4th Seed Vipers Take Down 1 Seed Bridgewater Bandits to advance to Semi's
The Vipers turned in an inspired solid effort and advanced to the Semi-Finals with a 4-3 win. Brendan White (1-1-2), Noah Maercklein (1-0-1) Dante Maribito and Evan Daddario would score for the Vipers in this one. Braden Haley and Ross Wahl would pick up two assists each while Christian Kukas and Kyle Lynch would also add assists in this one as the Vipers pushed out to a 4-2 lead half way therough the third. The Badnits would cut it to one with 6 minutes left but the Vipers would clamp down and go on to take this one 4-3. Nick Fiorentino would be solid between the pipes backed by some excellent team defense.
In Game 2 of the tournament this morning the Vipers wasted no time in avenging their disappointing tie from the day before as they scored 4 first period goals in route to the 7-1 whitewashing of league riveal Seacoast Spartans. Evan Daddario would score the first 2 goals in the first 5 minutes, the first coming on a low hard snapper as he came in from the wall, the second just 2 minutes later as he would be high in the slot and rifle a snapper high over the blocker side, JT Chamberlain and Ross Wahl picked up helpers on that one after some intense forechecking. Kyle Lynch (1-1-2) from Kyle Hentosh (1-1-2) on the power play would push it to 3-0 and then Noah Maercklein (2-0-2) would get his line on the board on a pretty goal with help from Brendan White (0-2-2) and Braden Haley (1-1-2). All 9 Viper forwards would have at least a point in this one. Noah Maercklein would get his second of the game as Whitey would win a race to a loose puck, knock the defender off the puck that would lead to some cycling of the puck and eventually a goal as Lynchy would pick up a helper as well, Kyle Hentosh would round out the scoring as Dante Maribito would spring him in the neutral zone and Hentosh would end up on a partial breakaway and slide one 5-hole. It was Aaron McDonnell's turn in the nets in this one and he turned in another gem as both Viper goalies continue to play well. The Viper defense also played well, and physical in their own zone and in front of their own cage. A nice team win. The Vipers take on the Providence Capitals later on today...
In their first game of the EHF Invitational the 98 Vipers couldn't hold on to a game they clearly should have won as they settled for a 3-3 tie with the Falcons. The Vipers would come out strong and Dante Maribito would get his first of two on the day to put the Vipers up 1-0, then the first miscue of the game would come while on a 5v3 power play as the Flacons would cash in on a turnover on the blueline for a breakaway goal with just 9 seconds left in the period. The Vipers would go up 2-1 on a pretty goal by Kyle Hentosh on an even nicer pass from Dante Maribito for the lead. The Vipers would go up 3-1 on on the power play as Dante Maribito would clean up a rebound of a Steven Tettoni blast from the point, Christian Kukas also picking up a helper. The Vipers had a great chance to push the lead to 4-1 but Lynchy was denied on a breakaway that looked like it may have crossed the line. The Falcons would capitalize on another bad Viper mistake and cut the lead to 3-2 with just 4 minutes left, then with the goalie pulled and just 13 seconds left and the Falcons swarming the net they would tie the game. Nick Fiorentino would shine between the pipes in this one coming up big when tested
The Vipers used 3 third period goals to win from behind in this one 4-2. Showing a little bit of fatigue early on it took the visitors awhile to get going but they finally did for the important league win. Noah Maercklein from Brendan White would get the Vipers tied with a nice shot on the short side and the Vipers would be tied 1-1 after 2. The Crusaders jumped out to the 2-1 lead 3 minutes into the third and it looked bleak for the Vipes. The equalizer came on a pretty 2v1 with Maribito and Hentosh as Henny put some sauce on his pass over a defender onto Dante's stick who deked and slid the puck into the open side. Kyle Lynch would score the next two goals one set up by Hentosh and another on the PP set up on a beautiful give and go with Dante Maribito. Aaron McDonnell would get the call between the pipes in this one and was up to the task making a couple big saves at critical times. Alex Delvento would chip in with a nice game from the blueline and all 3 forward lines would grind it out in this one, The well coached Crusaders playing desperation hockey gave the Vipers all they could handle
The Vipers played what could have been their most complete game of the season in a 5-0 win in Exeter against the talented and very dangerous Spartans. The win locks up second place for the Vipers and gets them a first round bye in the playoffs. The Vipers would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission as Ross Wahl (2-0-2)Â would pounce on a loose puck in front and deposit it far side for the pretty goal and the eventual game winner, Evan Daddario (0-2-2) and JT Chamberlain would add assists. Dante Maribito (1-1-2) from Kyle Hentosh would put the visitors out front 2-0 after 2. Nick Fiorentino would play a solid game between the pipes to keep this one close. The third period saw Noah Maercklein clean up a Steven Tettoni blast from the point on the Power Play for the 3-0 lead and then just 2 minutes later Kyle Lynch would push the lead to 4-0. Ross Wahl would cap a nice morning pouncing on another loose puck in the last minute for his second of the day. The Vipers used an intense forecheck to keep the Spartans hemmed in and in the D-Zone used an air tight team defense that limited the real scoring chances, and took full advantage of the iron as Nick was the beneficiary of a few posts. Christian Kukas and Steven Tettoni as well as the entire team played great team defense.
The 98 Vipers made the long trek to Connecticut to take on the Wolfpack and forgot to get out of the car when they got there as they mailed in a very lackluster performance. Kyle Lynch would score both goals and Dante Maribito and Kyle Hentosh would pick up the helpers.
The 98s used 5 goals in the first 4 minutes of the second period to run away with this one as they swept the season series with the Cyclones with a 9-1 win. Brendan White had a big day chipping in with 2 goals and 2 assists, Noah Maercklein (0-3-3), Kyle Lynch (1-2-3) and Dante Maribito (2-1-3) would also have big days. The Vipers would also get 2 goals each from Evan Daddario and Braden Haley as the Vipers used their most balanced scoring attack of the season.Kyle Hentosh (0-2-2) was the other multiple scorer and Steven Tettoni, Patrick McCarthy, JT Chamberlain and Ross Wahl all added single helpers. Aaron McDonnell and Nick Fiorentino split the duties in the cage
The 98s would look for the sweep of the physical Glades on Sunday morning and did just that with a solid 3-0 win for the season sweep of the Glades. Aaron McDonnell would get the call between the pipes for this one and would turn in a solid effort for the home team, as both Viper goalies would turn in gems this weekend. Kyle Lynch would get the Vipers on the board in the first on the PP as the Vipers would execute a perfect face off play. Kyle Hentosh would slide a pass to Christian Kukas who would bang a one timer to the net that was saved but Lynchy was there to bang in the rebound, although not credited with an assist the play could not have been executed with out Dante Maribito winning the draw. Kyle Lynch would score his 2nd of the game in the second as he would score an incredible shorty splitting the D and toe dragging the goalie and finishing upstairs for the 2-0 lead. Ross Wahl would score on a nice rebound goal in front as he was falling down, a very pretty goal that rewarded his line for a nice shift. Evan Daddario and JT Chamberlain picked up the helpers on that one. This one would get a bit chippy in the third but the Vipers would remain disciplined and stretch their record to 7-0-3 in their last 10 NEHL games. Christian Kukas would turn in maybe his finest effort all year from the blueline playing a very solid physical game. Steven Tettoni and Ryan Connearney also chipped in with solid efforts from the point
The 98s went on the road to face the once beaten and very strong Falcons, and despite winning the 5 on 5 battle 3-1 they tied the war 3-3 as the Falcons would score 2 PP goals in the second to earn the tie. The Falcons would jump out front quickly just over a minute into the game, but Dante Maribito (2-0-2) would tie the score as both his goals would be set up by Kyle Lynch (0-2-2) and Kyle Hentosh(0-2-2). The Falcons would go ahead with their first PP goal with 4 minutes left in the first, but with just 1 minute left tin the first the Vipers again tied the score on Maribitos second goal. The Falcons would go up 3-2 early in the second but just 16 seconds later the resilient Vipers would answer again as Noah Maercklein would take a feed from Brendan White and snap a wrister to the top corner as he was getting drilled to tie things up at 3. The third would belong to the keepers as both goalies would come up big, and Nick Fiorentino would continue his torrid pace and play lights out in the third period. The Vipers had the edge in the third period and were swarming the Falcons cage for the last 2:35 of the game but could not pop the game winner in. After a shaky first period the Viper D of Christian Kukas, Steven Tettoni, Aaron Dollin Ryan Connearney, Alex Delvento and Patrick McCarthy did a great job of stepping up and taking away time and space from the talented Falcon forwards.