PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh State men's hockey fans had better take full advantage of this weekend.

Plattsburgh State begins its second semester by hosting the Annual Cardinal Classic today and Saturday night at Stafford Ice Arena.

Following the weekend, however, the Cardinals will hit the road for eight of their next nine games.

"It's going to be a tough month for us," said Plattsburgh State coach Bob Emery. "We need to take care of business because it's as tough a month as I've seen since I've been here.

"We have a lot of difficult games on the road — that's just the way it worked out this year on the schedule. We want to get on a roll in our tournament."

Today's schedule has Trinity College against Skidmore College at 4 p.m., followed by Castleton State taking on the hosts at 7 p.m. The third-place game and championship encounter are set for Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

"We had a tough time in beating Castleton (3-0) last season," Emery said. "They will want to play a low-scoring game against us, and we need to play our style of hockey.

"Trinity and Skidmore are both good-skating teams, and the 4 p.m. game should be a good one."

After this weekend, the Cardinals' only other home game this month will be Jan. 12 against Skidmore.

Plattsburgh State will play road contests at Norwich, Elmira, Williams, Geneseo, Brockport, Cortland and Oswego before playing at Middlebury Feb. 2.

Five of those teams — Norwich, Elmira, Williams, Oswego and Middlebury — are nationally ranked, with Oswego currently ranked No. 1 in Division III.

Trinity College
The Bantams are 4-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in NESCAC play. Their wins have come against Hamilton (6-2), Amherst (2-0), Connecticut College (6-3) and Westfield State (5-2). They were beaten by Wesleyan (3-2) and Babson (3-0) and tied Mass-Boston (4-4, overtime).

Junior forward Matthew Quigely (4-5-9), junior forward Adam Houli (5-3-8) and freshman forward Stephen Rogers (2-4-6) are Trinity's leading scorers. Junior Wesley Vesprini is 4-1-1 with a 2.30 GAA between the pipes.

Skidmore College
The Thoroughbreds are 4-4 overall and 3-2 in ECAC East action. Skidmore has defeated New England College (8-6), St. Anselm (6-2), the University of New England (5-2) and Castleton (6-1). The Thoroughbreds have lost to Potsdam (4-1), Nichols (3-2, overtime), Bowdoin (1-0) and Colby (3-2).

Leading scorers for Skidmore include junior forward Alex Mykolenko (2-8-10), junior forward Hunter Thayer (4-3-7) and freshman forward Brendan Cottam (3-4-7). Sophomore Colin Bessey has a 3-4 record and a 2.87 GAA in net.

Castleton State
The Spartans are off to a 1-5-2 overall start and a 0-4-1 mark in the ECAC East. Castleton's lone win to this point was over Becker (6-1). The Spartans have lost to St. Anselm (4-3), Tufts (5-2), Colby (5-0), Bowdoin (7-1) and Skidmore (6-1). The Spartans have tied New England College (2-2, overtime) and Utica (4-4, overtime). The Utica tie came in their last game on Dec. 12.

Freshman forward Josh Harris (3-4-7), sophomore forward Lindsey Gullett (3-4-7) and freshman forward Justin Alonzo (1-6-7) are the leading point producers on the young squad. Sophomore Seth McNary has done most of the goaltending (1-4-1, 4.00 GAA).

Plattsburgh State
The Cardinals (7-1-2 overall, 6-1-1 SUNYAC) won seven of their first eight games before the two ties with Norwich and Potsdam State to end the first semester. Plattsburgh State is outscoring its opponents by a combined 44-17 margin, including a 40-15 edge in the conference.

The top scorers for the Cardinals are junior forward Eric Satim (7-9-16), junior forward Dylan Clarke (4-10-14) and sophomore forward Vick Schlueter (6-3-9). Twelve players have five points or more. Freshmen Ryan Williams (4-0-1, 1.18 GAA) and Josh Leis (3-1-1, 1.97 GAA) have shared time in net.