Northeastern Clinton's Hayden Schad (3) with the hard hit along the end boards on the Spartans skater to break up the play. It would be the opening game of the 2026 Section VII Division 2 Boys' Hockey tournament, and it would feature the #4 Saranac Spartans hosting the #5 Northeastern Clinton Cougars from the AC North Arena, with the winner playing the #1 Beekmantown Eagles in the semi-finals two days later. The Spartans would get the first two goals of the game, 15 seconds apart at the 9:20 mark of the first period, when Noah Barton and Robbie Squier would score for the 2-0 lead. The Cougars would answer back at the 11:22 mark of the period and cut the deficit to 1 on the Scott Wrye goal to make it 2-1. The game would stay there until the 12:34 mark of the second period, when Killian Baker would score to make it a 3-1 game and regain their two-goal advantage. The Spartans would strike again 16 seconds later when Noah Barton would light the lamp for the second time on the night, giving them a 4-1 lead, and that's where the second period would end. In the third period, the Spartans would add one more at the 8:46 mark from Adrian Barnes as they secured the 5-1 victory. In the Spartans' winning effort, Max Coryer made 31 saves as they improved to 8-13 on the season and head to the semi-finals against the Beekmantown Eagles. As for the Northeastern Clinton Cougars, they would combine for 23 saves as their season ended at 3-17-1. Gallery.

Saranac's Ryan Campbell (71) and Northeastern Clinton's Hayden Schad (3) battle for the loose puck as they look to take control of the game. Gallery.

Northeastern Clinton Cobe LaFountain (5) puts it top shelf over Saranac's Cooper Holland (29) for the opening goal of the game. It would be Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action at the American North Arena, with the Saranacs battling for the third seed in the playoffs and avoiding the play-in game. In a very defensive game, the Cougars would break through for the opening goal at the 10:02 mark of the second period when Cobe LaFountain would light the lamp for a 1-0 lead. The Spartans would keep fighting, and Ryan Campbell would tie the game up with 49 seconds left in the second period. The game would stay tied, although both teams had their chances till the 10:30 mark of the second period, when Ryan Campbell would get his second goal of the game to give them the 2-1 lead, and from there, the netminder would do his job as the Spartans got the win. In the Spartans' winning effort, Carson Holland made 23 saves as they went to 7-11 on the season. As for the Northeastern Clinton Cougars, they will finish off the regular season at 3-16-1 behind the 24-save effort of Greyson LaFountain, Gallery

Saranac's Gabe Moore (3) with the open ice hit on Northeastern Clinton's Ian Hemingway (13) that takes him off his feet. Gallery

Beekmantown's Edward Sweenor (56) with the tip near the net that he puts high over Northeastern Clinton's Greyson LaFountain (1) as they get the 4-2 victory. It would be the first game of 2026 for both the Northeastern Clinton Cougars and the Beekmantown Eagles, and they would face off at the Plattsburgh State Field House in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action. The game would remain scoreless until the final two seconds of the opening period, when Sullivan Loughan would light the lamp and make it a 1-0 game. The game would stay there until the 8:26 mark of the second period, when Jacoby Weeden would score on the power play and make it 2-0 Eagles. The Cougars kept coming and cut the deficit in half at 2-1 on the Josh Seymour goal with 1:41 left in the period. The Eagles would come out flying in the third, and they would regain the two-goal lead at 3-1 on the Ivan Roy goal at the 3:44 mark of the third. The Cougars would come back and make it a one-goal game again at the 8:12 mark of the period on the Scott Wyre goal. The Eagles would have one more answer and make it a two-goal game again at 4-2 on the Edward Sweenor goal at the 13:28 mark of the third. From there, the Eagles' defense would stand tall and get the 4-2 win, and in the winning effort, Jack Bell would have 23 saves on the night and arecordhis 1,000th career save as they go to 3-4-1. As for the Cougars, Greyson LaFountain made 21 saves on the night as they fell to 1-6 on the season. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Hayden Schad (3) with the scoring chance that goes just wide as the Cougars fall 4-2 to the Eagles. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Alexander Bulriss (2) scored the breakaway goal to get the Cougars on the board in the first period. 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

Northeastern Clinton's Cobe LaFountain (5) and Storm's Zacjary Trippany (98) crash into the boards as they are going after the loose puck behind the net. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Josh Seymour (17) with the hard hit on Rye's Jake Souza (23) that sends him into the Rye bench. 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 scored another four goals from Will and Max Niejadlik, along with Trevor Dol, en route 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.

Rye's Julian Levenson (13) with the crunching open ice hit on Northeastern Clinton's Cobe LaFountain (5) thats send him flying to the ice. Gallery