PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey team equaled its highest goal output of the season in what wound up being the de facto consolation game of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic on Sunday evening at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, defeating King's (Pa.) College, 8-2.
 
Albertus Magnus College captured the W.B. Mason Winter Classic title by going 2-0-0 at the event. The Falcons topped the host Cardinals, 6-4, on Friday evening before edging King's, 4-3, in overtime on Saturday. Albertus Magnus' junior forward Alex Gagnon was named the Tournament MVP, while the All-Tournament Team consisted of Gagnon, first-year forward Sam Anderson, sophomore defenseman J.J. Berdal and junior goaltender Logan Bateman of Albertus Magnus, sophomore forward Paul Bryer (Clarkston, Mich./Islanders Hockey Club) and senior defenseman Matt Araujo (Brookhaven, N.Y./Boston Jr. Rangers) of Plattsburgh State and first-year forward Aaron Frenkel of King's.
 
Against King's, sophomore forward Joey Mancuso (Pottstown, Pa./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) finished with two goals and an assist, while sophomore forward Thomas Maia (Mississauga, Ontario/Nanaimo Clippers) scored twice. Sophomore forward Bennett Stockdale (Ottawa, Ontario/Alabama Huntsville) had a four-point outing with a goal and three assists, while Araujo scored a goal and added two assists.
 
The Cardinals outshot the Monarchs by a 53-24 margin, and both teams went 2-for-6 on the power play.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 8-5-2 overall with the win and next hosts Middlebury College in non-conference action on Friday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. King's falls to 2-11-0 overall with the loss and visits Chatham University next on Friday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m.
 
Maia opened up scoring at 5:36 of the first period. Stockdale fed junior forward Adam Tretowicz (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) the puck along the back wall, and Tretowicz sent a pass to Maia in the high slot. Maia received the puck and ripped a wrister past the goaltender low glove side to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead.
 
Araujo made it a 2-0 game by scoring on the power play at 18:32 of the first. The Cardinals cycled the puck around the perimeter before junior defenseman Ryan Hogg (Duncan, British Columbia/Islanders Hockey Club) passed D-to-D to Araujo. Araujo took advantage of junior forward Hunter Alden's (Walla Walla, Wash./Northeast Generals) screen of the Monarch goalie and found the back of the net on a slap shot from just inside the blue line. Stockdale also earned an assist on the goal.
 
King's cut the lead in half with a power-play goal 2:18 into the second period. Frenkel received a pass from junior forward Josh Edwards and slid the puck toward the far post. The puck knocked off a Cardinal defender's skate and trickled past the goal line. First-year forward Tyler Blanchard also earned an assist on the play.
 
First-year defenseman Jack Ring (Hingham, Mass./Northeast Generals) scored his first collegiate goal just 1:01 later to extend the Cardinal advantage back out to two. Sophomore forward Trey Thomas (Williams Lake, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits) won a center-ice face-off back to Ring, and Ring passed D-to-D to junior defenseman Jacob Modry (Albany, N.Y./Merrimack College) in the defensive zone. Modry passed back to Ring, and Ring proceeded to skate down the length of the ice and score from inside the left face-off circle.
 
Mancuso made it a 4-1 game midway through the second period, using an aggressive forecheck to force a turnover and capitalize with a goal from the slot.
 
Mancuso then beat the buzzer by scoring a power-play goal with just 0.3 seconds remaining in the second period. Araujo sent a pass down to Bryer to the right of the right face-off circle, and Bryer found Mancuso stationed in the opposite circle. Mancuso then one-timed the puck under the glove of the King's goaltender to give Plattsburgh State a 5-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.
 
Frenkel got one back for King's at 5:17 of the third period, scoring his second power-play goal of the evening. Senior defenseman Zach Satalino fed Blanchard on the left point, and Blanchard took advantage of traffic in front of the net, taking a shot from the left circle that Frenkel deflected in.
 
Maia scored his second of the game with 11:03 gone in the third. Modry dug the puck out of the boards in the defensive zone and got it to Stockdale to ignite an odd-man rush. Stockdale flicked a saucer pass across to Maia, and Maia buried a shot high glove side from the low slot.
 
Senior forward Christian DiFelice (Thorold, Ontario/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) scored his first of the season at the 14:31 mark of the third period. Mancuso sent a pass to Araujo on the left point, and Araujo sent a puck with pace toward the slot that DiFelice deflected in.
 
Stockdale scored just 32 seconds later with his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Stockdale applied pressure on the forecheck that ultimately led to Alden collecting the puck in the offensive zone following a King's turnover. Alden sent a short pass to Stockdale, and Stockdale sent a shot through the five-hole to close out scoring.
 
Senior goaltender Brandon Wells (Spirit River, Alberta/Melville Millionaires) made 22 saves in net for the Cardinals, earning his first collegiate win. Senior goaltender Brandon Daigle turned aside 45 shots in the loss for the Monarchs.

UFirst Federal Credit Union is the official Zamboni sponsor of Plattsburgh State men's and women's ice hockey.