The 98 Vipers used 4 goals in the last 1:16 of the seocnd period, the last coming to beat the buzzer as they went on to a 7-2 win over the Cyclones in their home opener. The last 2 goals of the surge by Noah Maercklein (2-0-2) and Evan Daddario, assisted by Ross Wahl and Braden Haley came just 12 seconds apart. The Vipers were trailing 2-1 at this point in the game as the Cyclones did a good job of slowing down the Vipers. Nick Fiorentino came up huge for the Vipers in the nets as about halfway through the seocnd trailing 2-1 he made a breakaway save on the Cyclones to keep the defecit at 1. The offense was lead by Dante Maribito (1-2-3) and Kyle Hentosh (1-2-3) as Maribito's goal came with 1:16 left in the second and ignited the charge. The most amazing part of the 4 goal flurry was that all but 1 of the Vipers 9 forwards hit the scoresheet in that time span. JT Chamberlain (1-1-2) from Christian Kukas got the eventual game winner and put the Vipers up 3-2, Then Maercklein banged his home after some fine forechecking by JT Chamberlain, Brendan White (0-2-2) also picked up an assist, then just 12 seconds later Daddario after again some intense forechcking by Ross Wahl would end the barrage. Maercklein and Kyle Lynch would add goals in the third to finish this one up. Defenseman Steven Tettoni (0-1-1), Patrick McCarthy and Christian Kukas would chip in with fine games, and Nick the Brick would shine betweeen the pipes, chipping in with the breakaway save, and adding a nice glove save in the third as well as a right pad save to finish his solid effort.
Holding a decisive edge in territorial play and shots on goal the Vipers would run into a hot goaler and suffer a couple of defensive breakdowns in a 4-2 loss that would snap their unbeaten streak at 9 games. In front of a raucous CT crowd in Revere this was a very exciting and well played hockey game between two evenly matched teams. Evan Daddario would tie the game at 1 after 1 as he poked in a loose puck in front, linemates Braden Haley and Ross Wahl would garner assists on the play. The Wolfpack would go ahead early in the second and then with 5 minutes left in the game Kyle Hentosh would feed Dante Maribito in the neutral zone and Dante would streak down the right side and fire a laser low to the far side to beat the hot Wolfpack goalie and knot the game at 2. Unfortunately it would only take the Vipers 9 seconds to suffer its worse defensive breakdown of the game as all 6 Vipers on the ice would get caught standing around flatfooted watching a goal mouth scramble and the visitors would bang in the winner, they would add a PP goal with a minute left as well to escape with the 4-2 victory. The Home team certainly played well enough to win in this one but costly mistakes at costly times and a very hot goaltender would prove to much
The Vipers kicked off a non-league weekend with a trip to the Edge to take on the Wizards, a scrappy team who gave them fits last year. The Vipers would never let this one get close as it used 3-1-4 from Kyle Lynch and 3 assists each from Patrick McCarthy and Christian Kukas in route to a 8-1 win. Ryan Connearney, Aaron Dollin and Steven Tettoni would also add assists from the blueline as the defense would total a 9 point afternoon. JT Chamberlain (2-0-2), Kyle Hentosh (1-1-2) and Dante Maribito (1-1-2) would be the other multiple point scorers. Evan Daddario would round out the scoring and Brendan White and Noah Maercklein would tally helpers. Zach Larimee playing for the injured Nick Fiorientino would be solid between the pipes making the big saves early when the game was close.
All 9 forwards registered points as the 98 Vipers again used a balanced attack to take down the Crusaders 4-2. The Vipers played a flawless first period going up 2-0, the first coming off the stick of Evan Daddario with assists comeing from Ross Wahl and Braden Haley. With a minute left the Vipers did all the little things to set up the next goal, a good dump was followed by a nice energetic change which directly resulted in a forced turnover at the Worcester blueline the puck was worked down low where JT Chamberlain fed Noah Maercklein in the slot for the goal, Brendan White also picked up an assit on the play as he jumped on the turnover atthe blueline. The Vipers spent part of the second period killing penalties which allowed Wrocester to gain some momentun and cut the lead to 2-1, That is as close as they would come as the Vipers would strike twice at the beginning of the third to put this one away. The white line used some agressive forechecking again to set up the next one as this time Brendan White made a nice pass out to JT for the one time goal, Noah Maercklein pipcked up the helper as well, and about minute later Dante Maribito made a beautiful pass from behind the net that Kyle Hentosh knocked in, Kyle Lynch also picked up an assist on the play and that stretched the lead to 3. Worcester would score a late goal to cut it to two but the outcome was never in question. Aaron Dollin and Alex DelVento played a strong gameon the blueline in front of Aaron McDonnell who made some fine stops when called upon.
The balanced scoring attack continued as did the airtight defense of the 98 Vipers as they used four 2nd period goals to beat the very dangerous Spartans. With defenseman Aaron Dollin forced out of the game with a concussion after a major-game contact to the head penalty the Viper D was also forced to come up big. Eight different Vipers got on the scoresheet led by Noah Maercklein (1-1-2) and Ross Wahl (0-2-2). Braden Haley, Brendan White, Evan Daddario and Kyle Lynch would tally and JT Chamberlain, Dante Maribito and Wahl would add the helpers. Patrick McCarthy and Christian Kukas would stand out on defense as all 5 D would continue to play some fine hockey. It was another solid game for the red line as Wahl, Daddario, and Haley had another strong game and the White line of Whitey, Noah and JT are starting to find their groove. Aaron McDonnell and Nick Fiorentino combined for the win in the cage
With a very tough schedule on tap between the Glades and Spartans and no downtime the 98s responded very well in a sound 3-1 win over the Glades. After giving up an early first period goal the Vipers struck for 3 in the second and hung on for the big win. For the third game in a row the Vipers got goals from all 3 lines in what is turning out to be a very balanced offensive attack. Kyle Hentosh opened the scoring from Kyle Lynch, JT Chamberlain from Brendan White got what proved to be the game winner half way through the second and Evan Daddario from Ross Wahl with just 30 seconds left was a back breaker for the pesky Glades. The Vipers have received solid play from the newly formed red line of Daddario, Haley and Wahl, still trying to find their comfort zone with each other they turned in a fine weekend.
The Vipers scored 3 second period goals, and again had scoring from all 3 lines as they won the nightcap in Exeter. The Vipers cashed in on 2 power play goals by JT Chamberlain (2-0-2) and Brendan White (1-1-2). Kyle Lynch (0-2-2) made the play of the day as he was set up just below the goal line next to the net, he spotted Kyle Hentosh (1-0-1) streaking to the net from the bench and made an incredible back door pass through traffic that Henny one-timed into the open net, which also turned out to be the game winner. Noah Maercklein picked up 2 assists and continued his fine two way play, Dante Maribito (1-1-2) contributed with a nice solo effort, and Evan Daddario would round out the scoring. Braden Haley and Steven Tettoni would pick up single helpers. The defense of Alex Delvento, Patrick McCarthy, Steven Tettoni, Ryan Connearney, Christian Kukas and Aaron Dollin turned in their second consecutive solid outing, that combined with the timely goaltending of Aaron McDonnell made it a 2-fer Saturday.
The 98 Vipers used an aggressive forecheck and air-tight defense and got scoring from all three lines in this one as they shutout the Monarchs on Saturday morning. The green line of Kyle Lynch (0-2-2), Kyle Hentosh (2-0-2) and Dante Maribito (0-2-2) led the way, while Braden Haley, assisted by Ross Wahl, Aaron Dollin, and Noah Maercklein assisted by JT Chamberlain also lit the lamp. Alex Delvento played a solid game on the blueline for the Vipers, as he played with confidence and poise. Nick Fiorentino went the distance between the pipes picking up the victory.
The last game of the weekend was a rematch of the Cyclones Tourney Championship game and the Vipers won this one going away as they scored 7 goals over the final 2 periods. Kyle Lynch (3-1-4) and Kyle Hentosh (2-2-4) would pace the offense and Steven Tettoni would continue to shine on the blue line, Alex Delvento and Patrick McCarhty would also add solid defensive efforts. Evan Daddario, JT Chamberlain, and defenseman Patrick McCarthy would all light the lamp as well. Assists would go to Dante Maribito(2), Brendan White, Christian Kukas, Braden Haley and Ross Wahl. It was a nice way to end the first week of league action. With one bump in the road along the way the most impressive part of the Vipers was their ability to respond.
Facing off against the Cream of the Crop in the NEHL American the Vipers were up to the challenge as they out skated, out worked and outplayed the dynamic Falcons for much of the game. Trailing 1-0 in the first the Vipers would go onto score 4 unanswered goals and open up a 4-1 lead. JT Chamberlain would score 2 first period goals on identical plays as his line mates would provide some solid fore checking and with Noah Maercklein and Brendan White working over time in the corners, Whitey would center an amazing pass to the high slot where JT would bury both chances for the 2-1 Viper lead after 1. The Vipers would go up 3-1 as Kyle Hentosh would finish off a 2 on 1 with Dante Maribito and then Ross Wahl would stretch the lead to 4-1 as he came off the bench on a perfect line change just in time to finish off another 2 on 1 with Maribito again as the 98s would go up 4-1 with 5 minutes left in the second. The Falcons would cash in on a fluke goal with just 1.9 seconds left in the first period which would give them some energy. The Falcons would cut it to 4-3 with 7 minutes left as the Vipers struggled to hold the late push by the Flacons, the with under 2 minutes left the Falcons would tie the game at 4. A solid effort by the Vipers went by the boards as they were only able to squander a point but the team was very happy with their effort