The dogpile ensues as the Saranac Lake/Lake Placid Lakers as crowd the 2020 Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Champions at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena. It would be time for the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Championship and it would be a battle of the Saranac's as it would be the #1 Saranac Lake/Lake Placid Lakers and the #3 Saranac Chiefs battling for the right to be crowned champions and head to the New York State Tournament. The game would start well for the upset-minded Chiefs as they would get the opening goal of the game from Austin Carpenter at the 7:27 mark of the first period for the 1-0 Chiefs and they would hold that through the period. Although when the second period came the Lakers would waste little time tying the game up at the 45 seconds mark on the Rhett Darrah goal. Then in a two-minute span in the 5th and 7th minute Tyler Hinckley would score to give the Lakers the 3-1 lead. Then in the last 1:10 of the second, the Lakers would strike again for the 4-1 lead on the Bailey Bartholomew goal. Then in the third period, the Lakers would put the game away at the 6:01 mark of the period on the second Rhett Darrah goal this time on the shorthand. In the winning effort, the Lakers go to 15-6-1 on the season as Andres Stanton would make 15 saves and have a date with the Queensbury Spartans in the New York State Division 2 Quarterfinals. Although the season would come to end the Chiefs have nothing to hang there heads on as Eric Frechette would make 55 saves as they end there season at 13-9. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Kevin Litchauer (4) with the turn and fire on the net as the defender blocks the way. The Plattsburgh State Cardinals would have their home opener against a fellow north country foe the Clarkson Golden Knights as they were looking for there first win of the season. The game would not start good for the home Cardinals as they would trail 4-1 after the first quarter with the lone goal coming from Daniel Bonafede. In the second quarter, the Cardinal would find there offense although it still wouldn't be enough as they lose the quarter 6-4. Scoring for the Cardinals would be Kieran Rowley, and Dillon Smith (three) and trail 10-5 at the break. When the teams came back for the second half the defenses on both teams would take control of the game as it would be 4-1 Knights in the half with the lone cardinal foal from Robert Braceland as the Cardinals fall 15-6. In the losing effort, Dillon Smith would score three times as they fall to 0-2 on the season. Gallery.

Saranac senior Connor Recore (15), the top point-scorer on the evening, eyes up the defense as Northeastern Clinton’s Alex Gomez steps up to challenge in the Section VII semifinal at Clinton Community College. The Saranac boys basketball team earned a spot in the Section VII Championship game with a convincing 64-39 win over Northeastern Clinton Saturday at Clinton Community College. The Chiefs ran out in front early, taking a 12-4 lead in the first few minutes. The Cougars kept Saranac from running too much further away for most of the first half, and the teams went into halftime at 34-20 in favor of last year's runner-up. In the second half, Saranac proved to be too much for their opponents, with their lead hitting as much as 20 points at one stage before the final 15-point victory. The Chiefs were paced by senior Connor Recore, who hit two 3-pointers and three free throws en route to 17 points. Fellow seniors Jared Duquette and Brady Hebert both scored 14 in the win. For the Cougars, junior James Molinski scored 11, while senior Alex Gomez notched 10. With the win, Saranac advanced to the Section VII Championship, in which the Chiefs will tip-off against Beekmantown Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse. Gallery.

Beekmantown’s Andrew Sorrell cuts to the middle under pressure from Plattsburgh defender Kurt Oullette in the Section VII boys’ basketball Class B semifinals at Clinton Community College. The margins were tight in the Section VII boys' basketball Class B semifinal Saturday at Clinton Community College, where the Eagles were 43-42 winners over Plattsburgh High School. A back-and-forth first half saw Beekmantown go into the halftime break with a 6-point lead, but it was the second half where the fireworks began. The Eagles picked up the pace in the third quarter, building a 13-point lead, but the Hornets responded in kind in the fourth quarter. Having closed the gap, Plattsburgh's Ian DeTulleo put away a shot with 54 seconds on the clock to take the late lead. Beekmantown's Nate Finley was awarded a pair of free throws on the immediate next possession, making one tie the game at 42. The Hornets could have retaken the lead with only 6 seconds left in the game, but the layup by Dylan Garrant missed, giving the Eagles the final possession. Beekmantown junior Ian-James McCasland collected the rebound and took it up the court, but he was fouled by Liam Perkins near half-court. With the Eagles already in the double bonus, that gave McCasland a pair of free-throws to take the lead with 3.1 seconds left. He missed the first but struck gold with the second attempt. McCasland then ensured the win by intercepting the in-bounds pass near the sideline. With his momentum going out of bounds, he lofted the ball into the air with nearly 2 seconds on the clock, ensuring time would expire before it fell back down. The tight contest saw only two players - Finley for Beekmantown and Garrant for Plattsburgh - hit double-digit scoring, with each reaching 11 points on the night. With the victory, the Eagles advanced to the Section VII Class B championship game, Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse, where they will face the top-seeded Chiefs from Saranac. Gallery.

Saranac Lake/Lake Placid Lakers celebrate there win as they advance to the section vii championships on March 3rd. In a game that people were starting to wonder if it would ever get played after two separate weather delays move the game from its original Thursday night to Saturday night as the #1 Saranac Lake/Lake Placid Lakers would host the #4 Beekmantown Eagles. It would take till about halfway through the first period before we had our first goal when the Lakers would score on the shorthand from Dylan Amell to make it 1-0 Lakers. Although that wouldn't be the last we would hear Dylan Amell as he would score again with two minutes left in the period to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead after the first period. When the teams came back for the second period the Lakers wouldn't waste time extending there lead as they would score twice in the first three minutes from Rhett Darrah and Jon Kratts for a 4-0 lead. The Lakers would take firm control of the game with just under five minutes left in the second period on the Tyler Hinckley goal to make it 5-0 at the end of the second period. In the third period, the Eagles wouldn't give up as they would get on the board five minutes in when Dalton Kane would score to make it 5-1. The Lakers would answer back with five minutes left in the game on the Hugo Hobson powerplay goal for a 6-1 lead. The Eagles would answer right back 55 seconds later on a Colin Latinville breakaway goal to make it 6-2. Although 55 seconds after that the Lakers would regain their five-goal lead at 7-2 as Dylan Amell would get his hat trick goal on the night for the win. Although in a losing effort Riley Hansen for the Eagles would play outstanding as he would have 53 saves on the night as their season finishes with a 9-11-2 record. As for the Lakers, Anders Stanton would make 11 saves as the advance to the championship against the Saranac Chiefs with 14-6-1 on March 3rd. Gallery

Plattsburgh State defenseman looks up to see referee Scott Prim signaling that her shot into the scrum in front of the net has crossed the line for a goal against Cortland in the NEWHL Semifinal Saturday at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. The No. 1 Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team notched another win Saturday, taking down SUNY Cortland 3-0 in the NEWHL semifinals at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. The afternoon started slowly for the Cardinals’ offense, as the defending national champions were held off the scoreboard through 20 minutes of play for the first time since Jan. 11, ending a streak of 10 games. The defense held firm, though, as goaltender Ashley Davis turned away all six shots she faced. Plattsburgh State broke the deadlock at the 7:58 mark of the second period, as Abby Brush sent home a third rebound chance in a chaotic sequence in the Cortland crease to score her 12th goal of the season. While that was the only scoring of the middle frame, the Cardinals looked to capitalize on that momentum heading into the third period to ensure victory. That insurance came on the powerplay when Annie Katonka was in front to capitalize on the rebound from Erin McArdle’s shot from the left faceoff circle. With the Cardinals in front 2-0, the victory was all but certain after defenseman Sierra Benjamin sent a relatively soft shot from a low angle. Benjamin and her teammates crashed the net to pick up a rebound, but Benjamin’s shot had deflected off the pads of goaltender Chelsea Allain and crossed the line. The 3-0 victory improved Plattsburgh State’s all-time record against Cortland to 47-0-0, a streak dating back to December 2001, and brought this season’s record to 25-1-0. After winning the semifinal, the Cardinals will host the Lakers of SUNY Oswego in the NEWHL Championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. Gallery