Saranac Lake defender Patrick Wamsganz, left, and Lake Placid forward Justin Novick run onto a ball during the first half of Friday’s tie in at the North Elba Show Grounds. (News photo — Justin A. Levine)

LAKE PLACID – Saranac Lake traveled to Lake Placid for the opening game of the high school soccer season, and it turns out the two rivals are evenly matched in almost every aspect of the game. The Red Storm and Blue Bombers tied, 2-2.

Lake Placid came out with high pressure early in the match, and put Saranac Lake’s new goalkeeper to the test early and often. Red Storm junior Zach Churco, who played football last year, held his own though, and kept the Bombers off the scoreboard while Saranac Lake got some scoring chances of its own on counterattacks.

In a bit of surprise, Saranac Lake sophomore Colter Cheney-Seymour put the Red Storm on the board first after he found the back of the net off a corner kick that took a favorable bounce. The visitors held the 1-0 advantage going into the half.

Lake Placid came out from the break refreshed, and junior Justin Novick only waited about two minutes into the second half to even up the score at one apiece.

The two teams, who could potentially meet again in the playoffs, played hard and fast, with much of the play on the wings and in the middle of the field.

Lake Placid’s Cobane Bissonette, right, and Saranac Lake’s Jacob Adams go for a head ball just outside the box during the second half of Friday’s game. (News photo — Justin A. Levine)

Saranac Lake outshot and out-possessed the Bombers, but Lake Placid kept the score tied until midway through the second half when freshman Cooper Grady put the home team on top after he touched the ball into an open net when Churco went to the ground trying to save another shot.

But the Red Storm weren’t done, and Cheney-Seymour evened the score again with less than 10 minutes left in the match. Grady came in hard to the box with the ball, but was stymied by the Lake Placid defense. Cheney-Seymour was able to get on the loose ball and get it past Lake Placid keeper Jacob Novick to tie the game.

There was a controversial call with just two minutes left that could have given the home team a penalty kick but instead was ruled as a drop ball. Regulation time ended with the score still even, and coaches Josh Marlow and Stuart Hemsley agreed to two 5-minute overtimes that would be played out regardless of score.

The two teams had also been slated to play Thursday in Saranac Lake, but there were no available referees to officiate the game.

Lake Placid put some serious pressure on the Red Storm in the first overtime, but Saranac Lake didn’t break. Both teams had some chances in the second overtime, but neither could find the back of the net and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Despite the tie, Hemsley said it was good to have the friendly rivals play.

“That’s why we want to play Saranac Lake; it’s competitive,” he said. “The lads have all played together in indoor leagues and gone to travel tournaments.

“We’ve got so much to learn, it’s a young team. But that nucleus of the team is still there. There’s youth in our team, there’s experience in our team. We lost a lot of games last year, and this year hopefully we don’t lose seven games.”

Cheney-Seymour, who scored both of the Red Storm’s goals, sees a lot of potential in his squad this season.

“I was really excited to score,” the sophomore said. “I’m really pumped for the season; I’m excited to play with this team. We have a good group coming up and we have some new players that are good.

“We have a real good season ahead of us I think.”

Marlow echoed both Hemsley’s and Cheney-Seymour’s feelings.

“We missed out on a couple good opportunities (and) bailed them out a few times,” Marlow said. “But I was happy with how the team played. It was a very good showing against a team that came off the final four last year. And on their home grass.

“They caught us sleeping in the first minute of the second half, and that was a big goal on their part. And when they went ahead 2-1, it just showed a lot of guts on our part to come back and even it up.”