Lake Placid’s Brady Tremblay and AuSable Valley’s Zaive Moussa chase the ball during the opening half of Monday’s match on the Blue Bombers’ field. Also pictured are Cooper Grady, who tallied a hat trick to lead the hosts to the 4-1 triumph, and David Butler of the Patriots. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid boys soccer team reversed its fortunes in a big way on Monday, rallying from a one-goal halftime deficit to claim a 4-1 victory over AuSable Valley.

The win was the second straight for the Blue Bombers, who improved to 2-3-1 and play two more matches this week.

Cooper Grady was expected to be a major offensive threat for Lake Placid this season, and the senior finally broke out with a standout performance by burying three goals in the second half. Chris Byrne netted Lake Placid’s other goal, Joose Kahkonen added a pair of assists and Alex Wright and Drew Ferebee chipped in with single assists in the win.

AuSable Valley got on the board early on a wet day when Zander McCabe sent a ground ball through the hands of Blue Bombers keeper Jack Armstrong less than six minutes into the match, and the Patriots held that 1-0 edge until Lake Placid started to pour it on early in the second half.

Grady notched two quick goals, evening the score at 1-1 with his first tally less than three minutes into the second half, and he put Lake Placid on top to stay less than three minutes later.

Byrne increased Lake Placid’s lead to 3-1 with 16:43 remaining when he scored on a crossing pass from Wright, and Grady completed his hat trick and rounded out the scoring with just under 11 minutes left on the game clock.

Both teams created scoring opportunities early in the match and through out the opening half, but the Patriots were the lone squad to convert.

“I told the kids at half time that we were a better team,” Lake Placid coach Stuart Hemsley said. “We were giving their three solid players too much room in the midfield. I knew if we could win the battle at midfield, we’ll win the game.

“I knew if we got one on them, more goals would come and that’s exactly what happened,” Hemsley added. “At halftime, we hadn’t established our authority yet. I’m happy for the kids. Two in a row — we’re on a little roll.”

Lake Placid finished with an 18-10 advantage in shots. Armstrong, a junior, finished with nine saves, and Scott LaFountain was credited with 12 stops in goal for AuSable Valley.

Lake Placid’s next match in on the road Wednesday under the lights in Beekmantown starting at 6 p.m.

The Blue Bombers are also scheduled to host rival Saranac Lake on Saturday at the North Elba Show Grounds starting at 11 a.m.