North Country pulled away from a 1-1 halftime deadlock by scoring three times after intermission, including a pair of goals buried in the span of a minute. The Saints improved to 4-6 with the win.

Owen Yando, Alex Aguirre, Jorge Giacobbe-Arauz and Denilson Reyes each netted a goal for the Saints, and Julius Haranyi, a freshman from Cleveland, Australia, earned the win in net.

“We got five corners in the first 10 minutes but just couldn’t get anything in on them,” Saints coach David Clayton said. “That gave them a little hope, and they kept up with us for most of the game. In the second half, we kind of turned it on to pull away. We had some guys scoring goals who haven’t gotten on the scoresheet yet, so that was good to add those goal scorers to our team.”

Adirondack got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the match when Jamison Baker fired a shot from in front of the net past Haranyi. Trailing by a goal, the Saints responded with the next four tallies to claim the win.

North Country’s Zakaria Toure controls the ball while driving past SUNY Adirondack defender Avery Wiggins during Saturday’s match on the Saints’ pitch. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Yando, a Saints freshman and Saranac Lake High School graduate, evened the score with 32 minutes gone in the game when he finished off a pass from Giacobbe-Arauz for his first goal of the season. The teams went into halftime tied at 1-1 and North Country took control from there.

Aguirre then netted his first of the season with what proved to be the game-winning goal, scoring at the 63-minute mark on a Saints corner kick. On the play, Tristan Conners sent a kick into the box from the right corner of the field, the ball sailed over traffic, through the hands of Adirondack keeper Aiden Fox, and Aguirre sent it home on a 15-yard shot from the left side of the penalty area.

Giacobbe-Arauz then buried the back-breaker a minute later, putting North Country on top 3-1 on a shot from in close. Conners and Zakaria Toure each picked up assists on the play.

Reyes rounded out the scoring, finding the back of the net on another attempt from in close with two minutes remaining in the match. Toure set up the goal, giving the freshman from Ivory Coast two assists in the game.

The Saints finished with a 9-3 advantage in shots.

“To be honest, we started a little slow today,” said Reyes, a freshman from Indianapolis, Indiana and a Saints captain. “I told the boys at halftime we’re above this team, we just have to work as one. We just came out and played the second half; got the goals. After one fell, another one fell, and we were having a little fun with it. We played much better in the second half.”

Despite dropping their seventh straight match to remain winless, Adirondack coach Chris George said his players, who are all freshmen, are making strides playing collegiate soccer for the first time.

“Goals tend to come in bunches like that. We have a young team, and it’s just the thing that with a little more experience, you won’t give them up in bunches quite as much,” George said. “We did a lot of things I was happy with. We didn’t give up. We didn’t quit. We were willing to dive for it in front of the goal, either to score or to keep one out, which is what we’re looking for. The first half was very even, and then in the second half, North Country had a little more control of the pace and the flow.”

The Saints men will be at home for their next match Wednesday, hosting Word of Life starting at 4 p.m.

The Timberwolves played again on Sunday and fell 5-0 to Erie Community College at home.

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Saints women blank Timberwolves

The North Country women’s team took the pitch prior to the men Saturday and blanked SUNY Adirondack 9-0 to snap a two-game losing skid.

The Saints jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half and then pumped in five more goals after intermission to improve to 6-3-1.

Nidia DeArmaYero continued her hot scoring, finishing with a hat trick to lead the Saints. Skyelin Bradford added two goals and three assists, and Emma St. Pierre, Cassie Norton, Emma Smalley and Lindsey Reeve each scored once in the win.

Rosie Bamber was credited with one save will earning the win in goal for North Country.

The Saints women will play the opening match in another home doubleheader, taking on Word of Life starting at 2 p.m.