SLP’s Addison Colby takes a shot on net during the Section VII championship game against Beekmantown at the Saranac Lake Civic Center on Feb. 12. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE — In just one season, the Saranac Lake Placid girls hockey team has doubled its win total and cut down its scoring deficit by a solid margin. But as for a sectional title, that’ll have to wait.

The SLP girls season came to an end on Feb. 12 at the Saranac Lake Civic Center as the Beekmantown Eagles soared to a 4-0 victory in the Section VII championship game.

It’s the second year in a row that the Eagles have claimed the sectional banner. However, the Feb. 12 contest was a far cry from last season’s 9-0 championship result. The SLP girls made it a close game through strong defensive play and solid goalkeeping, but were unable to hang with Beekmantown offensively.

“I think we did some good things, but Beekmantown is a tough team,” SLP head coach Josh Dann said.

The Eagles’ Katie McCormick scored twice, while Amaya Abellard added a goal and an assist. Avery Parker also scored for Beekmantown, which improved to 18-2-1 overall.

Sophia Amaya-Gutierrez had two assists and Adyson Campbell had one. Kori Lynne-Lamoy had 14 saves in net to earn the shutout.

On the other side, SLP’s senior goalkeeper, Kelsey McKillip turned away 22 shots, and did her best to keep the game close.

“She’s been our rock all season,” Dann said. “She’s a quiet leader and the girls look up to her.”

McKillip held a shutout through the first period before Abellard got the Eagles on the board halfway through the second when she skated past two SLP defenders before rifling a shot over McKillip’s right shoulder.

Beekmantown extended its lead with a power play goal from Parker with 3:30 left in the middle period, before McCormick connected on a rebound a couple of minutes later to push the score to 3-0.

McCormick closed out the scoring in the third period after crashing the net and burying a loose puck.

While SLP had trailed by three goals in the final period, the team played what Dann thought was their best period and even had the same shot totals as Beekmantown during that time.

“One great attribute for this team is that we don’t always look good, we don’t always play good, but we’re never giving up,” he said. “I think it says a lot about the character of our team.”

Dann praised his four seniors, who he said have been through some ups and downs during their varsity career.

“I just want to say ‘thank you’ to them for sticking out one more year,” he said. “Our girls were committed all season to work hard and get better. I just want to thank them, but I’m also looking forward to next year because we have a lot of young kids coming back. We’ve got a lot of talent and hopefully we just keep getting better.”

SLP had been on a tear as of late, winning three of its last five games and the other two outings were a tie and a one-goal loss. They ended their season with a 6-12-1-1 overall.

Beekmantown advanced to the NYSPHSAA regional championship, where it defeated the Section X champions Potsdam Sandstoners 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 17 at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. The Eagles will now compete in the state semifinal against Adirondack United on Feb. 21 at Utica University’s Nexus Center.