The 98 Elites opened up a 3-0 lead after one period and were able to hold on against the team that nobody wants to play in the post season Red Rangers by a score of 4-1. The Vipers came out of of the gates with plenty of intensity as Kyle Lynch would get them on the board with a very nice unassisted individual effort as he went end to end utilizing his speed to breaking alone and bury a wrister to the stick side for the 1-0 lead. Kyle Hentosh would get the next one on the power play as he would be in front to re-direct a shot from Noah Maercklein, Lynchy would also pick up an assist on the play as the Vipers had some pretty nice puck movement on the PP. Kyle Lynch would strike again as he easily banged home a rebound off Dom Cappadona's one timer from the point, Brendan White picked up an assist on the play as well. Ross Wahl would extend the lead to 4-0 as he took a sweet dish from Noah Maercklein from behind the net, made a quick move to his left and slid the puck into the open net, Evan Daddario also picked up an assist. Zach Laramie would go the distance in the nets loosing out on the shutout late in the third on a pretty Red Ranger goal. The Vipers close out there NEHL Regular season on Sunday at home against the Worcester Crusaders.
In the second game of the weekend series, the Vipers clawed back after being down 4-1. The Vipers stormed back with 6 unanswered goals to secure a 7-4 victory. Michael Gillis had a hat trick to kick start the comeback.
The Vipers faced off against the Boch Blazers in the first game of a home and home series. After a slow start, the Vipers poured it on racking up a 9 of total goals. The Vipers were lead by Michael Gillis and Sal Costanzo who had two goals each. Also tallying for the Vipers were Greg McGunigle, Conor Crovo, Rob Tibbets, Sam Cioffi and Kasey O’Brien.
The 98s kept things rolling with another solid outing as they skated past the well coached New Hampshire Jr Monarchs 7-1 at the Cronin Rink in Revere. The Green Line of Kyle Lynch (1-4-5) Kyle Hentosh (3-1-4) and Dante Maribito(2-2-4) paced the offense for the home team, as they connected on a couple of pretty goals and moved the puck well all night while also committing to all 3 zones as well. Braden Haley from Brendan White picked up the other tally. Zach Laramie and Aaron McDonnell split the game and the game was highlighted by a terrific glove save by McDonnell in the third. The Vipers continue to play solid team defense in front of their goalies as Steven Tettoni, Alex Delvento, Patrick McCarthy, Aaron Dollin, Ryan Connearney, Dom Cappadonna and Christian Kukas all had solid efforts from the blue line. The 98s take next weekend off from NEHL play and travel to Loomis Chaffe Prep School in CT for the Loomis Chaffe Prep Showcase where they will take on the likes of the Syracuse Nationals and Buffalo Regals as well as old rival the New England Jr Falcons.
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.