Playing at the Saranac Lake Civic Center, the SLP girls fell to the Potsdam Sandstoners 6-1 in the team’s first game of the season.

“We had good moments. A couple of breakdowns here and there. It was our first time as a team and our first time playing. I’m not disappointed,” SLP head coach Butch Martin said. “They know where they broke down and they’ll work on it and we’ll get better.”

Martin, who took over the head coaching position last season during a shortened season due to the pandemic, said the team made some basic mistakes during Tuesday’s game and it cost them. He added the team will work to fix the mistakes and will build experience.

“Basically, this is our 11th time together, usually by then you are just getting into some system work. We’re alright, right now,” Martin said.

Saranac Lake Placid’s Whitney Warner skates with the puck during Tuesday’s game against Potsdam Central. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The non-league matchup started out back-and-forth with SLP even outshooting Potsdam in the opening period.

The back-and-forth matchup continued until Potsdam’s Rylie Bicknell scored the game’s first goal with 10 minutes and 58 seconds gone in the period. Bicknell’s goal came on a pass from Lauryn Bigwarfe.

After the first goal, Potsdam came into the second period with a lot of momentum. The Sandstoner’s Keegan McGaheran and Erin Lantry both scored within the first five minutes of the period to make the score 3-0.

A few minutes later, SLP’s Mia Nichols scored the lone goal for her team. Nichol’s goal came off an assist from Sydney Dann.

Potsdam scored once again to close out the second period, which shut down any bit of momentum SLP had. Potsdam’s fourth goal of the game was scored by Sophie Lauzon, who tallied her second point of the game.

Saranac Lake Placid’s Faith Warner looks for a pass during Tuesday game against Potsdam Central. Also pictured is Potsdam's Danielle Emerson. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The third period was not much better for the SLP squad. The Sandstoner’s McGaheran and Anna Nelson each scored a goal to seal the win.

The score was not indicative of how the SLP team played. The team battled hard and was only outshot 22-18.

“Everybody had a moment or two out there and that’s what we were looking for tonight,” Martin said. “We’ll learn from this and get better and be ready to go.”

Even though SLP was outshot, the performance by the team’s goaltender Kelsey McKillip will be a bright spot going forward. McKillip recorded 16 saves in the net.

“I was proud of our freshman goalie even though they got six on her. But that’s the first time she has played at this level,” Martin said. “I was very proud of her that she was able to get in there and experience it and make some big saves for us. She kept us in it, pretty good for us.”

Saranac Lake Placid’s Sydney Dann makes a play on the puck during Tuesday game against Potsdam Central. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Looking ahead, Saranac Lake Placid will travel to the Canton Pavilion to take on Canton High School on Monday at 5:15 p.m.