Girls fight for the ball in the high-pressure game between the Lake Placid and Moriah girls varsity soccer teams. (Freshman Olivia Ferebee on the left, Junior Webber Hemsley on the right)

LAKE PLACID– The Lake Placid girls soccer team posted a win and a loss in its last two matches, topping Moriah on Saturday, Oct. 24 in a home contest and then suffering a lopsdied setback at Beekmantown under the lights on Tuesday.

Miserable weather for a game day with a near-constant dreary drizzle didn’t dampen the mood of Lake Placid’s girls against Moriah. The Blue Bombers came back from a two-goal deficit in the first half to claim a 3-2 victory over over the Vikings.

With the win, Lake Placid’s girls improved to 4-2 and in the process, avenged a 1-0 road loss to Moriah earlier this season.

Spectators were bundled up to battle the cold, and some even pulled their cars up to the fence line to watch without facing the elements, but the girls pushed past the rain with many offensive plays from the start. While both teams put shots to the net early, it was Moriah’s Mikenna Valentine who scored first at 18:16 after a corner kick. The Vikings then tacked on another goal less than a minute later to build a 2-0 edge.

Coach Brenden Gotham said that while his Blue Bombers were able to put on a lot of pressure early on, initially they weren’t able to capitalize. Despite the deficit, he said he encouraged his players that they could still come back, and come back they did.

With 34 seconds left in the first half, junior Dariana Patterson netted the first goal for Lake Placid, to the cheers and honks of the spectators around the field.

Trailing 2-1, Lake Placid went on to net the only two goals in the second half to cap off the comeback win. 

Blue Bombers’ freshman Olivia Ferebee tallied the first goal after intermission at 15:13 to deadlock the match at 2-2, and Patterson then buried the game-winner and her second of the game with 3:47 left to secure the victory for Lake Placid. 

Gotham was excited that his team was able to keep up the energy in such a tense game. 

“You know, we always battle with Moriah,” he said. “Playing down in Moriah is a very tough place to play, and we were looking forward to having them back on our field. When we went down two-nothing, I told the girls to just stay positive and keep working, and it worked out. We tucked two in to tie it and then we got the go-ahead. So it was really nice.”

In particular, Gotham credited Ferebee’s performance on the offensive end and freshman Lily Fisher in the midfield. He also said he was very proud of senior Rylee Preston, who took up the goalie mantle for the second half and played very well.

“You know, it’s nice, this season’s all about individual games,” he noted. “So each game is it’s own thing because we’re not playing for playoffs and we’re not playing for a regular season championship or anything. Every game you win you feel good, and Moriah’s always such a tough opponent that it’s great to get a W.”

Beekmantown 8,

Lake Placid 1

BEEKMANTOWN — Simply put, Lake Placid’s girls were outgunned as the Eagles erupted for eight goals on the way to posting an 8-1 victory on their turf field.

The two teams wouldn’t have faced each other in past seasons, but this fall turned out to be different due a big change in scheduling in this year of the coronavirus pandemic. Beekmantown, which has traditionally been a big-school power in girls soccer, proved to be too much for the small-school Blue Bombers to handle.

Beekmantown held a 2-0 lead at halftime and then poured in six goals after the intermission to improve to 5-0.

Emma McCasland paced the Eagles with two goals and a pair of assists, and Danielle Dyke also found the back of the net twice for the winners. Luci Brown, Ella Faubert, Abby Scott and Emma Snook added a tally each in the win.

Lily Fischer, a promising freshman, netted Lake Placid’ lone goal 8:28 into the second half. Fisher’s tally cut the Blue Bombers’ deficit to 3-1, but Beekmantown responded with five unanswered goals to pull away.

Beekmantown out shot Lake Placid 32-17.

Senior Rylee Preston, who was playing in nets for an injured Lea O’Brien, recorded 17 saves for the Blue Bombers.