SARANAC LAKE – Even though the Saranac Lake girls soccer team came off the field still looking for their first win on Friday, the Red Storm did take a step in the right direction.

In a 7-3 loss to visiting Peru at Schroeter’s Field, Saranac Lake’s girls accomplished something they haven’t been able to do during their first three losses to start the season. The Red Storm finally found a way to put the ball in the net, and they did it three times.

The Red Storm scored all three goals in the second half, and although the tallies never really got them back in the game, coach Bill Wilson and his players hope it was the start of good things to come.

“We put three in there finally, and it was just aggressive play, more intense play,” Wilson said. “The girls came out in the second half with a little fire in their belly, and good things happen when you put on pressure, and that’s what happened. Our forwards and middies were working better together and crashing, and we haven’t been doing this in the past, so this is a first. “

Brittany Shumway netted Saranac Lake’s first goal of the year, and Hannah Latour and Katie Holvik added the Red Storm’s other two tallies.

Kallista LaBombard and Sam Spear paced Peru with two goals each, and Lindsay Brown, Abby Webb and Hallie LaDuke notched single scores for the winners.

Spear netted the first two goals of the match, scoring 9:30 into the match and then upping Peru’s edge to 2-0 with her second at the 28:51 mark. Brown, a defender, added a big goal when she scored on a long shot with just 22 seconds left in the opening half to give the Indians a commanding three-goal lead.

Shumway, a senior, opened the second-half scoring to cut Saranac Lake’s deficit to 3-1. The goal came less than five minutes into the stanza off a direct kick from Grace Clark. But after giving up a goal, Peru answered back with the next three to jump in front 6-1.

The Red Storm then responded with two straight goals, with Latour burying a shot with just under eight minutes remaining, and Holvik finding the back of the net with 3:35 left on the game clock. Both goals came on hard shots from the top of the Indians penalty box on the right side of the net.

Peru got the game’s last tally from LaDuke with less than a minute left in the contest.

The Indians held a 17-14 advantage in shots. Dakota Mousseau recorded 11 saves to earn the win in goal for Peru, which improved to 3-2 in league play and 4-2 overall.

Makayla Schmidt played the first half in net for the Red Storm and Madison Grimone took over in the second stanza. They combined for 11 saves.

“It wasn’t our cleanest game but it was a pretty good team effort,” Peru coach Rachel Cornwell said. “It was nice because we had girls scoring who haven’t scored goals yet, and we had a variety of people scoring. We had some defensive breakdowns, some miscommunications, but overall, we played pretty well.”

Peru plays again today in a non-league match against Poland that will take place in Lake George, and returns to league action against Saranac Central on Tuesday.

The Red Storm have two league games on tap next week starting with Tuesday’s home contest against AuSable Valley that will be followed with a road match at Beekmantown on Thursday.

Wilson said defensively, the Red Storm left too many holes that the Indians were able to exploit. He said if his team can tighten up on the defensive end, and continue to play aggressively, good things could follow.

“Three goals is big all of a sudden after having none for three games,” he said. “It just shows that when you play with the aggression and confidence that you need, you can win games, or at least be in them. The girls are super happy right now and that’s going to be our momentum swing for next week.”