Tupper Lake’s Loran Kavanagh (13) and Emma St. Pierre (7) descend on Brushton-Moira sophomore Abby Trimm during the first half of Tuesday afternoon’s game in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake girls soccer team dropped an 8-0 decision against Brushton-Moira at home Tuesday, but first-year coach Zack Arthur sees hope for the future in his young squad.

The Lumberjacks, who have just two seniors on the roster, showed flashes of solid soccer during 90 minutes of play at the L.P. Quinn field, but had trouble linking together scoring plays.

“We had a couple set pieces that I thought had potential,” Arthur said. “Loran Kavanagh took a couple that I thought had potential, so I was optimistic there.”

Arthur said there’s a big difference between modified and varsity play, which results in the young team sometimes struggling. He said a key defensive player was out, and the offense struggled to get shots on net.

The Panthers’ Kenna Tavernia was a constant threat to the Tupper net, and despite some defensive gaps, Lumberjacks Kate Harriman and Marah Liscum came up with a few key stops to keep the score from getting higher.

Tupper Lake junior Marah Liscum dribbles the ball around Kenna Tavernia, of Brushton-Moira, on Tuesday (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

On the offensive end of the field, Tupper Lake managed to put just a few shots on net, despite several attempts in the Panthers’ box near the end of the game.

With just a few minutes left, Lumberjacks right winger Sophia Martin brought the ball down the side of the field and managed a nice cross to the far side of the box. But the Panthers defense closed in fast and stopped a flurry of activity from the Tupper Lake forwards.

The brightest spot on the field Tuesday was Tupper Lake’s control of the midfield. Loran Kavanagh managed the ball well in the central part of the pitch, and Martin and left midfielder Claire Denis offered her solid outlets on the sides of the field.

Kavanagh also took a couple of free kicks near the Brushton-Moira net, but the Panthers defense proved unbeatable.

“Our kids played well. They started passing the ball a little bit,” Brushton-Moira coach Chuck Phippin said. “It makes us better when we’re passing (instead) of just trying to put it over the top.

Brushton-Moira senior Kenna Tavernia, right, holds off Tupper Lake’s Kate Harriman during Tuesday’s game in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

“We’ve just got to keep carrying the passing forward. We’ve got to get better at building from the back as opposed to just kicking the ball forward.”

Arthur said he sees a bright future for the Lumberjacks, who have nine sophomores and eight juniors on the squad.

“I thought Emma St. Pierre played really well, she’s sort of got her dribbling game figured out it seems like so that’s really nice to see,” Arthur said. “Cierra (Toohey) made 14 saves, which is always good. You can’t ask for more than that.

“The finishing touches, we haven’t got that totally figured out yet, it seems we’ve got some room to improve. As they always say with a building team, they’ve got a lot of potential.

“We just have to stop making the silly communication mistakes.”

The Lumberjacks travel to St. Regis Falls next Tuesday for the first of three games next week.