Lake Placid’s Cooper Grady advances the ball while teammates Alex Wright and Sam Le follow the play during Tuesday’s match against Chazy at the North Elba Show Grounds. News photo — Lou Reuter

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid boys and girls soccer teams have reached the halfway point of their pandemic-shortened season following home matches played earlier this week against Chazy.

The Blue Bombers girls improved to 3-2 with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the Eagles on Monday, and although they didn’t come out on top, Lake Placid’s boys turned in an inspired effort before dropping a 1-0 decsion to Chazy on Tuesday.

Girls game

Lake Placid 1, Chazy 0 Despite playing without senior sweeper Rylee Preston, who was last season’s Division II defensive player of the year, Lake Placid’s girls were able to keep Chazy off the board.

Dariana Patterson netted the lone goal of the match with 2:14 remaining in the opening half, scoring off a free kick on a play set up by Weber Hemsley and Natalie Tavares.

Lake Placid’s Dariana Patterson, pictured in action at home against Saranac Central on Friday, Oct. 16, netted the game-winner, which was the only goal of the game, on Monday in the Blue Bombers 1-0 victory over Chazy. News photo — Lou Reuter

“It was an evenly matched game. Both teams played well defensively and both keepers made saves to keep it close,” said coach Brendan Gotham, whose Blue Bombers improved to 3-2.

The victory marked a nice comeback after Lake Placid’s rough outing in a 6-0 loss to unbeaten Saranac Central on Friday, Oct. 16.

“I’m really proud of the way the girls bounced back from Friday’s game,” Gotham said. “We played without Rylee and every girl stepped up. Lily Fisher played incredible defense for us. Danaya (Patterson) played her best game of the year. That’s what needs to happen when someone is out. It was a team victory, and that makes it very sweet.”

Lake Placid will be at home again for its next contest on Saturday against Moriah. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Boys game

Chazy 2, Lake Placid 1

Lake Placid’s boys led for the first time this season when sophomore Alex Wright scored midway through the first half of Tuesday’s match with Chazy.

But the Blue Bombers couldn’t hold on as the Eagles netted a pair of goals after halftime to claim a 2-1 road victory in Lake Placid.

Looking for their first win of the season, the Blue Bombers got off to a strong start against the Eagles, who are annually one of New York state’s strongest Class D teams.

After starting off the season with a tie and three losses, Lake Placid got the early jump against Chazy when Wright one-timed a direct kick taken by Joose Kahkonen past Eagles keeper Ben Dickerson with 20:48 remaining in the opening half.

The teams played scoreless soccer for the rest of the stanza, and Chazy got the equalizer less than seven minutes into the second half when  Patrick Dwyer scored off an assist from Joe Deondarza.

Deondarza then came through with the game-winner, heading in a corner kick with 11:09 left on the clock with Tanner Conners assisting.

Lake Placid coach Stuart Hemsley said his defense played well but committed two costly mistakes that led to Chazy’s goals.

“We just don’t have the depth,” Hemsley said. “We have a lot of young players, and varsity is unforgiving. Throwing them into a match with Chazy is a big ask, and I thought our kids stood up to them pretty well.”

Chazy finished with a 12-10 advantage in shots. Jack Armstrong finished with eight saves in goal for the Blue Bombers and Dickerson was credited with five saves to earn the win in goal for Chazy.

“It wasn’t a mean-spirited game but it was a competitive one,” Hemsley said. “It’s always competitive when we face Chazy. Usually we have two cracks at them each year, but just one this time around.

“It’s OK to lose to Chazy,” Hemsley added. “No love lost.”

Lake  Placid dropped to 0-3-1 with the loss and next plays at Willsboro Saturday starting at 11 a.m. The Blue Bombers head into the contest looking to avenge a season-opening 2-1 overtime loss to the Warriors.