by posted 04/01/2012
 

Wed. 3/28 8:20am Vipers 2 vs. Pittsburg Jr. Penguins 1 (SO)
Thurs. 3/29 10:10am Vipers 6 vs. CT. Northern Lights 1
Fri. 3/30 12:10pm Vipers 1 vs. Milwaukee Jr. Admirals 0 (OT)

Sat. 3/31 7:20am Quarter Finals- Vipers 0 vs Honeybaked 3

March 28th 8:20am - the Penguins went up 1-0 late in the 1st period. Vipers Nicole Amato scored with a 1:15 left in the 3rd to tie it up. After a scoreless Sudden Death Overtime, it went to a 5v5 Shoot Out. In the First Round of the Shoot Out Lauren Hennessey denied the Penguins and Annie Richards scored for the VIpers. Second Round - Lauren Hennessey denied the Penguins again while Nicole Amato buried her shot. The Vipers won 2-1 in the shoot out!!!! Congrats Vipers!!!!! Have fun tonight at the Opening Ceremonly with your first win under your belt.

March 29th 10:10am - the Vipers beat the CT Northern Lights 6-1. Vipers took a 3-0 lead into the 3rd. Courtney Pierre scored to go up 4-0. CT scored with 10 min left to make it 4-1. Vipers responded with 2 goals to seal it. Lauren Hennessey had a great game in net for the Vipers! Goals scored by Ashlie Jones 2, Annie Richards 2, Courtney Pierre 1, Kelly Golini 1 and 2A, Kendra Currier had 2 assists.

March 30th 12:20pm - Vipers vs Milwaukee - Vipers Kelly Golini scored a short handed goal in Sudden Death OT to win the game 1-0. Vipers were short handed 6 times in regulation, Lauren Hennessey made 27 saves for the Vipers!!

March 31st 7:20am - Vipers vs Honeybaked -

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by posted 03/30/2012
 
USA HOCKEY - RED LINE EDITORIAL
2012 Nationals

March 29, 2012

By Tom Herzig
Special to USAHockey.com

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- The 12-and-Under North Shore Vipers are based in Tewksbury, Mass., a few miles south of the New Hampshire border and 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. The Vipers get a group chuckle out of their “cuddly” nickname, but Coach Chris Santiano isn’t sure of its origin.

The team plays in the New England Girls Hockey League (NEGHL) as do two other Tier I 12U entries at this year’s USA Hockey National Championships in Marlborough, Mass. In addition to the Vipers and the host Connecticut Polar Bears, the NEGHL also sent Assabet Valley to nationals.

The Vipers took an 8-1 hit from Assabet Valley in the regional finals, although they played them tougher on three earlier occasions.

The Vipers made the most of their opening game at the National Championships on Wednesday, however, by topping the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 2-1 in an overtime shootout. The teams were tied one-all after a five-minute overtime. Annie Richards scored the first Vipers goal in the shootout. Nicole Amato, the Vipers’ second shooter, patiently held the puck as long as possible before scoring what proved to be the game-winner (2-1 shootout).

Vipers’ goalie Lauren Hennessey was tested high and low in the shootout, but she kept every Pittsburgh attempt out of the net.

“We played a 2-1 game with Assabet Valley this season during a 50-game schedule,” coach Santiano said. “This is my first season with the girls after a few years of coaching boys. It’s been great, although I will say were a few more tears along the way than I’d been accustomed to.”

North Shore has been a tight defensive unit anchored by goalie Hennessey, who comes from Lynnfield, Mass.

“Three goals have been a magic number for us,” Santiano said. “When we score three goals or more, we usually come out on top.”

Sarah Rigazio from Andover and Madison Brooke from Bedford are the team’s top defensemen. Katherine Devaney and Courtney Pierre also hail from Andover. Paige Ross/Winchester, Olivia Finocchiaro/Saugus and Annie Richards/Reading add to the number of towns with skaters on the Vipers’ roster.

“We also brought up Caroline Kukas from our minors as a back-up to Lauren at nationals,” Satiano said. Also on the Viper roster: Jessica Chicko, Kelly Golini, Kendra Currier and Caroline Benson.

Nicole Amato and Ashlie Jones, although only in seventh grade, played on the Billerica High School team and more than held their own.

“In the shootout, I made up mind as I was standing there waiting for the whistle what I was going to try and it worked,” Amato said with a grin.

“We’ve had a lot of one–goal games,” coach Santiano said. “I know this Pittsburgh team is an outstanding one.

“I hope we can take what Nicole did for us today and build on it for the rest of the tournament.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

http://www.usahockey.com/2012_Nationals/GTI12UFeature.aspx 


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by posted 03/28/2012
 

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by posted 01/24/2012
 

Congratulations to the U10 Minors who took home the championship in the 2012 Waterville Valley Girls Invitational.  Recovering from an opening round 4-3 loss to the Wizards, the girls battled their way into the championship where they would meet the Wizards once again for all the marbles.  Vipers jumped out to a 2 goal lead in the first period and then went into “lock-down” and held off a second and third period onslaught from the Wizards.  Final score: Vipers 2, Wizards 1 !! 

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by posted 01/05/2012
 

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by posted 01/22/2010
 

From the USAHockey.com website: North Shore Vipers Feature Story on USAHockey.com  January 2010 North Shore Vipers see continued growth in Mass.

January 19, 2010 By Mike Scandura Special to USAHockey.com Any resemblance between this season’s North Shore Vipers and the organization’s initial team in 1994 is pure coincidence. When Larry Minehan founded the Massachusetts-based girls’ program, he had only one Midget team, which consisted of nine girls and was a division of Peabody Youth Hockey. In the 2009-10 season, the Vipers consist of seven teams from at least 22 different towns and involve 117 players along with 21 coaches. In 1997, the program moved out of Peabody Youth Hockey and developed into the Peabody Women’s North Shore Vipers.   The North Shore Vipers team photos are getting crowded as the organization continues to grow. Then, in 2004, Minehan merged the North Shore Vipers with the Masco Girls’ program. At that time, Ray Hendrickson became the president. In 2009, Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury, Mass., purchased the Viper Program, which resulted in the organization that exists today. Leigh Keefe was hired by the Breakaway Ice Center (Tewksbury, Mass.) in the fall of 2008 and was named the Vipers’ acting director. She eventually was promoted to the organization’s director when she succeeded Ray Hendrickson. “Right from the beginning, the Vipers have had an emphasis on skill development,” Keefe said. “We felt other programs were lacking the skills portion. Larry and Ray did a great job in the Super Skills rink and, now, Mario Martiniello is in his sixth season with Super Skills and is continuing with a strong emphasis on developing skills.” How successful have the Vipers been in “developing skills?” Since 2005, Viper teams have finished first, second or third in at least 15 leagues or tournaments. Last season, for example, the 14-U major team won the Bay State Girls’ Hockey League championship while the 12-U major team captured the 2008 BSGHL tournament. In addition, Viper alumni have played — or are playing — at colleges like Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Providence College, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Yale. Since Viper alumni have been admitted to Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, it attests to their success in the classroom. “We feel that well-rounded girls also do well in the classroom,” Keefe said. And since Viper alumni have played at traditional women’s college powers like New Hampshire and Providence, it attests to their prowess on the ice. “Our overall philosophy is we’re committed to high-level competition,” Keefe said. “We want to keep the game fun and remember it can teach us a lot about life. “We’ve always had a strong emphasis on skills. But, recently, with Breakaway coming in, we took a step back and made major changes in our practice-to-game ratio. We’ve added on-ice practices. All teams receive three on-ice practices a week. “Now, we’ve added dryland training where we focus on the four physical components needed to become a well-rounded athlete — strength, speed, flexibility and endurance. We’re trying to hit on all aspects — technical, tactical, psychological and physical. We want to offer a full-service program to all of our girls.” The Vipers’ program is aided immensely by the facilities available at the Breakaway Ice Center. The center recently added a second sheet ice, which means it now has two NHL-sized rinks under one roof. It also contains a new, state-of-the-art, dryland training center that has a 30-by-30 synthetic ice station that’s geared toward developing well-rounded players. “We also have Russian boxes [which increase leg power and agility], plyometric tools [which utilize explosive moments to develop muscle power], a sprinting track, a weight training area and a dedicated area for dryland games and quickness training,” Keefe said. “We have on-sight, college-level strength and conditioning coaches. That staff is provided by Xcelerated Performance and is run by Patrick Gigante, who’s a former goalie who played junior hockey and has trained hockey players at all levels. “We also have the Ed Walsh Goalie School. He’s been coaching goalies for over 20 years and is an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell. He goes on the synthetic ice and coaches small groups for the Viper goalies who work with him weekly. Ed works with a three-to-one ratio.” The Vipers this season field the following teams: 10-U major; 12-U major; 12-U minor; 14-U major; 14-U minor; 14-U half (a half-season team for prep school players in the eighth and ninth grades who are trying out for their school team); and 16/19-U (a half-season team). The 10-U team was added this season and is coached by Brittany Forgues, who played for four years at Cornell (Class of 2008). “We’re proud to have her on the Viper coaching staff,” Keefe said. “We also have dads coaching who played in Europe and dads who played semi-pro and Division I hockey. “We feel we have a high-quality staff which enables us to build the players’ confidence and self-esteem and create well-rounded hockey players.”   http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=PL_07_02&id=278082

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