Sep. 3—SARANAC — Saranac executed one of those games, Thursday, when everything seemed to go right.
Whether it was goal scoring, good possession or defense, the Chiefs had it all working in an 8-0 win over Northern Adirondack in the girls Saranac Preseason Soccer Tournament opener.
Sydney Myers recorded a hat trick and an assist, and Marissa Leduc and Olivia Davis both scored twice to pace Saranac.
Aislyn Liberty accounted for the Chiefs’ other tally in addition to an assist, and Davis (2), Brenna Ducatte, McKenna Macomber and Lia Parker all had assists.
“We learned that we had a lot more in us than we thought we did with this game,” Myers said. “Everyone kind of took themselves to a level they may have not known they had.”
Saranac kept the Bobcats off the scoreboard and also managed to prevent Northern Adirondack from registering a shot, which meant it was a quiet shutout performance for Grace Damiani in her varsity debut.
Saranac thrived in the possession battle and kept the Bobcats from generating many chances up the middle.
“We spend a lot of time on possession and quick passing and being ready before they get the ball,” Chiefs coach Amber Liberty said. “That’s what created all our chances today.”
The chances began early when Leduc put Saranac on the board just over a minute into play.
Northern Adirondack’s defense stood tall for nearly the next 20 minutes before Myers scored her first two goals at the 20:27 and 11:33 marks of the first half.
The Chiefs took a 3-0 lead into halftime and quickly upped their advantage to 5-0 within the first five minutes of the second half thanks to Davis and Aislyn Liberty finding the back of the net.
“We have been working on keeping the pressure and always having that balance so we can recover and stay solid defensively,” Davis said. “This win really helped our young girls with their confidence. There were definitely a bit of nerves at the start.”
Davis scored again with 12:16 to go in regulation before Myers finished off her hat trick with 3:39 left on the clock.
Leduc added a second goal for good measure near the last minute of the game.
“That’s one of our big goals this year,” Amber Liberty said. “We want everyone to be out there as a team. It does not matter who scores. It’s about the entire team, and we really stress that. I really liked the positivity and selflessness we showed.”
Isabella Gilmore turned away nine shots during a busy afternoon in net for the Bobcats.
Saranac ended the contest with a 17-0 shot advantage.
“They are a group that has truly bonded and played selfless,” Amber Liberty said. “The sky is the limit for the team when they play like that and work together.”
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Saranac 8, Northern Adirondack 0
NAC 0 0 — 0
SCS 3 5 — 8
First half- 1, SCS, Leduc (Myers), 38:45. 2, SCS, Myers (Davis), 20:27. 3, SCS, Myers (Ducatte), 11:33.
Second half- 4, SCS, Davis, 37:17. 5, SCS, Liberty (Davis), 36:45. 6, SCS, Davis (Macomber), 12:16. 7, SCS, Myers (Parker), 3:39. 8, SCS, Leduc (Liberty), 1:27.
Shots- Saranac 17, Northern Adirondack 0.
Saves- Gilmore, NAC, 9. Damiani, SCS, 0.
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