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Seniors help Red Storm roll

Saranac Lake’s Daniel Foley, right, spins past a Beekmantown opponent while pursing the ball during Wednesday’s match at Schroeter’s Field. Also pictured in the background for the Red Storm is Griffin Pelish. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake’s seniors didn’t disappoint on senior day.

Playing in their final regular season game at home Wednesday, the Red Storm rolled to a 6-1 victory over Beekmantown in Northern Soccer League Division I action at Schroeter’s Field.

Three seniors combined for five of Saranac Lake’s goals in a match that saw the relentless Red Storm bury four shots in the opening half and add two more tallies before the Eagles tacked on their lone goal in the closing minutes.

Co-captain Sawyer Chase led the charge with a hat trick, fellow seniors Dzihad Cecunjanin and Abraham Newton notched a goal each and sophomore Jacob Adams found the back of the net once in the win.

Saranac Lake’s players were all over the Eagles net from start to finish and ended up with a 23-7 advantage in shots.

Christian Monty of Saranac Lake advances the ball while teammate Victtor Moraes stays close to the play during the opening half of Wednesday’s match. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“We kept the pressure on just about all game,” Saranac Lake head coach Josh Marlow said. “We have a lot of guys who can score, and you never know whose night it’s going to be. We were on the attack all night long, and really forced Beekmantown into making a lot of mistakes. We had 23 shots, but it seemed like double that.”

Adams, a sophomore, got the Red Storm going when he scored 7:31 into the match with an assist going to Newton. Cecunjanin then quickly pushed the edge to 2-0 less than seven minutes later when he gained control of the ball, slithered through a handful of Eagles defenders and rolled a point-blank shot past keeper Evan Dyke, who had no chance of making a save on the play.

Chase then upped Saranac Lake’s lead to 3-0 at the 19:20 mark of the period. On the play, Chase took a penalty shot after Cecunjanin was tripped up inside in the Eagles box. Dyke made a diving save on the attempt that was sent toward the lower left corner of the net, but the rebound went directly back to Chase, who was charging toward the goal and buried the ball.

Newton rounded out the first-half scoring at the 30:15 mark, sending a low shot from the left side of the box into the far corner of the net.

Chase then completed his hat trick with goals at the 17:20 and 28:10 marks of the second half to put the Red Storm firmly in command with a 6-0 lead.

While Saranac Lake was displaying its firepower at one end of the field, the Red Storm defense also had some shining moments. Perhaps the biggest play defensively for Saranac Lake occurred when the score was 3-0 near the middle of the opening half. During one of Beekmantown’s limited offensive flurries, an Eagles player collected a rebound on a stop made by keeper Brett Dawson, and ripped a high shot that was tracking toward the middle of the net. The blast, however, was headed away from danger by junior Daniel Foley to preserve the three-goal edge the hosts held at the time.

With a steady rain starting to soak the field late, Beekmantown finally got on the board on a goal by Romell Lewin with 2:30 remaining in the match. Leo Golden assisted on the play.

Nicholas Kelting finished with two assists for Saranac Lake, and Adams also picked up an assist in the victory.

Despite giving up six goals, Dyke had an impressive performance in nets for the Eagles with six saves. Dawson, a senior, recorded three stops in goal for the Red Storm.

The victory gave Saranac Lake a regular-season sweep over Beekmantown, a feat the Red Storm last accomplished four years ago. Saranac Lake improved to 6-4-1 with one match remaining, which will be at Plattsburgh Friday evening at 6:30 p.m.

The win put Saranac Lake in third place in Division I, and also went a long way toward giving the team a first-round bye heading into the Section VII, Class C playoffs.

“We’ve put ourselves in the best position we possibly can be in,” Marlow said. “Now we’re going to wrap up the regular season against Plattsburgh, and hopefully, we can hand them a loss on their senior night. We lost to them in a close match, so hopefully we can turn the tables. It’s going to be hard playing on their turf, but our guys are playing with a ton of confidence right now.”

Saranac Lake 6, Beekmantown 1

Eagles 0 1 — 1

Red Storm 4 2 — 6

Scoring

First Half

1. SL, Adams (Newton), 7:31; 2. SL, Cecunjanin, 14:22; 3. SL, Sawyer, 19:20; 4. SL, Newton (Kelting), 30:15.

Second Half

5. SL, Chase (Kelting), 17:20; 6. SL, Chase (Adams), 28:10; 7. B, Lewin (Golden), 37:30.

Shots: SL 23, B 7.

Saves: SL, Dawson 3; B, Dyke 6.

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