The Vipers edged the well coached, much improved VJW Selects on Sunday 3-2 in a non-league contest. The Vipers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as Heath King finished off a nice 2 on 1 with Kyle Hentosh, Kyle Lynch also picked up a helper on the play, the Vipers would extend the lead on a nice individual effort by Alex DelVento as he won a foot race with a Warrior D, gathered the puck and was able to slide it into the net, Braden Haley picked up the assist on the play. Jt Chamberlain finished off a nice rush with Brendan White and Noah Maercklein picking up assists on the eventual game winning goal. The Warriors would pull within 1 with 1:44 left as they scored off the face-off, but could not sustain any pressure in the last minute with the goalie pulled. Goalies Aaron McDonnell and Nick Fiorentino played well when called upon. Ryan Connearney chipped in with some fine play on the blue line
The 98Vipers and 00Vipers teamed up this Christmas and instead of the team pitching in for their coaches with the usual gift cards or golden whistle, each player from both teams brought in a toy and a donation in the coaches names was made to the Ace Bailey Childrens Foundation - Child Life Wish List Toy Drive. All the toys were collected and were dropped off this past Saturday and are getting ready to be delivered to the Floating Hospital for Children.
This past Saturday the Vipers hosted the powerful New England Falcons and the Vipers could do nothing to stop the Falcon offensive show as they scored 3 goals in each of the first two periods and 4 in the third on their way to the route and the 98 Vipers worst loss in team history. The Vipers will look to rebound next week with 2 big league games, one of which will be a rematch with the Falcons.
In American play, Brendan White’s second goal of the game, with 5:24 left lifted the Vipers to a 2-1 decision over Nashua. White's performance earned him the NEHL Player of the Week Honors for the week ending 11/29/09.
The Vipers were looking to wrap up their incredible weekend which consisted of 4 games in 3 days in 3 different states in style as they took the ice against a very tough Spartan team. As expected the visitors came out very sluggish to start and found themselves down 1-0 early in the first period. Dante Maribito (2-0-2) from Kyle Lynch (0-1-1) and Kyle Hentosh (0-2-2) would tie the score at 1 just 30 seconds into the second period, just 16 seconds later Noah Maercklein (1-0-1) would knock one in with help from JT Chamberlain (1-1-2) and Brendan White (1-2-3) to go up 2-1. The Spartans would then score to even the score but then just 50 seconds later and with just 1 minute left in the second period Brendan White put the dagger in the Spartans as he jumped on a loose puck in front of the net and knocked in the shorthanded goal. Dante Maribito and JT Chamberlain would add the third period goals. The defense of Aaron Dollin, Matty Tauro, Alex DelVento, Christian Kukas and Greg McHale played a fine physical game on the blueline. Aaron McDonnell got the start and played well making a huge save on a breakaway when the game was tied at 2, that and Whitey's shorty were certainly the plays of the game. The Vipers finished the weekend up at an impressive 3-0-1, and have been 8-0-3 in their last 11 league games which has jumped them into second place of the NEHL.