Salmon River Celebrates First Game on New Artificial Turf Field

By Andy Gardner.

FORT COVINGTON – Salmon River High School marked the opening of a brand-new turf field with a ribbon cutting and a varsity girls soccer game against Lisbon.

The new installation is set up for multiple sports. It's striped for soccer, lacrosse, and Salmon's budding football program.

Superintendent of Schools Stanley Harper said the new field is "a long time coming." After a public awareness and input campaign, district voters "unanimously" approved the measure, which for years had been proposed but never carried out.

Harper described the field as state of the art and is the exact same composition as Highmark Stadium, the home field of the NFL's Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.

"It's a better facility than most colleges in the North Country," he said.

Salmon River Athletic Director Shawn Miller said the new field is a good thing for both Shamrocks sports locally and also the rest of Section 10.

"It's a great opportunity for kids to play on a state-of-the-art facility," he said. "I'm just very excited. It's been a long process. I want to thank Dr. Harper and the Board of Education and coaches. I'm just speechless. This is awesome."

"The kids are very excited," he added.

The inaugural game was a varsity girls soccer match between the Shamrocks and the Lisbon Knights, who won the game 1-0 in overtime. Ava Murphy scored the game-winning goal with an assist from Leah Warren.

In other recent Salmon River and Massena varsity sports contests:

Tuesday, Sept. 18 volleyball, Massena 3 Tupper Lake 0 – The Raiders swept the game in three sets, 25-16, 26-24 and 25-22. Kaniehtentha Thompson served seven points with seven kills and five blocks. Lauren Park made six kills. Allison Lazore pitched in five kills and 11 service points with four aces. Katelyn Benham made 14 assists, five service points and three aces. Makenna Cameron served up seven points and "outstanding defense," Coach Nicole Deshaies said. Nylah Tillman served three points and made three kills.

Thursday, Sept. 14, boys soccer, Ogdensburg 3 Salmon River 0 – Xavier Delormier made six saves in the Salmon River net in a road game at Ogdensburg.

Thursday, Sept. 14, boys soccer, Ogdensburg 3 Salmon River 0 – The Shamrocks fell short to the Blue Devils in a road match. OFA's Mikael Adner notched a crucial second goal with just nine seconds remaining in the first half. He swiftly directed a corner kick from Nate Woods past Salmon River goalie Xavier Delormier, who made a total of eight saves. Collin Brenno initiated the scoring sequence by making a dash down the right wing, compelling a defender to clear the ball over the endline. Senior marksman Syrus Gladle secured the opening goal 19 minutes into the game, capitalizing on a through pass from Collin Brenno. He followed it up by scoring the lone goal of the second half at the 19:04 mark, calmly converting a low shot after settling a deflected corner kick. OFA's goalkeeper, Ian Rose, preserved the shutout by handling four shots, with an additional crucial stop coming from Nathan Irvine in an open field situation against Salmon River's dynamic forward, Dylan Johnson, late in the first half.

Wednesday, Sept. 13, volleyball, Salmon River 3 Massena 2 – A Shamrocks-Raiders showdown went five sets with the 'Rocks coming out on top after the fifth round. Massena's Nylah Tillman served 15 points with four aces. Kaniehtentha Thompson recorded seven service points, two aces and eight kills. Lauren Park served up six points with three aces and five kills. Katelyn Benham tallied nine service points, four aces and 22 assists. Allison Lazore scored nine service points with an ace, five kills and a block. Makenna Cameron served up eight points.

Wednesday, Sept. 13, girls soccer, Massena 7 Ogdensburg 0 – Joey Phillips and Izzie Laughlin, with two goals and one assist each, paced the Massena offense. OFA's Meriam Skamperle was noted for strong play in the midfield and Julia Ives for making a lot of good saves.

Tuesday, Sept. 12, volleyball, Massena 3 Brushton 0 – The Raiders easily won the match with scores of 25-11, 25-5 and 25-12. Nylah Tillman tallied a whopping 31 service points with 13 aces. Kaniehtentha Thompson served up five points with four kills and one block. Mylynn Laughing netted four service points. Allison Lazore served five points and made two kills. Katelyn Benham notched eight assists and two kills. Lauren Park contributed four kills.

Tuesday, Sept. 12, volleyball, Malone 3 Salmon River 1 – In Fort Covington, the Salmon River varsity volleyball team faced off against their county rivals from Malone and suffered a 3-1 defeat. The Shamrocks (0-2) secured an initial victory by winning the first set against the Huskies (2-0) with a score of 25-16. However, Franklin Academy staged a comeback, clinching the next three sets with scores of 25-23, 25-21, and 25-15. Senior Shelby Jock led the charge for SRC, contributing nine kills and six service points, while junior Audrey Terrance added eight kills. Senior Tessa Laffin chipped in with five service points, and freshman Jemma Jacobs contributed two, with sophomore Grayci George scoring a single service point.

Tuesday Sept. 12, boys soccer, Salmon River 1 Potsdam 0 – In a Central Division match against Potsdam, Salmon River secured the lead and eventual victory with Ty Leroux finding the back of the net in the eighth minute. Dylan Johnson provided the assist for the Shamrocks, while Xavier Delormier maintained a clean sheet by making four crucial saves.

Thursday, Sept. 7, volleyball, Franklin Academy 3 Massena 2 – The Huskies narrowly edged past the Raiders. The first set went to Malone 25-23. The second went to Massena, also 25-23. Malone came back and took set three 25-20. Massena balanced the scoreboard after four sets with a 25-17 win. Sudden death came out in favor of Malone 15-13. For the Raiders, Makenna Cameron served up 19 points with three aces. Allison Lazore tallied six service points with five kills. Lauren Park served nine points.