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Bombers pull away late in NSL finale

Lake Placid sophomore Brendan Bullock rips a shot past Seton Catholic’s Dominic Allen late in the opening half to score the first goal of Thursday’s match. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid wrapped up its regular-season slate at home Thursday with a solid 5-1 victory over Seton Catholic in Northern Soccer League Division II action.

Lake Placid started out with a 2-0 edge, and after the Knights netted a penalty kick midway through the second half to make it a 2-1 contest, the Blue Bombers exploded for three more goals to put the match out of reach and finish the regular season with a 6-4-4 record overall.

Connor Reid and Cooper Grady scored two goals each for Lake Placid and Brendan Bullock added one goal in the win.

Blue Bombers coach Stuart Hemsley said he’s pleased to see scoring coming from a number of players as they now head into Section VII, Class C playoff action.

“It ended up being a comfortable win, but at 2-1, we went into another gear,” Hemsley said. “Our goals can come from probably six or seven players, which makes it tough on opposing defenses. At this time of the year, you do need to be playing the way we did at times today. Overall, we were pretty good.”

Tyler Hinckley of Lake Placid and Seton Catholic’s Josh Evans battle for the ball while Cobane Bissonette of the Blue Bombers follows the play in the background during Thursday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Bullock, a sophomore who has turned into an positive asset for Lake Placid this season, scored the only goal of the opening half. The tally came with just under seven minutes left in the half on a play where he beat two Knights defenders on a race toward the net, and then ripped a left-footer past Seton Catholic keeper Tyler Reid.

Connor Reid, a senior, then put Lake Placid up by a pair of goals when he ripped a shot from just outside the box into the lower right corner of the net 9:07 into the second half.

The Knights then got on the board when Noah Blood beat Blue Bombers keeper Jack Armstrong in the middle of the second stanza.

Allowing an undermanned Knights opponent that only had one substitute to cut the deficit to a single goal may have ignited the Blue Bombers, who went on to score three more times in quick succession.

Grady got Lake Placid going, burying his first of the match with 17:02 remaining off an assist by Remi Borden. Grady, a junior, added his second with 11:51 converting a pass from Anders Stanton to push Lake Placid’s lead to three goals. Reid then rounded out the scoring less than a minute later, burying his second of the game with Bullock assisting to make it a 5-1 final.

Lake Placid honored its five seniors — Reid, Borden, Tyler Hinckley, Sebastian Narvaes and Cobane Bissonette, who were playing their final game at home as Blue Bombers. All five were on the team when Lake Placid reached the state Class C final four in 2017, as was junior Matt Brandes, who plays sweeper.

Hemsley said his team seems to be in a good place entering the playoffs, and is hoping the Blue Bombers could wind up as the top seed in the five team Class C tournament. The fourth and fifth seeds will battle Tuesday in the opening round, with semifinal matches then taking place on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Beekmantown High School. Those matches are slated to start at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The other contenders in Class C are Saranac Lake, Northern Adirondack, Seton Catholic and AuSable Valley.

“All we’ve had to do this season is be ready for October,” Hemsley said. “We’re heading int that direction.”

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