SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake girls soccer season came to an end on Tuesday in Champlain. The Red Storm suffered a 4-0 loss to the Northeastern Clinton Cougars in the Section VII, Class B semifinals.

Despite falling, and playing for the final time this season, Saranac Lake’s effort were a far cry from their semifinal contest one year ago.

“This team beat us 10-0 last season. We always want to win, but we know that going through a process of growth and development is critical in building the program,” Red Storm head coach Jason Wamsganz said. “Our seniors have helped lead this and have been amazing in helping to create an environment that we need in continuing to getting better.”

Northeastern Clinton’s Brynn Hite recorded one goal and added an assist on Tuesday. Cougar teammates Tenley Peryer, Kylee Surprenant and Callie Racine also scored one goal each in the win while Emma Guay chipped in with an assist. The team outshot Saranac Lake 16-7.

On a windy night, Northeastern Clinton got off to a quick start when Hite’s corner kick curled into the back of the net around 7 minutes into the game.

“The wind was something we were not totally ready for,” Wamgsanz said. “We talked about the crazy wind up there, something NCCS is used to, but we aren’t and it definitely affected us, especially early on. Their first goal was bizarre enough for everyone to think it was over the top of the net and then a few seconds later, their forwards started celebrating. It hung up in the wind off the corner and ended up in the back of the net with nobody touching it. Just strange.”

The Cougars extended their lead a few minutes later, when Peryer collected a give-and-go pass from Guay and buried a goal.

After the intermission, Surprenant netted a penalty kick to push the lead to 3-0, followed by another give-and-go play from Hite to Racine to close out the contest.

Northeastern Clinton’s Tess Dumas recorded five saves en route to the shutout. The Red Storm’s goalie Emma Akey, who Wamsganz said had a solid game, had nine saves.

“The wind was a factor and she did a nice job adjusting and anticipating while dealing with the wind,” he said. “She was aggressive tonight and when she’s aggressive she frustrates the other team.”

Wamsganz also credited the play of Zuleyka Oliveras and Tyler Burth.

“Zu anchoring the D and Tyler doing her part in the middle to give us chances,” he said. “Ava Faubert and Abby Walkow did exactly what we needed on the outside, and Ashlyn Tomaszewski came in and continued to help shut down their offense from the outside. We had two really good chances but shot the ball just wide on both of them.”

With the loss, the Red Storm ends its season with a 6-9-1 record. While, the team finished the year on a six-game losing streak, Wamsganz was proud of how his team handled adversity.

“These girls were dealt some unfortunate luck medically and with sickness and they just tried to get better and learn positions as quickly as they could,” he said. “I’m really proud of them for that. We certainly had our ups and downs the last five games of the regular season, playing poorly against a few teams who we matched up well against and playing really well against some teams we didn’t match up against. We just told them to keep playing hard for each other and stay focused and committed.”

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Boquet Valley 1, Lake Placid 0

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After winning its first playoff game since 2019, the Lake Placid girls soccer team couldn’t repeat its playoff magic.

Playing at Camp Dudley in Westport, the Blue Bombers fell 1-0 to the Boquet Valley Griffins Tuesday in the Section VII, Class D semifinal round.

Boquet Valley’s Claire Reynolds scored the eventual game winner with around 6 minutes left in the first half. The Blue Bombers had two shots on net, while their opponents had six.

Lake Placid’s Emma Clark recorded fives saves, while the Griffins’ Ella Pulsifer had two.

The Blue Bombers end its season with an 8-8-2 record. Boquet Valley will now take on the Chazy Eagles in the sectional title game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Beekmantown High School.