The Saranac Lake Placid girls lacrosse team kicked off the season with a 23-8 loss to the Salmon River Shamrocks on the road Monday afternoon.

SLP Freshman Emma Clark scored three goals. Tyler Burth had two goals and one assist. Juliana Tremblay chipped in with two goals and Lizzie Harvey had one; Kelsi Burth and Phoebe Peer chipped in with two assists.

“All in all our girls did a lot of positive things and the biggest was not one of our players gave up or let the score take them out of the game,” SLP co-head coach Jeff Denkenberger said. “They all worked hard until the buzzer and that shows a lot of where our team is mentally. They believe in each other and that will take us far.”

SLP scored the first two goals on the contest, but couldn’t stop the Shamrocks’ offense. SLP’s defense had trouble collapsing on Salmon River, which was quick when moving the ball. SLP’s offense was unable to keep up.

“Offensively, on our end, we need to learn patience,” Denkenberger said. “When we slowed down and took our time we were successful at scoring, when we made a pass to the first cutter we would turn the ball over. Once we learn to be patient on offense we will be much stronger. We also need to win more ground balls, this killed us last night.”

SLP will next play after spring break at 5 p.m. on April 16 against the Canton Golden Bears.