SCARBOROUGH — It had been a wild and exhilarating ride for the Thornton Academy boys laxers, but it came to an abrupt and premature end on the spongy turf of the Kippy Mitchell Complex, Wednesday.

Hoping to land its first ever berth in the Class A state championship game, the fourth seeded Golden Trojans instead fell one game short when No. 3 Scarborough beath them 5-3.

The Red Storm will face defending state champs Portland in Saturday’s title tilt while Thornton, which had to scuffle hard to make the playoffs, will be left to look for silver linings.

Not that one would be hard to find.

After all, Thornton recovered from an 1-6 start and nearly added one more chapter to this unlikely Cinderella story.

“We made school history, at least,” said senior attack Steve Woodcock. “We had never gotten past the first round. I’d like to say that what we’ve done is remarkable. We like to think that this year is a stepping stone for the next few years to come.”

Thornton’s battle was an uphill one almost from the outset.

The Trojans trailed 2-0 less than 5 minutes into the encounter, and 3-1 after halftime.

Thornton’s offense, which features some of the top forwards in the state, couldn’t get untracked.

Half a dozen unforced turnovers committed in the first quarter further hampered the Thornton cause.

“They did a phenomenal job of picking off some of our passes,” said Trojans coach Ryan Hersey. “And they made us pay for it.”

Thornton righted itself enough in the second quarter to cut into the deficit, after Parker Roma took a lead pass from Codie Dube and connected from the slot.

The teams swapped tallies early in the third quarter, with Chris Dolewa getting his first of two goals, at 5:04, to keep Thornton within arm’s length, 4-2.

Scarborough’s Andrew Jones, however, scored with just 21 seconds left in the stanza, restoring the Red Storm’s three-goal advantage.

Large enough, as it turned out, to dash the Trojans’ hopes.

“That last goal,” said Hersey. “They (the Trojans) could have given up. But we were still going hard toward the end. That’s what I wanted to see from these guys.”

Dolewa scored with 25.8 seconds left in the game, making matters a little closer.

“We came out strong,” said Woodcock, who will try to play for the University of Vermont as a walk on, next year, “but not strong enough.”

— Contact Staff Writer Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.