Last Wednesday’s boys soccer game between Bonny Eagle and Thornton Academy didn’t mean much as far as the Heal point standings were concerned, but that didn’t stop the Trojans from clinging to the tie with the type of intensity normally reserved for one and done games.

Ranked 11th when the game started, Thornton Academy needed a win over the 10th-ranked Scots to jump a spot. The Trojans settled for a 2-2 tie that set up a first-round playoff game with No. 6 Portland. The Trojans beat the Bulldogs, 3-1, earlier in the season.

“It was a hard-fought game. You’re looking at 10 and 11 playing in the Heal points – very similar records, very similar success against opponents – and you’re going to have a hard-fought game,” said TA coach Andy Carlson.

The Scots came out flat to start the game – the wind wasn’t helping much either – and, as a result, they trailed 2-0 by the end of the first half.

With the gusts at their backs in the first half, the Trojans were able to kick start their offense. Junior midfielder Mike Cronin got the first goal started when he played a ball down to senior forward Adam Harrison in the right corner. Harrison didn’t have much of an angle, but he put the ball on net anyway and hoped for the best. The shot was deflected right to Brazilian exhange student Gui Ribeiro, who popped it into the open net.

Ribeiro and Harrison hooked up again on the Trojans’ second goal, but the scoring summary was reversed. Seven minutes after putting TA up 1-0, Ribeiro found Harrison with a long through ball from near midfield. Harrison collected the pass, side-stepped oncoming Bonny Eagle goalie Jessie Doehler, and put the ball into the open net.

“We rely on them a lot,” said senior sweeper Nate Presby. “Gui’s got 12 goals or something, and Adam’s got half of those assists. As long as we keep it solid in the defense and they can do their thing up top I think we’ll be all right.”

The problem was, Harrison and Ribeiro wouldn’t do their thing again for the rest of the night. And when the Scots switched to the other end of the field after the halftime break, they had the wind at their backs. Just like TA, they capitalized.

Tyler Fox pulled the Scots to within a goal eight minutes into the second stanza. He settled a pass 25 yards out from TA goalie Matt Davis, then used a defender as a screen and shot against the grain into the bottom right corner.

“Getting that goal early in the second half was a big morale booster for us and gave us a little spirit and we played better,” said BE coach Bob Bourget.

The Scots kept plugging away and finally tied the game at the 27:56 mark. Freshman Tim Grovo played a long cross into the box from the right sideline, and junior Randy Ruginski outjumped everyone to get his head on the ball and knock it past Davis.

The goalie redeemed himself four minutes into the first OT when he punched away a Richard Harvey shot destined for the upper right corner.

The save of the game, though, belonged to BE’s Doehler, who was filling in for the starting keeper (concussion). With 10 seconds left in the second OT, Doehler perfectly read and smothered a Ribeiro volley from 15 yards out.

“We played an overtime game yesterday. They played an overtime game yesterday,” said Carlson. “You’re going to get an emotional game late in the season. This has playoff implications and it was played with playoff intensity.”