Saranac Lake’s Owen Yando winds up for a shot while LJ Nuzzo closes in on defense during Wednesday’s game at Schroeter’s Field. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake’s Owen Yando winds up for a shot while LJ Nuzzo closes in on defense during Wednesday’s game at Schroeter’s Field.
(Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Griffin Pelish sets up to trap the ball while teammate Quin Peer follows the play in the background.
(Enterprise photos — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake boys soccer team ran into an opponent that was solid from the back line to the front in Wednesday’s match at Schroeter’s Field.

The foe was Peru, and the Indians turned out to be too tough to solve as they dealt the Red Storm a 3-0 shutout loss.

Gabe Nuzzo netted a goal early in each half to give Peru a 2-0 edge and Ryan Furnia buried a shot with just under 15 minutes left in the match as the Indians improved to 3-0-1 in Northern Soccer League Division I action.

“They were better than us today,” said Red Storm coach Josh Marlow, whose squad suffered its first loss of the season while dropping to 1-1-1. “That was a good soccer team. They defended really well, they passed really well. They were the best possession team we’ve seen.”

Nuzzo, a junior, sprinted in on the right wing to finish off a picture-perfect crossing pass from Jacob Desso 7:30 into the match for Peru’s first goal. The score stayed 1-0 through the opening half, and Nuzzo then upped the Indians edge to 2-0 off an assist from Francis Kneussle 7:56 into the second half.

Furnia rounded out the scoring on a goal from in close with 14:49 left in the match. Matt Magaldi assisted on the play.

Despite being blanked, the Red Storm did generate some decent scoring chances against a tough Peru defense but came up empty. Saranac Lake’s best scoring opportunity came off a shot by freshman Colter Cheney-Seymour with just over 12 minutes remaining. On the play, Cheney-Seymour drilled a high shot from the left side of the net from about 18 yards out. The high blast was heading for the far upper corner before being tipped away from danger by Indians goalkeeper Tyler Robinson, who recorded four saves in the shutout win.

“We stress coming out being aggressive and getting to the ball,” Peru coach Matt Armstrong said. “We started off strong and kind of got away from that later in the first half. At halftime we stressed passing. If the other team doesn’t have the ball, they’re not going to score. The best offense is a good defense.”

Senior Brett Dawson was also credited with four saves in goal for Saranac Lake. Peru held a 15-10 advantage in shots on goal.

“We had our moments, but this team, they’re the real deal,” Marlow said. “It seemed like every pass we sent through hit blue.”

Saranac Lake next plays Friday at home against AuSable Valley starting at 4:30 p.m.

Peru 3, Saranac Lake 0

Indians 1 2 — 3

Red Storm 0 0 — 0

Scoring

First Half

1. P, Nuzzo (Desso), 7:30.

Second Half

2. P, Nuzzo (Kneussle), 7:56; 3. P, Furnia (Madadli), 25:11.

Shots: Peru 15, Saranac Lake 10

Saves: P, Robinson 4; SL, Dawson 4.