But things changed in a hurry after the midway mask break, as the Chiefs pumped in three goals before intermission and added three more after halftime to claim a 6-0 shutout win over the Blue Bombers.

Sophomore Sydney Myers did most of the damage for the Chiefs, registering a hat trick and adding an assist. Olivia Davis, another sophomore, netted two goals and Grace Reil tallied once in the victory. The score could have been even more lopsided had it not been for the aggressive play of Lake Placid goalkeeper Lea O’Brien, who finished with 14 saves.

Although the Blue Bombers came up empty on the scoreboard, they did get off a few shots that didn’t miss buy much, especially in the early stages of the match.

“Saranac is a good team,” Lake Placid coach Brendan Gotham said. “We didn’t do a good enough job slowing Sydney Myers down. I thought we had a couple of great chances we could have buried early, and after that we had a tough time holding them off. Saranac did a great job passing and moving the ball up front.”

Saranac Central's Brenna Ducat and Lake Placid's Emma Adragna contend for the ball during first-half action in Friday's match. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

At the midway point in each half, teams are now taking mandatory mask breaks, and Saranac came out on fire following the stoppage of play in the opening half. Myers pumped in her first of three with 17:35 remaining, and Davis upped the Chiefs’ edge to 2-0 on a goal a little more than four minutes later. Myers netted her second of the game with 7:33 remaining on the clock to send Saranac into halftime on top 3-0.

The Chiefs sealed the deal quickly in the second half with a pair of goals in less then five minutes into the stanza. Myers buried her third of the match with just 1:18 gone in the half and Riel gave Saranac a 5-0 lead at the 4:52 mark. Myers then set Davis up for her second of the game, which came at with 11:28 remaining and rounded out the scoring.

In addition to facing a fast, skilled team, Lake Placid was also hampered by an injury to senior sweeper Rylee Preston, who saw limited playing time in the match and sat out the second half.

Despite being blanked, Gotham said facing Saranac Central was good for his team.

“I think this was a good game to see where we are at,” Gotham said. “Playing an athletically gifted team, playing a talented team like that makes us realize what we need to work on.”

“Today was a tough day, but overall, I like where we at at,” Gotham added. “We have kind of a weird mix. We have some great senior leadership and we have a lot of inexperience. We’re learning. We’re getting better. We’re preparing our younger kids for the future.”

Gotham credited freshman Lilly Fisher with a strong performance for the Blue Bombers.

Kylee Brault and Marissa LeDuc each had an assist in the win and Payton Couture recorded four saves to earn the shutout win in nets for the Chiefs. The Blue Bombers finished with six shots.

Lake Placid will be at home again Monday to take on Chazy with the opening kickoff slated for 4 p.m.