2002 AAA Vipers Rinks at Exeter Turkey Tournament Champions After celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends the 02 AAA Vipers took to the ice competing in the 12th annual Turkey Tournament hosted by the Rinks at Exeter. With the return of injured captain JP Kelter the Vipers came out focused and ready to play. They cruised by Casco Bay 4-0 to notch their first win. The second game of the day featured the NH Avalanche who caught the Vipers sleeping netting three quick goals in the first period. The Vipers would get one of their own when Nick Pasquale jammed home a rebound with just six seconds left in the first period to cut the deficit to 2 goals. The Vipers never looked back going 4-0 in the next two periods for a final victory 5-3. The third game of the tournament was the toughest with the Vipers facing off against the Advantage Ice. The speedsters Jace Christakis and Sam Vaughn would get two goals apiece and Ben Weigand came up with huge saves late in the contest to secure a 4-4 tie and placing the Vipers into the championship game Sunday afternoon. Championship Sunday would have the Vipers competing against the NH Avalanche. The Vipers were pumped up for the game and arrived at the rink focused and very ready to skate. Just over three minutes into the game Nick Pasquale planted in front of the net received a centering pass from Sal Schille and buried the puck putting the Vipers up 1-0. Midway thru the second period the NH Avalanche would get two unanswered goals within thirty seconds of each other. This just fired up the team and CJ Petrie with great puck control slid a pass to defenseman Tim Padraig Buckley who blasted a shot in on net and his namesake Tim Shea Buckley redirected it into the net to tie the game up at 2-2. Sal Schille's smart positional hockey put him in the perfect spot to intercept a pass and drive to the net blasting an unassisted goal. Just minutes later with a perfect breakout pass from Troy Deschene and Will Guanci Jace Christakis found the back of the net for a much needed insurance goal. With three minutes left to play the Vipers took a tough penalty and with the faceoff in the Vipers zone the NH Avalanche immediately pulled their goalie. They poured everything they had onto PJ Drakos who was unbeatable the whole tournament and his defenseman Sean Brown, Nick Ciaccio, Tim Padraig Buckley, Zack Stats, Anthony DelGenio, Michael Dee (Forward and Defense) policed the front of the net clearing pucks and bodies out of the way as the clock ticked away securing a 4-2 championship victory.

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