When it came right down to the end, the question was, which team had more fuel left in its reserve tank? Who had done a better job of conserving energy and loading up on water: the Thornton Academy boys soccer team or Gorham?

For the Trojans, Saturday’s game against the Rams was their third in four days. Gorham, meanwhile, was playing its fourth game in six days. So, neither team was at an advantage – energy-wise, at least – when the game went to overtime.

But the Rams showed why they’re leading the Heal Point standings in Western Class A when they came from behind to win their seventh straight, 2-1.

“They stuck a goal in pretty early against us, so we had to battle the whole game, and I was proud of my kids,” said Gorham coach Tim King. “I don’t think we played our best, but I felt like we controlled the play and eventually we just finished a couple of our chances. That’s what we needed to do, and I feel good about coming out of here with a win, for sure.”

The Rams fell behind 14:54 into the game when TA’s Brazilian exchange student, Gui Ribiero, touched a volleyed cross from Tyler Collins into the lower right corner.

The Trojans had a chance to go up 2-0 at the 31-minute mark when Collins crossed another ball to the far past, this time from the right wing. Gorham goalie Will Pike misplayed the pass, but Sam Dussault missed the net with Pike out of position.

Gorham’s best first-half chance came three minutes later. When Matt Davis came out of his crease to play a cross he took himself out of position for the rebound. The ball squirted right to Gorham’s Jake Brown in front. He blasted a shot which was destined for the back of the goal until Nate Presby’s head got in the way. Presby had his back to the play at the time, but it didn’t matter because the ball ricocheted off his skull and out of play.

It was a big break for the Trojans, but that didn’t worry Gorham captain Phil Reed. He knew the chances would continue come if the Rams kept the pressure on.

“Usually we play better in the second half, so I figured we could pick it up and score a couple goals,” said Reed. “We got the ball down the sides a lot better and put it in the box because their team crowded the middle. We got it wide and kept possession.”

And so the Rams continued to plug away and finally tied the game at one 15:25 into the second half on a free kick by Reed from 25 yards out. He bent the ball around TA’s wall and into the lower right corner.

The score remained the same until there were just 10 ticks left on the the clock in the first overtime. It was at that point that Reed rewarded teammate Mark Schmidt for the run he had just made down the left wing sidelines. Reed one-timed Schmidt’s cross past goalie Matt Davis to give the Rams a 2-1 win.

“It is mostly about timing,” said Presby. “We were marking up really nicely, but it’s just that one mistake, that one goal. It was just a breakdown on one single play.”

It was the breakdown the Rams had been looking for each time they moved the ball into Thornton’s end of the field.

“They seemed to have a lot of people back. I think they had seven, eight, nine people back, and it’s pretty difficult to penetrate that sometimes,” said King. “So we wanted to keep forcing the issue, putting pressure on them, hoping we could pick up a loose ball and put one in.”

Thornton coach Andy Carlson was disappointed with the outcome, but he wasn’t upset with the effort.

“We played more organized, more consistently. We played with a bit more energy than we have. We played with a bit more commitment and spirit, a little bit more passion,” he said. “I thought guys were on the same page much better than they’ve been the last couple of games.

“If we can take momentum out of this game and try to take it into (this) week’s games – we’ve got Noble and Wesbtrook and Sanford – we’ll be successful. But the guys have got to hold their heads high. It’s tough to play three games since Wednesday.”