Trojans joust Knights 4-0

NORTH BERWICK — Pressure.

It’s a word that’s good to hear when it comes to soccer. In the case of the Thornton Academy girls soccer team, it was pressure that helped them beat Noble 4-0 at Bourbon Field.

Thornton head coach Chris Kohl said it was great for the Golden Trojans to get a win against Noble, especially at Bourbon Field, where they’ve had a tricky past.

“It’s always an adventure when we come down here,” Kohl said. “I was sharing with them some stories of years past. The last time, we had to go to double-overtime to win, the time before that it was 0-0 and we outshot them 30-2 or something like that. As much as we [talk about] ‘One game at a time’, we just came off Cheverus, some of them know Gorham is next. We had some kids who couldn’t play due to injury, so it was really nice to see some kids step up who haven’t played as many minutes as they would like, even though we know they’re great players, it was great to see them take the initiative, and spread the wealth with the goal-scorers. I just wanted to come out here and get a win in a good way. It’s hard to play here in the middle of the day, too.”

The Trojans (6-2) kept pressure on the Knights all through the first half. The Trojans were able to take 10 shots against Noble goalie Steph Needham alone, and scored on two. Kaitlyn Hall scored the first goal, a 1-on-1 shot against Needham after a pass Sarah Young midway through the first half, to make the score 1-0. Minutes later, after a long pass from Tori Cooper, Christie Roberts chipped a shot over Needham’s head into the net for a goal and a 2-0 lead.

Hall said the Trojans are improving every week as a team, especially with communication on the field.

“It’s a new team and we’re trying to work together and communicate together, and I thing it’s coming along, and I think we’re doing really well as a team and we’re building on that,” Hall said.

Thornton continued the pressure in the second half, punching more shots in Neeham’s direction. The Trojans scored two more goals, one from Amanda Arnold, off a Jamie Durie pass, gave Thornton a 3-0 lead. Soon after, Durie scored a goal of her own, from a Lauren Couture pass, to make the score 4-0.

Thornton goalie Sydney Proctor made seven saves to seal the shutout, and though she allowed four goals, Needham was the star of the game for the Knights, making 21 saves.

The Trojans must now take on one of its toughest opponents, Gorham, on Friday afternoon at Hill Stadium in Saco. The Rams have been a long-time nemesis to Thornton, winning every year until last season, when, for the first time in Kohl’s tenure, the Trojans beat Gorham.

Kohl said the game will let the Trojans know where they stand amongst the best teams in Western Class A.

“We’re going to have to score more goals than them,” Kohl said. “It’ll be a fun game. It’s a game that you look at and say, ‘Okay, where are we at?’ because you know they’re one of the best teams in the league. It’s a measuring stick game, to see where you’re at. It’s the ninth game of the season, whoever wins that game gets a lot of [heal] points, if you tie you split them. It’ll be a battle between 6-2 teams.”