Beekmantown rallies to defeat Saranac

Jan. 17—PLATTSBURGH — There are many clichés in sports, but none is more fitting than to play until the final whistle.

That's what Beekmantown did as they rallied from three goals down to defeat Saranac, 6-5, Tuesday in Plattsburgh.

"I think it shows the character of the program," Beekmantown head coach Justin Frechette said. "Regardless of the spot, we're in the moment and we flush bad plays and good plays, we're on to the next play. And when you have that next shift mentality, you give yourself a chance to be in any game and you don't watch the scoreboard you play the full three periods.

"And I thought our kids did a good job of doing that tonight."

In the waning minutes of the second period, the Spartans held a 5-2 lead and looked to have the game firm in hand.

The Eagles thought otherwise. They began to mount a comeback as Pryce Parker cut the lead to two with help from Sam Bingel and Mason Carter.

"We have great players who just make big plays," Bingel said. "You know the way our team can just rally together and support each other through tough times."

"This comeback really feels good and shows what we have on this team."

Frechette said in the locker room between periods he challenged his team to rally and made some changes to his lines, which included moving Bingel to forward.

"Every game, every period, every shift takes on a life of its own," Frechette said. "And I think the team that can best under those moments, stay focused, not get rattled. I think it's the team that obviously gives itself the best chance to win.

"Just super proud to see our kids in that situation and how they responded to it. I think it showed their character and moxie. I challenged them after the second period and they responded well. Great leadership by our guys."

Even down two goals entering the final period, Beekmantown believed the game was theirs.

"We knew we had it all along," Zach LaPier said. "We were killing ourselves with all the penalties we were taking.

"We just came to the locker room after the second period, and we were just building up on each other. We knew we could come out and win if we played our game again."

LaPier and the Eagles came out of the gates on fire as LaPier scored a hattrick to snatch the game away from Saranac.

"Big time players make big time plays and you see our captain and league MVP last year, scored a hattrick in the third period," Frechette said. "Super proud of the effort but top to bottom, super proud of how our kids never wavered.

"They kept playing and we were able to adjust some things and come out with a win so good. "

Scoring started in the first period as Beekmantown's Edward Sweenor scored the opening goal with the assist from LaPier and Novak Jarus.

Landen Duprey and Ashtyn Catlin gave Saranac the lead scoring back-to-back in the period.

In the second period, Bingel scored on a power play to tie the game at two. However, the Spartans would score three unanswered goals to make

Once the game was at 5-2, the Eagles responded with Parker's goal, and the rest is history.

"I think in the regular season anytime you can put yourself in a situation where you're either up by goals or down by goals or you're in tight games," Frechette said. "We played Kenmore East at the beginning of the year and we were down and when we came back we weren't able to finish it over time.

"And we saw growth from that moment to tonight."

With the win, Beekmantown improves to 9-2 overall and 4-0 in the CVAC. Saranac slips to 5-5-1 and 3-2 in the conference.

"Saranac is a great team," Frechette. "They're well coached. And you know it's a battle every time we play them.

"So kudos to them for a great high school hockey game, but super proud of the character and effort that our kids showed tonight."

—

Beekmantown 6, Saranac 5

BCS;1;2;3;-;6

SCS;2;3;0;-;5

First Period- 1, BCS, E. Sweenor (Z. LaPier, Jarus). 2, SCS, Duprey (Roy). 3, Catlin (Miner).

Second Period- 4, BCS, Bingel (L. Sweenor, Z. LaPier), PP. 5, SCS, Catlin (Miner). 6, SCS, Catlin (Barnes). 7, SCS, Duprey (Barnes, Baker). 8, BCS, Parker (Bingel, Carter).

Third Period- 9, BCS, Z. LaPier (Bingel). 10, BCS, Z. LaPier (Bingel). 11, BCS, Z. LaPier (Bingel)

Shots on goal- Beekmantown, 36-20

Saves- Bell, BCS, 15. Patnode, SCS, 30.