Plattsburgh State's Kevin Weaver Vitale (8) with the goal that sneaks by the defenders and goalie to make it a 3-2 game down the stretch. It would be the 2025 Comfort Inn Winter Classic championship game from the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena. It would also see the host Plattsburgh State Cardinals taking on the #15 University of New England Noreasters in front of 1,100 fans. It would take until the early stages of the second period before we would get our first score of the game, where it would see the Noreasters take the 1-0 lead on the power play goal from Juraj Elias at the 2:55 mark. The game would stay there till the final 5 seconds of the period when the Noreaster's Drew Olivieri would beat the clock and give the Noreasters the 2-0 lead after the second period. The Cardinals would come out on fire in the third period and get the game to 2-1 just 1:50 into the period on the Colin Callahan goal. The game would stay there till the 12:48 mark of the period when Drew Olivieri would score his second of the night and regain the two-goal lead at 3-1. However, the Cardinals would keep fighting and get the game within one again with 2:20 left when Kevin Weaver Vitale would roof the shot to make it 3-2. However, the Noreasters would finish the game in the final 13 seconds on the Nathan Chickering empty netter to secure the 4-2 victory. In the winning effort for the Noreasters, Stefan Carney made 27 saves, and they went to 9-5-1 in the season. As for the Cardinals, Jacob Heane would make 28 saves as they fall to 7-6-1 on the season and head into their games next weekend against Middlebury and Williams. Gallery

University of New England's Stefan Carney (31) with the pad save as Plattsburgh State's Aaron Catron (12) looked to sneak it into the corner for the goal. Gallery

Wentworth's Jack McGovern (1) with the poke save on Wilkes Jake Kloss (9) on the break attempt. It would be the second day of the Comfort Inn Winter Classic, and start with the consolation game between the #10 Wilkes Colonels and the Wentworth Leopards from the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena. The Leopards would get the game's opening goal at the 7:55 mark of the first period from Ian Worthley to give them the 1-0 lead. The CColonelswould come back and tie the game at 1the 2:12 mark of the period on the rebound goal from Christian Blomquist, and that's where the first period would end. The game would stay there until the 5:18 mark of the third period when the Leopards would take the lead on the snip from George Kolovos for the 2-1 lead. Then, with the goalie pulled in the closing minutes of regulation, the Colonles would tie the game up on the Miles Harrington score with 1:38 left. The teams would head to overtime, where George Kolovos would get the game-winner on the rebound to complete the upset victory. Jack McGovern would make 48 saves on the afternoon in the winning effort for the Leopards, as they would go to 5-8-2 on the season and upset the #10 Wilkes Colonels. As for the Colones, they would fall to 9-5 on the season as Duncan Rolleman would make 25 saves in the loss.
Gallery

Wilkes' Christian Blomquist (40) with the rebound goal in the first period to tie the game up at one. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Aaron Catron (12) comes down on the breakaway attempt as they look to extend their lead against the Leopards. It would be the 2025 edition of the Comfort Inn Winter Classic from the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena, and the second semi-final on the day would see the host Plattsburgh State Cardinals take on the Wentworth Leopards, with the winner getting the #15 University of New England Noreasters in front of 1200 fans. The game would start well for the home Cardinals as they would get the opening goal from Jack Ring. The Leopards would come back two minutes later with a short-handed goal from Alex Walicki to tie the game at 1. Then the Cardinals would answer back at the ten-minute mark with two goals in 35 seconds from Kevin Weaver Vitale and Colin Callahan to make it 3-1 after the first period. When the teams returned for the second period, the Leopards would make it a one-goal game again just a minute into the Mighton Johnson goal to make it a 3-2 game. However, the Cardinals would return at the 7:47 mark of the period on the Brannon Butler goal to regain their two-goal lead at 4-2. It would be short-lived, though, cause the Leopards would answer back 35 seconds later on the Nicholas Ramm goal to make it a 4-3 game. The game would stay there till the closing minute of the game when Riley Sutherland would add an empty netter for the Cardinals to secure the 5-3 victory. Jacob Hearne would make 18 saves in the winning effort as they go to 7-5-1 on the season and will take on the #15 University of New England in the Comfort Inn Winter Classic finals. As for the Wentworth Leopards, they fall to 4-8-2 in the season and will take on #10 Wilkes. Gallery

Wentworth's Nikolas Sombrowski (44) with the crushing hit on Plattsburgh State's Simon Singher (4) that knocks him off the puck to break up the play. Gallery

University of New England's Nathan Chickering (14) with the goal on the penalty for one of his two goals on the game in the 7-2 win. It would be the opening game of the 2025 edition of the Comfort Inn Winter Classic, and it would see a pair of top 15 teams as the #10 Wilkes Colonels would take on the #15 University of New England Noreasters from the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena with 286 people in attendance. The Noreasters would get the game's opening goal at the 3:16 mark of the first period from Drew Olivieri to make it a 1-0. The Colonels would return and tie the game at one in the closing stages of the first period from Max Cocchi. From there, the Noreasters would go on a scoring spree in the 2nd and 3rrd periods as they would add six unanswered goals from Ryan Kuzmich (twice), David Wilcox, Will Spitzer, and Nathan Chickering (twice), and it would end with them having a 7-1 lead. The Colonels would add 1 of their own with ten seconds left in the game on the shorthand from Lorenzo Marcolin as the Noreasters would get the 7-2 win and advance to the championship with the upset win. In the winning effort for the Noreasters, Stefan Carney made 26 saves for the win, as they went to 8-5-1 in the season. As for the Colonels, they will fall to 9-4 in the season as the netminders would combine for 32 saves on the night. Gallery

Wilkes Max Cocchi (24) with the goal as he beats Noreasters Stefan Carney (31) on the breakaway shot. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Aaron Catron (12) with the empty netter to seal the game away with his second goal. The Plattsburgh State Cardinals would return home to the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena after the winter break and their first game in nearly a month as they would take on a brand new program, the Keene State Owls, from the Little East Conference in front of 1100 fans. The game would start with the Plattsburgh State Cardinals getting the opening goal near the midway mark of the first period on a goal from Colin Callanan at 9:38 for the 1-0 lead. The game would stay there until the 7:38 mark of the second period when the Cardinals would strike on the power play with Aaron Catron's goal to make it a 2-0 game. The Keene State Owls would do their best to stay in the game, but in the end, the Cardinals would be too much on this day as they would add an empty netter in the final minute of the game from Aaron Catron for his second of the night as they get the 3-0 lead. In the winning effort, the Cardinals would go to 6-5 on the season, and Jacob Hearne would make 26 saves in the shutout win as they head to Connecticut tomorrow and take on Weselyan. As for the Keene State Owls, Ben Skelton would make 33 saves in a losing effort as they fall to 5-6-1 on the season and play Amherst on Sunday. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Luk Jirousek (29) plays the puck from his knee in the corner as he is being crosschecked from behind. Gallery