The Saranac Spartans celebrate their 3-0 win over the Plattsburgh Hornets in the Section VII Semi-Finals and advance to the finals next week. It would be section VII playoff time in boy's hockey and in the dsemi-finals we would see both teams that call the Ameri-Can Sports Center home as the #3 Plattsburgh Hornets would take on the #2 Saranac Spartans with a right to go to the Section VII Championship on Monday night at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena. The game would go back and forth through the first period with the Spartans having the 15-3 edge on shots, but there would be no scoring. The ice would finally be broken at the 6:46 mark of the second period when Ryan Campbell would get the Spartans on the board at the 6:46 mark for the 1-0 lead. The game would stay there until the 10:55 mark of the period when the Spartans would double their lead to 2-0 on the Landon Giroux goal, and that's how the scoring would end for the period. In the third period, the Spartans would take control of the game on the Nolan Miner goal at 7:35. From there,, the Spartans would clamp down the defense and hold on for the win as they go to 13-7-1 on the season and advance to the Section VII Championship against the Beekmantown Eagles and Saranac Lake Placid game winner. As for the Plattsburgh Hornets, their season has to end at 10-8-3. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Connor Duda (9) pins Saranac's Landon Giroux (17) along the boards as they battle after the loose puck. Gallery

Beekmantown's Jack Bell (31) with the pad save for one of his 36 on the night on Saranac's Adrian Barnes in front of the net. It would be the last day of the regular season, and the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference title would be on the line, and the Beekmantown Eagles and the Saranac Spartans would face off at the Amer Can North Sports Center. The home Saranac Spartans would get the opening goal of the game and the lone goal of the first period when Evan Patrie found the back of the net and hit the back of the Eagles netminder for the goal and a 1-0 lead. In the second period, the Spartans would keep it coming, and in the 7th minute of the period, Adrian Barnes would find the back of the net and make it a 2-0 game. The Spartans would keep coming, and at the 15:13 mark of the second period, Landon Giroux would score on the shorthand when he beat Jack Bell on the short side for the 3-0 lead. Although the Eagles would do their version of the basketball buzzer beater as they would get on the board on the Edward Sweenor goal as the second period came to a close, and the Spartans would take the 3-1 lead into the third. In the third period, the Eagles would get the game within one on Edward Sweenor's second goal at 4:24. From there, the Spartans would ret and regain the two-goal lead, and the Eagles looked for the tying goal, but neither would happen. The Saranac Spartans would get the 3-2 win and hand the Eagles their first conference loss in over 3 seasons. However, the Beekmantown Eagles would be crowned the 2024-25 Champlain Valley Athletic Conference champions through the tiebreaker on goal differential by 1. In the winning effort for the Spartans, Shawn McLane would make 21 saves on the night as they go to 12-7-1 in the season and will take on the Plattsburgh Hornets in the upcoming sectional playoffs. As for the Beekmantown Eagles, Jack Bell would make 36 saves on the night as they fall to 11-7-2 on the season, get the #1 seed in the tournament, and get the winner of Saranac Lake Placid and Northeastern Clinton in the semi-finals. Gallery

Saranac's Evan Patrie (6) with the goal from the red line that hits of the back of Beekmantown's Jack Bell (31) to get the scoring started. Gallery

Saranac's Evan Patrie (6) with the one-timer goal from Ashton Catlin (11) that beats Plattsburgh's Owen Chapple in the open net. It would be the Ameri-Can North Sports Center as the Plattsburgh Hornets would take on their arena mates, the Saranac Spartans, in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action as they battle for the last couple of games of the regular season. The Spartans would come out on the take and fire through the first period, controlling most of the period, and Ashton Catlin would get the lone goal of the period at the 11:48 mark of the period to give them the 1-0 lead, and that's how the first period would end. The Spartans would stay hot as the teams returned for the second period and extend their lead to 2-0 at 7:42 when Evan Patrie would finish the two-on-one attack. The Spartans would keep coming and make it a 3-0 game when Ryan Campbell scored on the power play at 11:22. The Spartans would add a third goal of the period with 34 seconds left when Ashton Catlin would get his second of the game as the Spartans take the 4-0 lead after two periods. When the teams returned for the period, the Hornets would get one at the 6:11 mark from Braeden Calkins to avoid the shutout and make it a 4-1 game. The Spartans would stay on the gas and add a fifth goal at the 10:08 mark of the period when Landon Giroux would score to make it 5-1, and from there, the Spartans would hold on for the win. In the winning effort, the Spartans go to 11-7-1 on the season as they head into the season finale Wednesday night and take on the Beekmantown Eagles with first place on the line. As for the Plattsburgh Hornets, they fall to 9-7-3 in the season, and they will take on the Northeastern Clinton Cougars in the regular season finale. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Connor Duda (9) with the block shot on Saranac's Ashton Catlin (11) to send the other way on the breakout. Gallery

Saranac's Landon Giroux (17) with the goal that he stuffs past Northeastern Clinton's Greyson LaFountain (1) for the goal. It would be a Champlain Valley Athletic Conference match-up from the American North Sports Center between the Northeastern Clinton Cougars and the Saranac Spartans. On this night, we would celebrate the eight careers of the graduating 2025 senior class before the game. Once the game got underway, the Spartans would be in control as they would get the game's opening goal at the 3:00 mark from Gabe Moore for the 1-0 lead. In the eighth minute of the game, the Spartans would make it 2-0 as Landon Giroux would find the back of the net for the Spartans. The Spartans would add another goal late to take the 3-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, the Spartans would get the lone goal of the period from Nolan Miner at the 6:30 mark to extend their lead to 4-0, and that's where the period would end. In the third period, the Spartans would waste little time making it a 5-0 game 12 seconds into the period, thanks to Ryan Campbell lighting the lamp. Then, in the 4th minute, the Spartans would make it a 6-0 game, and Gabe Moore would find the net for his second goal to finish scoring at the 13:20 mark of the third period. Nolan Miner would get his second goal of the game as the Spartans secured the 7-0 victory. In the winning effort, the Spartans would go to 10-7-1 on the season as they head into their next game against the Plattsburgh Hornets on February 17th. As for the Northeastern Clinton Cougars would fall to 2-15-1 on the season as they will head into a nonleague contest against Norwood-Norfolk on February 15th. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Carter Garceau (6) made the hard hit behind the net to break up the play. Gallery

Saranac's Henry Napper (14) beats the defenders down the court and lats the ball off the window for the score. It would be a battle inside the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference from Plattsburgh High School, and it would see the host Hornets take on the Saranac Spartans on senior night. The Hornets would start the game hot as they jumped out to the 25-17 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Spartans would do much better keeping the game close through the quarter as the Hornets would win the quarter 14-10 and take the 39-27 lead into the intermission. When the teams returned for the third quarter, the Spartans could stay with the Hornets and maintain the deficit as they would win the quarter 12-11, but the Hornets would stay on top at 50-39. As they head into the fourth quarter, the Spartans would hang with the Hornets again, but the Hornets would take the quarter 15-14 and secure the 65-53 victory. In the winning effort for the Hornets, they will go to 11-7 on the season as they head on the road for their last two games. As for the Saranac Spartans, they fall to 7-10 on the season as they head into their game Wednesday against the Ticonderoga Sentinels. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Scott Gommel (10) with the deep three from the wing for the score. Gallery