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Lady Vipers Use Hot Goaltending at Nationals

By Tom Herzig - Special to USAHockey.com, 04/07/16, 10:00AM MDT

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Program draws players from all over the Sunshine State

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- There is no shortage of real vipers in Florida, but hockey players such as the 19U Lady Vipers, whose home base is the Ice Factory of Central Florida in Kissimmee, are a rarer breed.

The Lady Vipers’ roster includes skaters from Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Ft. Myers and Flagler Beach. They were quick to make their mark at the Toyota-USA Hockey Girls Tier II National Championships with decisive victories over Team South Dakota (7-2) and the Naperville (Illinois) Sabres (4-1).

“It’s four hours to practice for some of the girls,” assistant coach Melissa Nicholas noted, adding, “We go year-round. We’re the gig. We tell kids that when it’s 110 degrees out on the soccer field or the softball field, it’s nice and cool at the Ice Factory.”

The Vipers have some connections to the northern states. Head Coach Rob Weilert is a native of Rochester, New York. Program Director Pauline Ade’s daughter Rachael, a former Viper, is a University of Vermont defenseman.

Weilert describes his goalie tandem of Megan McRae and MacKenzie Nicholas from West Palm Beach as “1 and 1A.”

“They have similar styles and they feed off each other,” he said.

McRae stopped 25 of 27 shots in the Lady Vipers’ opener. Nicholas had 24 saves in 25 chances against the Naperville Sabres. Courtney Gauthier scored five times and had an assist in the first two games. Her linemates, Katie Leffler and Madison Nichols, each had a pair of goals and assists.

Spitfires Leave it Late

The Alaska All Stars and the Massachusetts Spitfires paired off for a very competitive quarterfinal match. Third period power play goals by Arianna Boscia and Olivia Macmillan decided things during a flurry of Alaska penalties. Macmillan assisted on Boscia’s goal and then ripped a shot from the top of the left circle into the far top corner.

It took shots like that to get the better of Alaska goalie Aubrielle Champagne, a native Athabascan from Tok (population 1,200 — no stoplights). Champagne returned to action this year after recovering from a serious head/neck injury. She will suit up for the University of Wisconsin-Superior next fall.

When 14-year-old Brandy Phillips scored a 4-on-4 goal for Alaska to tie the game at one, it was the first goal against the Spitfires in the tournament.

“Brandy played great,” assistant coach Christy Hickel said. “She learned a lot on this trip.”

South Dakota Performs Well in Debut

Team South Dakota, in its first year of existence, played well for coach Donovan Peterson and assistant coaches Shelby Edwards and Ross Santjer. After a 7-2 loss to the Florida Lady Vipers in its tourney opener, the South Dakotans had two shutout wins before dropping a 2-0 decision to the Vermont Shamrocks.

Against the Shamrocks, goalie Hailey Huff stopped 44 of 46 shots on goal. She was in net for both South Dakota shutouts, making 22 saves against the Steel City Selects and 21 to turn back the Marquette Sentinels.

Maddie Schultz scored four goals and an assist for South Dakota. Eleven different players had a goal or an assist. Hailey Holland, a freshman at Aberdeen Central High School, had two goals and two assists.

Shamrocks Chase Title

The Vermont Shamrocks jumped on the Massachusetts Spitfires in the semi-finals to advance to the championship game against the Connecticut Northern Lights.

The “Rocks” used a hat trick by Beekmantown (New York) High School three-sport all-star Katie Mattot to down the Spitfires 4-1. In their first three games, the Spitfires and goalies Rachel Gittings and Gloria Bilafer had won by shutouts.

Mikaella Doran, a Lamoille High student who tended goal for Stowe High School stopped 24 shots.

“I’m so excited,” Doran said. “It really helped to have a lead. I know what it feels like to lose in the semi-finals. That happened to us in U16 at Michigan last year.”

“I can’t feel my legs right now,” Matott said. “I’ve been in a goal-scoring funk and I’m glad to come out of it. I’ve never looked forward to a hockey game more than the championship tomorrow.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.


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