On Thursday evening, the now state-ranked Blue Bombers closed out the regular season by winning their 10th game of the season, topping rival Saranac Lake 3-2 on the new Wilson-Raymond field.

Sophomore Kendra Levitt continued her scoring spree by netting all three of Lake Placid’s goals, all of which came in the first 17 minutes of the opening half, giving her team a 3-0 lead.

However, the Red Storm rallied with back-to-back goals in the half from Maggie Reynolds and Tyler Burth. Despite having some chances to even the game, the team came up just shy of a comeback victory.

“Credit to Lake Placid, they did the old cliche, ‘bend but don’t break,’ and they were able to hold on,” Saranac Lake’s head coach Jason Wamsganz said.

Saranac Lake’s Layne Locke, right, keeps her eyes on the ball with Lake Placid’s Eliza Fitzsimmons defending during Thursday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Blue Bombers head coach Heather Brewer said her team’s hot start was key to Thursday’s victory.

“Then just being able to survive some of the counter when they got two back on us,” she said. “In the second half, though, we played well defensively, kept the same shape. It’s always a hard-fought game (with Saranac Lake). They’re a fast team, so we had to contain them.”

Levitt opened the scoring at less than four minutes into the contest, on an assist from Cecilia Norfolk. Around two minutes later, she connected on Ella Moodey’s pass to make the game 2-0.

A few minutes later, Levitt collected a pass from Audrey Albert before racing past the Saranac Lake defense to bury her team-leading 16th goal of the season.

Wamsganz said, following that goal, his team switched to a different formation and moved some players around.

Saranac Lake’s Tyler Burth, right, shields the ball away from Lake Placid’s Cecilia Norfolk during Thursday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“We started playing more compact defense in our end and closed those lanes down,” he said. “Lanye Locke did a nice job neutralizing Levitt, and Ellie Willett came to the ball really well from sweeper, taking good angles and getting the ball back to our mids and forwards.”

Saranac Lake erased the shutout when Reynolds took a pass from Kelsi Burth and rifled it over the head of Lake Placid’s goalie, Emma Clark, from far out. Then, Tyler Burth buried a pass from Sophie Baker to bring the score within one.

“I think Tyler Burth was difficult to defend in the middle,” Wamsganz said. “She broke them down multiple times, providing us opportunities. I was proud of her performance tonight. I thought we played well outside of the first 15 minutes and had some chances to score in the second half.”

The Red Storm finished with an 8-6 edge in shots and a few scoring opportunities in the final half, but ultimately couldn’t get one past Clark. She finished with four saves in net, while Saranac Lake’s goalie Emma Akey had three stops.

The Red Storm are now 3-9-2 with playoffs around the corner. They’ll likely have the fourth seed in the Section VII, Class B playoffs, and will have to travel to Picketts Corners to take on the Saranac Central Spartans.

Lake Placid’s Emma Clark kicks the ball down the field during Thursday’s game in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“We will stress to our girls that starting today, everyone is 0-0 heading into the playoffs and we are a good team,” Wamsganz said. “Our strong defense has to travel.”

Meanwhile, the Blue Bombers finished the regular season with a 10-5-1. It’s the first time they’ve reached double-digit wins since 2018.

“It’s exciting to get to 10 wins,” Brewer said. “We had to work really hard all season because a lot of the teams in Division II were close.”

The squad, which ranks 16th in the state, according to the latest New York State Sports Writers Association poll, has now won nine of its last 11 games. They’ve outscored their opponents 25-9 during the stretch, with eight of those goals coming in their last two games.

“Offensively, I think we’ve been in good shape with scoring,” Brewer said. “For a while, we were kind of trying to win, with a goal on a counter. But lately, they’ve been getting a few more.”

Saranac Lake’s Stephanie Kilbourne-Hill kicks the ball down the field during Thursday’s game against Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The Blue Bombers will now wait to find out where they will be seeded among the eight teams that will be competing in the Section VII, Class D playoffs. They’ll likely have a top-four seed and have defeated the three teams, who could potentially be ahead of them — Boquet Valley, Schroon Lake/Newcomb and Chazy.

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs, and we’re looking forward to seeing who we’re going to have first round,” Brewer said. “We should have a home game at least next Wednesday.”