Following eight months of exciting hockey, the NEHL season came to an exciting end. Congratulations go out to all of the divisional champions - Falcons 94's (shown above), Warriors - 95 Elite, Glades 96's, Warriors - 96 Select, Cyclones 97's, Albany 98s, Warriors - 99 Elite, Albany 99s, Red Rangers 00 and Viper Mites. Here are game summaries for championships contested in Haverhill.
Congratulations to all of the teams on a great season.
BANTAM WEST
Valley Jr Warriors 4, Cyclones 2
After suffering an earlier round-robin loss, the Cyclones jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period in the championship game following goals by Shane Branca and Mark Vercellini. The Warriors' Shane Eiserman put the Warriors on the board at the 5:35 mark of the first period off an assist from Trip Franzese. Then, with just three seconds left in the second period, the Warriors tied the contest at 2-2 thanks to a tally by Craig Wallace. He was assisted by Justin Pimentel. The third period was all about the gold and blue as Tyler Duval and Craig Wallace scored and the Warriors defense held strong to secure the 4-2 victory.
PEEWEE EAST
Green Mountain Glades 3, NE Jr Falcons 2
In the second shootout of the day, the Green Mountain Glades – thanks to two shootout goals by Cam Beecy - prevailed over a strong NE Jr Falcons squad. Heading into that decisive shootout, the Glades had to score three goals in the third period to force the extra time. Steven Morse scored twice, Sam Finklestien added one and Alex Peck finished with two assists for the Glades. Connor McKee and Peter Crinella registered two goals and two assists, respectively, to lead the Falcons.
PEEWEE CENTRAL
Valley Jr Warriors 5, Seacoast Spartans 4
Kyle Brindamour and Ean Mendeszoon scored in a 14-second stretch in the third period to help the Warriors hang on to a 5-4 victory in the Haverhill South rink. The Warriors took an early 2-0 lead after Travis Wile and Mendeszoon found the back of the net. The Spartans went on to score two goals, off the sticks of Zander Allen and Dean Pratt, within 30 seconds of each other. The Warriors took a one-goal lead when Ryan Duval scored the lone goal of the second period. As it turned out the goals by Brindamour and Mendeszoon at the 13:13 and 11:12 marks, respectively, proved to be enough to fend off a two-goal period by the Spartans.
PEEWEE WEST
Northern Cyclones 1, Vipers 0
In what could not have been a tighter battle, the Northern Cyclones came through with a 1-0 win over the Vipers. Following two scoreless periods, Matt Kapetanakis, off an assist from Shane Foye, found the back of the net and the Cyclones held on for the championship victory.
SQUIRT EAST
Albany Jr River Rats 5, Valley Jr Warriors 4
The championship game was fast paced and evenly played with each goal being matched by the opposing team. Neither team led by more than one goal during the entire game. A combination of strong offense, defense and goaltending led the '98 team to its first NEHL title. Offensively, Kevin O'Neil netted three goals during regulation and Jack Bloem came up big for the River Rats by netting two goals including the overtime winner.
SQUIRT CENTRAL
Valley Jr Warriors ’99 E 4, Seacoast Spartans 3
The Warriors scored twice in the first and twice in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win over the Seacoast Spartans. Matt Quercia and Henry Resnicek scored in the first period, while Ben Mirageas and Eric Pedro notched goals in the second stanza. The Spartans tied the game at 2-2 after the first period after Ty Turgeon and Owen Elliot found their way past Warriors netminder Sean Mahan. The Spartans made things very interesting down the stretch when Austin Chasse collected a pass from Owen Elliot to bring his team within one goal. The Warriors would clamp down offensively to hold off the Spartans attack and pull out the championship victory!
SQUIRT WEST
Red Rangers ’00 1, Portland ’99 0
In what could not have been a more exciting finish to a season, the Red Rangers ’01 team came through with a championship victory in a shootout. Cam Berube scored the game winner, but hats go off to netminders Esa Maki (Portland) and Ryan Welch (Red Rangers) for their outstanding performances.
SQUIRT SOUTH
Albany Jr River Rats 2, Red Rangers 1
At the 4:24 mark of the overtime period, Tino Benamati found the back of the net to propel his Albany squad to a 2-1 win over the Red Rangers. The game had been deadlocked for two periods as neither team could find their way past two outstanding goalies. The Red Rangers struck first when Ryan Tupreno, off an assist from Jarod Crowell, put his team up by a score of 1-0. However, that would be the only time the Red Rangers were able to get one past the Rat's goaltender Brendan Behan, who managed to stop 28 of 29 shots. Two minutes later, the Jr River Rats countered when Sean Wilkinson lit the lamp to tie the game and set the stage for Benamati’s heroics.
MITE EAST
Vipers 7, Nashua 0
The Vipers skated to a 7-0 victory over the Nashua Panthers in the Mite division championship. Kyle Donaghey scored at the 9:34 mark of the first period off an assist from Thomas Connearney and the Vipers never looked back. The squad was led offensively by Jaig Thain with two goals and one assist and goal scorers Michael Barletta, Anthony Forziati, Damon Maribito and Sullie Marino. Caroline Kukas collected the shutout victory.
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