On Monday, SLP not only contained the Golden Bears, but they led on the scoreboard for most of the contest, until the final two minutes, when Canton scored two straight goals to seal an 8-7 victory at the North Country Community College athletic fields.

“We can compete with these teams,” SLP co-head coach Jeff Denkenberger said. “I think we made a mistake at the end. We’ve never been in that situation, so we haven’t worked on things like that, so we should have told them ‘Hold the ball. We’re up by one with two minutes left. Just take care of the ball.’ If we didn’t move the ball there, we won that game.”

Canton’s Allison Kiah scored with 1 minute, 43 seconds left in the game before Olivia Francey netted the game-winner just a few seconds later.

“What are you going to do?” Denkenberger said. “(Samra Cirikovic) did a great job in goal. Sam had some amazing saves today. Saves that she hasn’t had before.”

SLP’s Tyler Burth, right, battles with Canton’s Vivian Coburn during Monday’s game against Canton at the North Country Community College athletic fields. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The loss dropped SLP to 3-4 overall, and while Denkenberger said he was disappointed with the loss, he was happy with how his team performed.

“Offensively, we did a little bit better. We changed some things up this game and moved some girls around and I think it worked,” he said. “They’re a great team, they’ve got a couple of really great players.”

Freshman duo Tyler Burth and Lizzie Harvey paced SLP with two goals each, while Sabine Denkenberger, Norah Galvin and Juliana Tremblay. Burth, Harvey, Galvin and Addison Dann each recorded one assist.

“Five different girls scored,” Denkenberger said. “That’s what we need if we’re going to win games like this. We’ve got to have our key offensive players score.”

Francey led all scorers with five goals, while the Golden Bear’s Vivian Coburn scored twice and Kiah scored one. Coburn also had four assists in the game.

Burth got SLP on the board first to give her team a lead, but shortly after Canton scored three straight goals to make the score 3-1.

SLP found some momentum scoring three straight goals of their own from Galvin, Denkenberger and Harvey to give SLP a 4-3 lead at halftime.

“That was the best first half we have played all year,” Denkenberger said. “Our defense has just come a long way in communicating. If we communicate like we did today and move our feet we’re great.”

After intermission, SLP and the Golden Bears traded the lead with three straight goals each, before Canton was able to close out the contest.

Following the loss, SLP was slated to host the Massena Red Raiders on Tuesday. The team will then return to the NCCC athletic fields on Friday to take on the Plattsburgh Hornets at 6 p.m.

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Salmon River 12, SLP 5

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The SLP lacrosse team fell 12-5 to the Salmon River Shamrocks on the road Saturday.

SLP struggled on both ends of the field early on and trailed 11-1 at the end of the first half.

“We made some changes and came alive in the second half and outscored them 4-1,” Denkenberger said in a statement. “We need to figure out how to start as strong as we finish.”

Burth led SLP with three goals. Harvey and Phoebe Peer chipped in one goal each. Dann had two assists in the loss, while Harvey and Maya Garrison had an assist each.

“Coach (Josh) Dann and I both believe we have the athletes to compete much better with these teams this year,” Denkenberger said. “Hopefully the second half of our season the girls can play two halves strong. Salmon is always strong and they do very well at moving the ball around.”