Amherst's Caden Olenczak (10) snips the puck by Suffolk's Austin McNicholas (1) as the Mammoth get the 4-3 win in overtime. It would be the opening game of the 2026 edition of the Cardinal Winter Classic and would see a battle between the Amherst Mammoth and the Suffolk in front of 800 fans at the Ronald Stafford Ice Arena to see who would play in the championship game Saturday evening. The Mammoth would get the opening goal of the game at the 16:08 mark of the first period when Carson Baylis would light the lamp for the 1-0 lead. The Rams would answer right back like 90 seconds later when Marko Giourof would tie the game up at one on a wrister. The Mammoth would not stay quite though as they would regain the lead at 2-1 on the Daniel McKiernan goal at the 6:15 mark of the second period. The Rams would answer right back once again and tie the game at two on the Cristobal Tola goal two minutes later. The game would stay there through the rest of regulation and overtime would need on this day. The game winner would come in overtime for the Mammoth as Caden Olenczak would snip one through the goalie to give them the win. In the winning effort for the Mammoth Andrew Palena would make 29 saves as they would head to championship against the winner of Plattsburgh State and Wesleyan. As for the Suffolk Rams Austin McNicholas would make 23 saves as they headed to the third-place game tomorrow. Gallery

Malone's Ryan Hesseltine (2) drives to the basket and lays it off the window for the score, as he would have 18 points in the winning effort. It would be the final game of the opening night of the Clinton Community College Holiday Classic, featuring the Beekmantown Eagles and the Malone Huskies in Boys' Basketball action. It would be high-paced offense from both teams as the game got underway, and the Huskies would lead 3-13 after one. The Eagles would do a better job of keeping it close in the second quarter, but the Huskies would still win the quarter 17-12 and take the 40-25 lead into the intermission. When the teams came back for the third quarter, the Huskies started to pull away, outscoring the Cougars 20-8 to take a 60-33 lead into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, the Huskies would put the game away with a 17-11 quarter and secure the 77-44 victory. In the Huskies' effort, Ryan Heseltine led the way with 18 points. As for the Eagles, Garret Pelkey would lead the way with 12 points as they fall to 1-5 on the season. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Amara Gorham (33) with the block on Malone's Brynn Leclair (3) as she went for the reserve layup as the Hornets get the 31-30 victory. It would be the third game of the day from the Clinton Community College Holiday Classic, and girls would be back on the court this time as the Plattsburgh Hornets would challenge the Malone Huskies. The game would be slow out of the gate, as defense would be the name of the game, as the Hornets would hold the slim 4-3 lead after the first eight minutes. In the second quarter, there would be a bit more offense, but defense would still be tough as the Hornets would have an 8-6 quarter and take the 12-9 lead into the intermission. When the teams returned for the third quarter, they were re-grouped, and the offenses would be on display as the Huskies took the quarter 17-13 and the slim 26-25 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the game would come right down to the wire, and the Huskies couldn't get a rebound to have a chance down the stretch, as the Hornets would win the quarter 6-4 and secure the 31-30 victory. In the winning effort for the Hornets, Ava Weiss led the way with 11 points as the Hornets got back to 500 at 3-3 on the season. As for the Huskies, Sadie Varin would lead the way with 18 points on the afternoon. Gallery

Saranac's Brady O'Neil (5) with the three from the top of the key as part of a nine-point game in the 74-27 victory. The second game of the day for the Clinton Community College Holiday Classic would feature the Saranac Spartans and the Willsboro Wolves. The game would start well for the Spartans, who jumped out to a 21-3 lead after the first quarter, as the Wolves had no answer for the Spartans' quick pace. In the second quarter, the Spartans would keep their foot off the gas with a 16-7 quarter and take a 37-10 lead at the intermission. When the teams returned for the second half, it was more of the same for the Spartans, who led 37-17 and cruised to a 74-27 victory. In the winning effort for the Spartans, Carson Duffield led the way with 16 points as they went to 4-3 on the season. As for the Wolves, C onnor Crowningshields leads the way with 11 points as they fall to 0-3 on the season. Gallery

Saranac's Madison Gonyea (10) wins the opening tip of the game, and she would drop 18 points as they get the 57-35 victory. After the opening day of the 6th annual Clinton Community College Holiday Classic was postponed due to weather, the Boquet Valley Griffins and the #16 Saranac Spartans would open the two-day tournament. The Spartans would get off to a quick start as they jumped out to a 21-6 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Griffins tried to get in the game, but the Spartans led 14-10 and took a 35-16 lead into the locker room. When the teams returned for the third quarter, it would be more of the same: the Griffins would keep it close with a 14-13 quarter, but would still enter the 4th down 48-30. In the fourth quarter, the Spartans finished them off with a 14-5 run and secured the 57-35 victory. In the winning effort, Madison Gonyea led the way for the Spartans with 18 points, as they improved to 5-2 on the season. For the Griffins, they would fall to 3-3 on the season. Gallery

Malone's Ryan Hesseltine (2) takes flight and slams it home on the breakaway for the score as the Huskies get the 65-46 victory. We would have non-league action this day at Plattsburgh High School, as they would start their holiday break, and it would feature the Plattsburgh Hornets and the visiting Malone Huskies. The game would start tight, as both teams looked for that spark to make a run, and we would be tied at 10 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, we would still be tight, as both teams were making their shots on this night, as the Hornets would have a 14-13 quarter and take the 24-23 lead into the intermission. When the teams returned for the third quarter, the Huskies found another gear and stormed out to a 24-1 quarter, doubling their first-half total in one quarter, and took the 47-36 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, there would be no letup for the Huskies, as they led 18-10 and cruised to a 65-46 victory. In the winning effort, the Huskies would stay undefeated on the season, going to 5-0, while the Plattsburgh Hornefellall to 1-3 and will look to right the ship next week when they take on the Northeastern Clinton Cougars on December 29th. Gallery

The Rye Garneet are crowned the 2025 Applebee's Winter Classic champions with the 4-1 win over the Beekmantown Eagles. It would be the championship of the 2025 edition of the Applebee's Winter Classic as the host Beekmantown Eagles would take on Section I powerhouse and #5 Rye Garent at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse. The Garnet would get the opening goal of the game, but it would take till the 15-minute mark of the first period when Jamie Morris would score to make it 1-0 at the end of the first period. The Eagles would come out soaring in the second period and get the equalizer just 1:23 into the period on the Mason Carter goal. The Garnet would keep coming, though, and they would retake the one-goal lead on the Max Niejadlik goal at the 115-minute mark. When the third period opened, the Garnet made it 3-1 just 2:04 in on the Will Niejadlik goal. Then, seconds later, the Garnet would make it a 4-1 game on the Jamie Morris goal, and from there they would clamp down on defense and secure the 4-1 and the 2025 Applebee's Winter Classic championship. Gallery

Storm's Ethan Graber (20) with the hard hit on Northeastern Clinton defender to knock him off the puck. It would be the second day of the Applebee's Winter Classic, and the first game up in the afternoon would be the consolation game between the Storm Hockey and Northeastern Clinton Cougars as they go after third place. The game would start well for the Storm, as they scored three goals in the first nine minutes from Joe Kosier and Andrew Boldyrev. The Cougars answered back at the 14:11 mark of the period, when Alex Bulriss lit the lamp and made it 3-1 after the 1st period. In the second period, the Storm would have the lone goal of the period from Keegan McGovern at the 13:28 mark of the period to make it a 4-1 game. The Storm would come out in the third period and make it a-1 at 55 seconds in on Alexander Boldyrev's second goal of the game, and then, just about three minutes later, he would finish off the hat trick, making it w-1. Then, at the seven-minute mark of the period, the Cougars would strike twice from Cobe LaFountain and Josh Seymour, making it 5-3 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Then, with just over a minute left in the game, the Storm put the game on ice, making it 6-3 on Nate Conner's goal, and got the win and third place on the weekend. Gallery.

Rye' Fernando Mosquera (35) with a glove save as he spreads across the net to keep the Cougars off the board. It would be the second game of the opening day of the 2025 Applebee's Winter Classic at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse, and it would see the upstart Northeastern Clinton Cougars taking on the powerhouse Rye Garnet. The Garnet would get the lone goal of the first period from Jake Souza at the 8:51 mark to give them the 1-0 lead after one. In the second period, the Garnet offense would explode, lighting the lamp five times thanks to Max Niejadeik and Ryan Draddy. As for the Cougar, they would have one to answer back, thanks to Cameron Supernaw, and it would be a 6-1 Garnet lead after the period. In the third period, there would be no let-up for the Garnets as they would have another four goals from Will and Max Niejadlik, along with Trevor Dol, as they would cruise to the 10-1 victory. With the win, the Rye Garnets will meet the Beekmantown Eagles to decide the champion of the 2025 edition. As for the Cougars, they will look for their first win of the season against the Storm behind the 554-saveeffort of Camden Badger. Gallery.

Beekmantown's Brandon Nephew (7) with the hard hit on Storm's Oliver Gaunt (19) knocks him off the puck and his feet. It would be the opening game of the Applebee's Winter Classic at the Plattsburgh State Field House, featuring the Beekmantown Eagles and the Storm Hockey team from Section II. The Eagles would get the opening goal of the tournament at the 2:26 mark of the first period on the goal from Edward Sweenor. We would strike again at the 6:04 mark of the period to give the Eagles the 2-0 lead. The Eagles would keep soaring to extend their lead to 3-0 on the Pryce Parker power-play goal at the 12:10 mark. The Eagles would finish off the period at the 14:05 mark and make it a 4-0 game at the end of 1st period. The Storm would come back and get on the board at the 7:30 mark of the second period when Zachary Trippany would get the shorthanded goal to make it 4-1. Then, with just 1:45 left in the period, the Storm would strike again, this time from Keegan McGovern, to make it 4-2 game as they ended the second period. The Eagles would regain the three-goal lead at the 2:48 mark of the period when Pryce Parker would net his second goal of the game to make it a 5-2 game. The Storm kept coming, and they got one at the 7:24 mark of the period to make it a 5-3 game. Although it would not be enough on this afternoon, the Eagles would get the win and have a chance at a title tomorrow. Oliver Ringer would make 13 saves on the winning effort. Gallery