The Vipers extended their NEHL winning streak to 14 games with an 8-3 victory over the Seacoast Spartans at home on Saturday. The Vipers raced out to a 5-0 lead by scoring 3 goals in the last 2 minutes of the first period, and 2 more quick ones in the first 2 minutes of the second period to stretch their lead to 6-1. The line of Brendan White (1-1-2), Braden Haley (0-2-2) and JT Chamberlain (3-0-3, first Viper Hatty) would lead the charge in this one as both Whitey and JT would score off nice individual rushes. The Green line of Kyle Hentosh (1-1-2), Kyle Lynch (1-2-3) and Dante Maribito (0-1-1) would have a nice afternoon and Evan Daddario would get the eventual game winner while linemates Noah Maercklein (0-1-1) and Ross Wahl (1-1-2), one off a fine finish of a 1v2 rush would also hit the sheet. Steven Tettoni (0-2-2), Patrick McCarthy and Alex Delvento would all pick up helpers from the blue line. Zach Laramie and Aaron McDonnell would split the duties between the pipes for the victory.
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The Vipers won twice. Dave Melanson scored the winner with 38.5 seconds remaining, Sal Costanzo assisted on five goals and Rob Tibbets wore the hat in a 6-5 decision over the Glades, who got a goal and an assist apiece from Tom Samuelson and Brendan Green - and Kasey O'Brien scored twice, Tibbets had 1-1-2 and Connor Crovo two assists in a 6-1 victory over Seacoast;
King wore the hat, M. Herdiech scored twice, Valade and Carrado both had1-1-2 and D. Herdiech added two assists as the Red Rangers beat Seacoast, 10-2 - JJ New-Ouellet with both goals in the loss; Samuelson wore the hat and Eli Rivers had 1-1-2 as the Glades beat the Blazers, 5-1; Jason Bogacz scored twice, Pat Maloney and Danny Bears both had 1-1-2 and Nathan Andrew posted two assists as the Monarchs beat the Cyclones, 5-2; and the Blazers edged the Advantage, 3-2.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sal Costanzo, Vipers
It wasn't pretty and it didn't come with their best effort but the Vipers cashed in on a late power play goal to beat league rival Nashua Panthers 2-1 thus giving the Vipers the season series sweep. The Vipers would trail 1-0 after the first period which they never seemed to come out of the Locke for as the home team was able to cash in on a turnover. The Vipers seemed to regain some swagger in the second half of the second period and got out of the second tied at 1-1 as Kyle Hentosh fed Kyle Lynch with a terrific pass from behind the net for the tie. This one stayed tied late until the Vipers went on the power play late in the third and with just under 4 minutes left Kyle Lynch made an excellent backdoor pass with sauce from the sidewall to Dante Maribito, and all Dante had to do was tap it into the wide open net on a beautifully executed power play winning goal. The Visitors got timely scoring, good goaltending from Zach Laramie and good team defense when it needed it most, but the overall effort was a little discouraging as the Vipers would like to be playing their best hockey down the stretch
The 98's scored 23 goals for and did not give up a single goal in all 6 games, an absolutly amazing feat, in going 6-0 and winning the Championship with a 3-0 victory over the much improved Red Rangers. A power play strike from the point of Aaron Dollin's stick got the #1 seed off on the right foot and a 1-0 lead. Braden Haley sent Evan Daddario in alone and he beat the goalie for a 2-0 lead and Kyle Lynch and Kyle Hentsoh would hook up on a pretty 2 on 1 power play goal to put this one out of reach. The story of the tournament is obviously the commitment to 3 zone play for the entire weekend, and solid goaltending by Aaron McDonnell and Zach Laramie as the Vipers smothered teams with an impressive show of TEAM Defense, mostly giving up 8 shots or less in most of their games. In the last 15 games for the Vipers they have outscored their opponents 76-12, an astounding +64 goal differential. The Vipers return to NEHL action this weekend with games against the Pro Ambition and The Monarchs.