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Bombers thrive with five

PLATTSBURGH – Players on the Lake Placid boys soccer team showed no signs of being rusty after a 12-day layoff, as they went on a first-half scoring spree Wednesday to claim their fifth-straight Section VII championship with a 6-0 shutout victory over Seton Catholic.

After senior Stuart Baird opened the scoring less than three minutes into the Class C final match, the Blue Bombers never let up. They pumped in three more goals before the midway point of the opening half to gain a 4-0 advantage, and then tacked on two more late in the stanza, including their final tally just 15 seconds before the intermission.

Blake Roy netted a pair of goals, and Ryan Kane, Kevin Geesler and Bjorn Kroes added single markers as Lake Placid improved to 12-4 overall and advanced to state regional play. The Blue Bombers will take on the Section II champion Tuesday in their next game. That opponent will be the winner of the Maple Hill-Mayfield matchup taking place Saturday.

Baird lifted Lake Placid to a 1-0 with just 2:27 off the clock when he curved a corner kick into the upper far side of the net over a surprised Knights goalkeeper Dawson Pellerin. The goal was the 18th of the season for the Blue Bombers leading scorer, and after his shot went in, the floodgates opened quickly.

“It was the start we wanted, it was the start we needed,” said coach Stuart Hemsley, who has now led the Blue Bombers to Section VII titles in each of his five seasons guiding the team. “Asking Bairdy to score direct from a corner kick is something we’d never do. Our boys try to get on the end of his corners getting thrown into the box, but with no wind, he bends it from one corner to the far corner. Once we got that, the momentum kept going.”

Kane gave Lake Placid a 2-0 advantage at the 7:35 mark when he one-timed home a pass from Sean Moore. Roy then struck for two straight goals in less than four minutes, starting with his first , which came at the 14:10 mark on a shot from at least 30 yards out. On the play, Geesler sent a short pass back to Roy, who then launched a high shot that went over Pellerin’s hands while sneaking just under the cross bar. Roy then upped Lake Placid’s lead to 3-0 less than seven minutes later when he scored from in close after a pass from Geesler.

“When Stu put that first one in right in the corner, we just went from there,” Roy said. “On my first goal, Kevin just rolled me a pass, and I said, ‘It’s sectionals. I’ll just take a rip at it.’ Luckily, it just went over where the keeper was standing. That’s the farthest I’ve ever scored out from. I surprised myself. I didn’t know I could do that.”

Lake Placid then put the game away in a hurry. Roy buried his second at the 17:39 mark with Kane assisting, Geesler upped the lead to 5-0 when he sent home a pass from Kroes at the 32:01 mark, and Kroes knocked in the Blue Bombers last goal with just 14 seconds remaining in the opening half.

With a 6-0 lead and a fifth Section title already well secured, Hemsley sat most of his starters during the entire second half and provided his substitutes – including some junior varsity members who moved up – the experience of a whole half of playing time in a championship match.

“After 25 minutes, I was starting to ease off, because I wouldn’t want to destroy any of Seton’s players love for the game,” Hemsley said. “They have no seniors, we have nine, and we’ll see them next year when we’re building a new team. But I don’t want to start building next year’s team when this year’s team is still firing on all cylinders and would appear not to be fearing anybody right night now.”

One player Hemsley did leave in for most of the match is junior sweeper Jaso Hannula – an all-state selection a year ago – just to keep the Blue Bombers defense organized.

“We have nine seniors who have playing together forever,” Hannula said. “We just move the ball quick, we create chances getting the crosses in, and just put the ball in the back of the net. Obviously, you have to be nervous before every game, you have to be, but we knew were ready.

“We beat this team before, twice during the season,” Hannula added. “We knew it wasn’t going to be the tightest game, and that’s how it went. We went into the game with the mindset – let’s just score goals, control the ball, get it over with and play quick.”

The Blue Bombers now have 63 goals in 16 games played, and Roy said this year’s team has multiple threats from all over the field.

“I think coach is excited with us this year because it’s not just two people scoring like last year,” Roy said. “This year, we have six guys with 10 or more goals. It’s crazy. We’re scoring from all over the place. We knew we could win but we couldn’t come in cocky saying we’re absolutely going to win. We came in with a head of steam. When Stu put that first one in right in the corner, we just went from there.”

“My assistant Brendan (Gotham) described our kids as gamers. They like to play,” Hemsley said. “They could be goofing off in the back of the bus, or wherever they are, but the second a ball goes down, they get straight into playing. As much fun as they are with each other, they are a lot of fun on the field, and what goes on on the field is what gets results. The education of how to play the beautiful game is getting through to everybody.”

Lake Placid 6, Seton Catholic 0

[TABULATED_DATA]

First half – 1, LP, Baird, 2:27. 2, LP, Kane (Moore), 7:25. 3, LP, Roy (Geesler), 14:10. 4, LP, Roy (Kane), 17:39. 5, LP, Geesler (Kroes), 32:01. 6, LP, Kroes, 39:46.

Shots: Lake Placid 22, Seton Catholic 14.

Saves: Cassidy (7) Novak (3), LP, 10. Pellerin, SC, 10.

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