Senior captain Ethan Knight added an assist for SLP, which secured its first win of the season following a tie to Ontario Bay and an overtime loss to Immaculate Heart during the annual Bill Corbett Tournament in Potsdam the previous weekend.

SLP head coach Josh Spanburgh was proud of how his team battled and said it was huge for them to earn a league victory this early in the season.

“And it’s just as big to win the first game of the Casey McHugh tournament because that’s our tournament,” he said. “We really wanted that game.”

Plattsburgh’s Weston Studley opened the scoring on a power play a little more than two minutes into the first period, following assists from Sam Bezio and Lucas Dashnaw.

SLP’s Braydon Harvey carries the puck up the ice during Friday’s Casey McHugh Memorial tournament game against Plattsburgh Friday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

But after that, SLP turned in a stout defensive performance to keep them without another goal.

“If we stick to our systems of how we want to play, I think we match up well and we can do a lot of good things this year,” Spanburgh said.

While trailing 1-0, McCormick put SLP on the board with a shot at 2:54 left in the second period. Then less two minutes later, McCormick added his second goal of the evening, giving SLP the 2-1 advantage.

McCormick, who led the CVAC with 32 goals last season, then capped off the hat trick — and eighth goal of the season — after scoring on an empty-net late in the third period.

“He knows how to put the puck in the back of the net,” Spanburgh said. “More than that, if you notice, he played some great defense, too. He did awesome on defensive zone faceoffs; he was winning pucks. Also, (he was) taking that centerman and preventing them from doing stuff. He’s starting to really show how he’s a two-way player. I’m proud of him, and proud of all of our players. A lot of people put a lot of effort in. We’ve just got to harness that, enjoy the moment, but then take that enjoyment and realize if we put in three periods, we could have a lot of success.”

SLP’s Ethan Knight looks to make a play during Friday’s Casey McHugh Memorial tournament game against Plattsburgh Friday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The Hornets finished with a 33-31 advantage in shots, as their goalkeeper, Owen Chappel, recorded 29 saves. Meanwhile, senior Scottie Nicholas turned in a standout performance, stopping 32 shots.

“Some of those saves … (Nicholas) stuck his legs out wide on some shots that I thought were going to go in the net. So, I’m really proud of him,” Spanburgh said. “But also, just everyone was playing much better as a team and as a unit. It’s what we wanted and what we’re seeing.”

Up next, SLP will take on the Tupper Lake Lumberjacks at 8 p.m. today in the final contest of the tournament. If SLP wins that game, they’ll claim the tournament championship.

The annual tournament is played in honor of Casey McHugh, a 2008 Saranac Lake High School graduate who tragically passed away in 2010. McHugh’s family members were in attendance for the ceremonial puck drop.

Following the conclusion of this tournament, the SLP boys won’t play their next game until after the winter break, when the team takes on the Northeastern Clinton Cougars at 6 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the Rouses Point Civic Center.

SLP’s Ayden McCormick skates with puck during Friday’s Casey McHugh Memorial tournament game against Plattsburgh Friday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

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Plattsburgh 11, Tupper Lake 2

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The Tupper Lake varsity hockey team suffered an 11-2 loss to the Plattsburgh Hornets on Saturday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center in the second game of the Casey McHugh Memorial tournament.

Plattsburgh’s Cooper Holland scored four goals, Ben Bezio added three and Dashnaw connected on two. Sam Bezio and Ryan Brown also scored for the Hornets, who jumped to a 2-0 lead early in the first period.

SLP’s Eli McCormick looks to make a play during Friday’s Casey McHugh Memorial tournament game against Plattsburgh Friday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Tupper Lake’s Brady Skiff then opened up the scoring for his team on an assist from Colin Bencze, making the score 2-1. But toward the end of the first period, Plattsburgh’s Dashnaw pushed the advantage back up to two.

Gauge LaValley scored the Lumberjacks’ second goal of the contest on a pass from Skiff. However, the Hornets scored eight straight goals to secure the victory.

Plattsburgh finished with a 51-21 advantage in shots as Chappell had 19 stops. Tupper Lake’s goalie Nolan Wilson started in net and was relieved by Traxon Ellers. The two had 20 saves each.

SLP’s Oren Preston takes a shot on net during Friday’s Casey McHugh Memorial tournament game against Plattsburgh Friday at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)