Posted: Jan 03, 2026
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Suffolk men's ice hockey dropped the consolation contest of the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic to Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-2 in overtime at Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | Wesleyan 3
RECORDS: Suffolk 5-5 | Wesleyan 3-6
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Danny Markham opened the scoring for Wesleyan at the 10:22 mark of the first period, finishing a feed from Owen Mahar.
- Suffolk answered 2:21 into the second period when Nolan Leonard buried a shot from Marko Giourof on a five-on-three advantage.
- The Rams struck again on the power play as Giourof found Leonard, who slid a pass to Aidan O'Connell in the crease. O'Connell rifled a slap shot past the Wesleyan goaltender to give Suffolk a 2-1 lead.
- The Cardinals evened the contest before the intermission after a Suffolk turnover in the neutral zone sprung Andrew Haxton for a breakaway, sending the game into the third period tied 2-2.
- Following a scoreless third period, Wesleyan capitalized on the power play in overtime as Dylan Margel snapped home a shot from the blue line to secure a 3-2 victory.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Austin McNicholas recorded 23 stops in the contest.
- Patrick McDevitt saved 39 shots on the night.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Leonard and O'Connell provided the goals for the Rams.
- Giourof tallied two assists and Leonard tacked on a solo assist.
- Despite the setback, Suffolk outshot the Cardinals 41-28.
NOTEWORTHY
- The matchup marked the second neutral-site meeting between the two programs, with the first coming exactly 11 years earlier on January 3, 2015.
- Leonard extended his point streak to seven straight games, totaling one goal and nine assists over the stretch. He now has 14 points on the season.
- Giourof picked up his 13th point of the year and pushed his point streak to four consecutive games, posting four goals and three assists during that span.
- O'Connell's tally marked his third goal of his season.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk picks Conference of New England (CNE) play back up Tuesday, Jan. 6 at Roger Williams at 6:00 p.m.
