KENNEBUNK — They were barely a whisper in the playoff conversation just a few short weeks ago.
Now the Thornton Academy boys laxers have made their voices hear.
And loudly.
The Golden Trojans, whose 1-6 start nearly doomed any post season hopes, have secured a spot in the Western Maine Class A final, thanks to Saturday’s 11-7 semifinal upset of top seeded Kennebunk.
Thornton, which has never played in a state championship game, can reach its first by downing No. 3 Scarborough, Wednesday (4 p.m.) at the Kippy Mitchell Athletic Complex.
“As much as we’ve gotten better,” said Thornton coach Ryan Hersey, “they improved, too. They’re going to give us a battle. They have a huge amount of depth.”
Thornton enjoys some depth, too, which was proven as top snipers Tim Grose, Chris Dolewa, and SteveWoodcock, all connected early to give the Trojansa 3-0 lead.
”We’ve been right where we’ve wanted to be defensively with the zone we’ve got running now,” said Grose, a senior, whose early season loss to a concussion dealt a big blow to the Trojans. “It was just a matter of getting our offense going, and we were able to do it early. That helped us boost ourconfidence.”
Woodcock’s came with 2:32 gone in the second quarter from close range. Kennebunk rebounded with tallies by Sean Foley and Clayton Spang. Spang’s goal, with 7:20 gone, came after a feed from Blake Dowe, andbrought the Rams to within 3-2.
However, Grose halted the Kennebunk momentum a minute later, when his righthand sidewinder from 20 yards out made it 4-2, a lead the Trojans took into half time.
Grose went from goal scorer to play maker as the third quarter opened, when he found the 6-foot-6 Dolewa standing unguarded outside the goal crease, and set him up for a pair of goals that upped the Thornton lead to 6-2.
Trailing 8-3 heading into the final quarter, the Rams managed to makematters interesting by closing to within three goals, twice.
The second of those came with 4:49 to play, when Kyle Blunt scored to make it 10-7.
“I think we made themnervous all the way to the end,” said Kennebunk coach Vinny LoBello, who wrapped up his first year at the helm. “That’s all you can do, right?”
However, the issue was all but settled when Thornton’s Cody Forbes tallied with 3:31 to go.
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