The win pushed Beekmantown to 5-1-1 on the year and capped off an impressive week that also included a victory over rival Plattsburgh. Saranac is now 3-2-2.

After a back-and-forth opening half, the Eagles finally broke through with just 90 seconds left before the break. Junior forward Carly Hagadorn converted off a setup from Olivia Miller to give Beekmantown a 1–0 halftime edge.

Olivia Hagadorn doubled the lead in the 55th minute of the second half on an assist from Reese Peryer, but Saranac answered quickly. Alyse Liberty buried a finish three minutes later on a feed from Kaelyn Smith to cut the deficit to 2–1, sparking a strong Spartan surge.

The turning point came in the 60th minute when junior defender Lizzy Burnham stepped up from the back line and unleashed a long-range strike. The ball sailed over the keeper’s reach and tucked under the crossbar, restoring a two-goal cushion at 3–1.

“That one definitely gave us some breathing room,” Beekmantown coach Jon Chapman said. “Saranac had all the momentum, and Lizzy’s goal settled us back down.”

Despite the result, Saranac showed why they will be a team to watch as the season unfolds. With a roster loaded with underclassmen, the Spartans matched Beekmantown’s intensity and disrupted their passing game for long stretches.

Freshman defender Brooklyn Thompkins and sophomore midfielder Ellen Canning were among the standouts, breaking up Eagle attacks and fueling counters that kept the home crowd on edge. Their play set the stage for Liberty’s goal and a dangerous spell that nearly evened the match.

“They’re a young team, but really well-coached,” Chapman said. “They go hard, and they’re always a tough out. You can see the way their program develops players year after year.”

For Burnham, her goal was about more than the scoreboard.
“From our defense last year, we lost pretty much half of our D,” she said. “So this year we’re rebuilding. We’ve had to learn from mistakes, but you can see we’re starting to back each other up. That goal was just me trying to help my team however I can.”

Hagadorn, who scored the opener, pointed to ball control as the key.

“If you’re not controlling the field, then you’re not contributing up top,” she said. “Once we figured that out, we were on the attack from then.”

Chapman admitted Beekmantown wasn’t at its sharpest, but he credited the Spartans as the cause of that and liked how his team responded.

“Our game usually has more passing, some give-and-gos, but Saranac really took us out of that,” he said. “So we had to rely on our athleticism. Throw Carly up there and let her run.”

Even more encouraging, the Eagles appear to be ahead of expectations after graduating stars Grace McCaslin and Peyton Parliament.

“You can’t replace players like that,” Chapman said. “But these girls have stepped up in a way that’s surprised even us coaches. We weren’t supposed to be this successful this quickly.”

That includes Peryer, a former JV standout now with nine goals this season, and freshman midfielder Shaela Zedick, who has anchored the middle from day one.

Beekmantown finished with a 9–4 shot advantage,

Next up for the Eagles is a trip to Peru on Wednesday for another key Division I matchup while the Spartans will host Northeastern Clinton that same evening.

(Note: Many PSN stories are drafted with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence and coach questionnaires, but all factual reporting, onsite observations, insight into what happened and why, interviews, and final editing is provided by Potassium Sports Network staff. For post-game video interviews, athletes are asked for their consent and coaches confirm participation. For more details, please visit https://potassiumsportsnetwork.com/about-psn).