GORHAM — It wasn’t supposed to end this way, not against a Gorham team that although carried the top seed, had amassed its unbeaten 13-0 record playing a schedule of lower tier teams the equal of squads from day cares and old age homes.

So it was that playoff tested No. 4 Kennebunk decided that it wouldn’t end just yet, and hauled itself back from the brink of extinction with a four-goal closing rally resulting in a rousing 12-10 in a Western Maine Class A girls lacrosse semifinal playoff tilt, Saturday.

The Rams will now visit No. 2 Thornton Academy, Wednesday (time TBA), with hopes of defending their Western Region championship.

“I think we realized we had time,” said senior attack Meghan Smith, who started Kennebunk on the road back with a free position goal with 3:58 to play, “and just to not stop. We just needed to get going.”

Said senior attack Jamie Spang, who scored seven times, “When Meg had just scored to make it 10-9, I almost started crying. I didn’t want this to be my last game. I said, ”˜I’m getting the ball, and I’m going to score. I’m going to make our team win.’”

It was that sort of will to win that Kennebunk had shown only in streaks during the first half, although it clutched a 7-5 intermission lead.

“Gorham has a lot of aggression,” said Spang, “and I think they turned it on at times. I think we sat back, and took them a little for granted.”

That seemed even more true in the 6:12 of the second half, when Gorham scored four straight goals — the first three by Mia Rapolla — to take a 9-7 lead.

Two of those came with Gorham playing one man down.

On its heels and desperately needing a boost, Kennebunk got one in the form of a flurry of huge saves by senior net minder Taylor Vaughan.

In a three-minute span, Vaughan made game saving stops on Chelsea Black, Aimee St. Germain (twice) and finally Ashley Martin with 12:00 left to play.

“She is the best goalie in the state,” said Spang. “I’m really proud to have her on my team.”

Vaughan said she was merely rising to the challenge of the moment.

“As a goalie, you have to stop those,” she said, “and give momentum to our team.

“I kind of showed up in the second half. I really wasn’t there in the first half. I kind of felt if I start saving some  shots and pump myself up, it might pump up the rest of the team.”

It did.

Trailing 10-8 with 21:02 gone in the half, Smith was clobbered coming through the middle and was awarded a free position attempt.

Having seen Gorham goalie MacKenzie Smith make a slew of stops on high shots, Smith decided to go low.

“I just realized  I had to do something,” she said. “I just put it low, like we’ve been working on.”

Good choice on her part.

After regaining the ball on the ensuing face off, Smith was fed the ball again, and scored the last of her three goals, knotting the score at 10-10.

“It was just a bounce shot, in,” said Smith. “Just a quick little thing. There was a lot of confusion in front of the net. And a little bit of luck, too.”

Having been down by two goals just four minutes before, Kennebunk woke up to the notion that it was a new game. A sprint to the finish. One that it won with ease with Spang leading the charge.

“Coach wanted me to get the ball more“ said Spang, who held been held under wraps by Gorham defenders for most of the half. “I knew I could do what I had to do. I wanted the ball and have that control of the game at that point.”

Spang won the next face off, got the ball back to teammate Camille Auger, who returned it to her.

Spang bolted up the middle and with a clear lane open and 3:02 to play, lashed in the go-ahead goal.

She added an insurance marker a minute later, while the Kennebunk defense, led by Danni Rafferty and Jen Bryant, helped seal the result.

“We got our heads up,” said Vaughan. “We stuck it out and we won.”

— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 ext. 318 or dhickling@journaltribune.com.