues 0
The Vipers got exceptional goaltending from Nick Fiorientino early on which helped the Vipers to the 6-0 shutout win over the Blues from Nova Scotia. Among other many fine saves Nick would come up huge on a penalty shot save when the score was 0-0. Kyle Hentosh (1-4-5) and Dante Maribito (2-3-5) would score 8 seconds apart in the first period to give them a 2-0 lead after 1. Kyle Lynch (2-1-3) was the other multi-point scorer in this one and Evan Daddario would round out the scoring. Taking nothing away from Kyle Lynch who was named the MVP for thsi game the award could have easily gone to Nick Fiorientino. Dante Maribito picked up the Hardest Worker Award in this one
Vipers 2 Quiente Red Devils 7
The Vipers did not show up ready to play in this one giving up a goal just 17 seconds into the game and 2 more in the first before Maribito from Hentosh would cut it to 3-1. Winning the last 4 shifts of the second period gave the Vipers some life heading into the second period but again the eventual semi-finalist Devils would score just 12 seconds into the second and the Vipers could never recover after that. Dante Maribito would score his second of the game off a nice re-direct from a shot by Ryan Connearney, who would have himself a fine weekend, Kyle Hentosh would pick up the other assist. Ryan Connearney would go on to earn Game MVP honors while Ross Wahl would pick up the Hardest Worker Award.
Vipers 2 Ottawa Valley Silver Seven 3
Playing their best game of the weekend and outshooting the Silver Seven 31-11 the Vipers could not find the back of the net against the very strong 7 goaler. The Silver Seven would score with just under 6 minutes left to win this one 3-2. Evan Daddario would get the Vipers on the board with assists from Steven Tettoni and Ross Wahl. The line of Daddario, Wahl and Braden Haley would put up a pretty good effort in this one. Dante Maribito would score the lone goal in the second period to tie the game at 2 with assists from Kyle Hentosh and JT Chamberlain. Kyle Hentosh was named the Game MVP in this one while Evan Daddario picked up the Hardest Worker Award
Kyle Lynch, Steven Tettoni and Aaron McDonnell all represented the Vipers in the All-Star Game while the entire team also competed in the skills challenge, with Evan Daddario coming in second place in the Accuracy Shooting Contest and Aaron McDonnell coming in second place for the goaltender shootout competition. Also Kyle Hentosh and Dante Maribito were tied with 2 other players for the overall point scoring lead for the entire tournament each having 9 points, while Hentosh was the tournament leader with 8 assists.
