In the second half of a big league weekend the Vipers cashed in with an ugly 6-4 win over the Patriots, who gave the upstart Vipers all they could handle. Braden Haley(1-0-1), JT Chamberlain (1-1-2), Dante Maribito (2-0-2) and the red hot Brendan White (1-2-3) would find the back of the net for the home team. Kyle Hentosh (0-2-2), Kyle Lynch (0-1-1), Noah Maercklein (0-2-2) and Ryan Connearney (0-1-1) and Aaron Dollin (0-1-1) would all add helpers. The Vipers would jump out to 1 4-2 lead after 1 despite being down early. Brendan White would get what was the game winner just 2 minutes into the second period. Nick Fioriento picked up the win in the cage for the Vipers.

The Vipers took on the PA Selects for the second time in a week on Saturday and despite playing well enough and thanks to a couple of big saves down the stretch by an outstanding Nashua goalie the Vipers were only able to walk away with a 1-1 tie.  As always this one was a physical affair as each team picked up 9 penalties and a combined 10 in the second period. Nashua jumped out front just 55 seconds into the game and that's the only time they would see the back of the net. 5 minutes into the final frame and on the power play JT Chamberlain would take a pretty feed from Brendan White and roof the equalizer. Dante Maribito would take a nice pass into the slot, undress the goalie and face a wide open net only to have the puck roll off his stick.  About half way through the third, Kyle Lynch would walk in on a breakaway with 4 minutes left and was robbed with a beautiful glove save and that's how this one would end. Aaron McDonnell would stand tall between the Vipers pipes in earning the tie.

Courtesy of Coach Chamberlain (98Vipers):

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Kyle Hentosh (4-3-7 - weekend) and Kyle Lynch (5-0-5 - weekend) - would combine to score all 7 goals in the first Albany game.  Both did a fine job on special teams as well and have continued to show a very strong work ethic in both games and practices.  Hentosh & Lynch's performances earned them the NEHL Co-Player of the Week Honors for the week ending 11/15/09.

The 98’s took on the Dual State Huskies on Sunday afternoon and used a balanced offensive attacked and continued their stingy defensive effort to take down a well coached Huskie team 7-1. The Vipers got all 3 lines on the score sheet as Kyle Lynch (4-0-4) led the charge, Robbie Murphy also chipped in with a couple of goals (2-0-2) and Brendan White (1-1-2) continued his torrid pace as he got the home team off on the right foot on some beautiful cycling by Noah Maercklein (0-1-1) and JT Chamberlain (0-2-2). Heath King (0-2-2), Kyle Hentosh (0-2-2) also had multi point games and Braden Haley, Aaron Dollin, Ryan Connearney and Dante Maribito all added single helpers. The Viper defense once again stood tall in front of Nick Fiorientino limiting the Huskies to very few scoring chances.

The Vipers hosted the third place PA Selects on Saturday morning in a big league game, The Vipers were trying to avenge a 3-1 loss earlier in the season where they let one slip away late in a game. The 98’s would play sound disciplined hockey for 45 minutes and skate away with a gratifying 2-1 win over the physical Selects. The visitors would go up 1-0 with 5 minutes left in the second on a screen shot, but just over a minute later Brendan White would answer to tie the game at 1 after one period, Noah Maerckelin and JT Chamberlain would pick up the helpers. The White line would continue their dominance in the game as they would score the game winner with 5 minutes left in the game as Whitey would jam one in on the doorstep as he was falling down, Noah Maercklein picked up his second assist. The story of the game would be the play of the Vipers defense of Heath King, Aaron Dollin, Greg McHale, Christian Kukas, Ryan Connearney and Matty Tauro, who after a rough first period settled down and would limit the Panthers to fewer than 10 shots on net and hardly any quality scoring chances. Aaron McDonnell would make a couple of big saves down the stretch as well.

The Vipers took on a strong NE Bulldogs team on Sunday afternoon at the Tsongas Arena, and sickness, vacations and injuries left the Vipers with their backs against the walls before the game even started. A nice 45 minute effort let the Vipers skate away with a 5-1 wine Vipers defense of Alex DelVento, Heath King, Aaron Dollin and Greg McHale played a strong game, as the defense has played well all year in front of Aaron McDonnell and Nick Fiorentino who combined for the win. JT Chamberlain (2-0-2), Kyle Lynch (1-0-1) Braden Haley (1-0-1) and Rob Murphy (1-0-1) were the goal scorers while Kyle Hentosh (0-2-2), Noah Maercklein (0-1-1) and Brendan White (0-1-1) on a goal from Chamberlain off a set face-off play added helpers. All 7 forwards hit the score sheet for the Vipers in a balanced attack.

5 Seconds is all that stood in the way of an impressive 2 game sweep by the Vipers but an Albany goal with just 5 seconds left salvaged a 4-4 tie for the Rats. Looking very fatigued and worn out the Vipers would make their share of mistakes but with 2:37 left on the clock Kyle Lynch would streak down the right wing, cut to the net and put one up under the bar to give the Vipers the 4-3 lead. Nick Fiorintino would stand tall in the cage for the Vipers as they tried to hang on. The Rats had just one last rush with their goalie pulled and they caught the Vipers backing in just a little to much as they would fire home the equalizer from the top of the slot to send the home fans away happy. Greg McHale would notch his first Viper goal in the first off a deflection to put the Vipes up 1-0, Kyle Lynch (2-0-2) would get his first of the game to put the visitors up 2-1 and JT Chamberlain would knock in a rebound to go up 3-1. The Vipers would head back down the Pike after taking 3 out of 4 points from the defending champions on their home ice, a very impressive feat considering they played very short for both games

The Vipers traveled to Albany to take on the defending league champs the Albany River Rats, and although Albany would jump out to a quick 1-0 lead 2 minutes into the game the Vipers would end up with the 7-3 win thanks to 4 goals from Kyle Hentosh and 3 goals from Kyle Lynch and some strong goaltending from Aaron McDonnell. The Vipers would make the trip minus 2 players from sickness and would loose defenseman Patrick McCarthy to a broken wrist in the first period but would turn in a gritty performance in the win. Hentosh (4-2-6) and Lynch (3-0-3) would both turn in impressive efforts. Dante Maribito(0-2-2) would help out on the green line, Matty Tauro would add an assist on Hentosh's fourth goal as he dove for a block at his own blue line that would spring the forward. Greg McHale would also add a helper as Hentosh would tip in one of his shots from the point. It was a big league win that would push the Vipers over the .500 mark

The Vipers went on the road to take on the East Coast Wizards and tried to avenge a 4-4 tie a few weeks back. The visiting team was able to pull away midway through the game and go on to a 6-3 win. Nick Firoentino and Aaron McDonnell shared the goaltending duties as the Vipers chipped in with 1 shortie and 1 power play goal. Kyle Hentosh (0-1-1) would pick off a pass at the Wizards blue line go to the net and slide a nice pass to Dante Maribito (2-1-3) for the shorthanded goal and a 4-2 lead, Kyle Lynch (1-0-1) would connect on the power play from Maribito and Aaron Dollin (0-1-1) to extend the lead to 5-2 before Noah Maercklein (2-0-2) would finish out the scoring with a helper from JT Chamberlain (0-1-1). Brendan White put the Vipers up 2-0 early in the game as well.