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SACO — Thornton Academy’s field hockey roster includes six sophomores and five freshmen, many of whom play regularly.

“We expected more of a rebuilding type of year,” said Mary Brown, a junior center midfielder. “What we’ve done it’s impressive.”

The third-ranked Trojans defeated sixth-seeded South Portland 2-1 on Tuesday to advance to the Western Class A semifinals Saturday.

Thornton (11-3-1) will be home against seventh-seeded Bonny Eagle at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Trojans led throughout, turning back a frantic South Portland surge in the second half.

“We didn’t stop. I think we just ran out of time,” said Red Riots Coach Heather Seavey.

After an evenly played first half, which ended with Thornton ahead 1-0, South Portland controlled the second-half action.

But Felicia Farnham hit the inside of the left post six minutes into the half, and the Trojans capitalized on one of their few chances with 7:31 left as Breanna Thibodeau swept in a rebound.

Jaclyn Salevsky spoiled the shutout with 1:42 remaining, but the Riots (8-7) couldn’t get another shot at sophomore goalie Abbey Siulinski.

“I would have liked the shutout,” said Trojans Coach Lori Smith, “but our defense has been really strong and has given us a lot of confidence. We don’t seem to get as panicky anymore on defense as we did at the start of the season.”

Brown, the flyer on Thornton’s defensive corners, said there’s no reason to panic.

“We all know each other and we all trust each other,” she said of the defense. “There’s constant communication. We know if someone gets by us, there’ll be somebody else there to cover.”

South Portland double-teamed Katrina Thibodeau, who had three goals in the Trojans’ 4-2 regular-season victory against the Riots. That left other people open.

In the first half, that was freshman Morgan Dube. With the Trojans pressing South Portland goalie Lani Edwards, Dube got her stick on the ball. It bounced behind Edwards and rolled – ever so slowly – toward the goal line. A defender got her stick on it, but Dube had pushed the ball hard enough to get it over the line for a 1-0 lead with 8:40 left in the first half.

“It rolled in, got behind the goalie and under a girl’s stick,” said Dube. “That was pretty exciting, even though it was a lousy goal.”

It stayed that way – even with South Portland pressing – until the Trojans broke out on a three-on-one break late in the second half. Katherine Campisi took a hard shot outside the circle – meaning the shot wouldn’t have counted as a goal even if it went in.

The ball rebounded off Edwards’ pads – right to Breanna Thibodeau, who was uncovered. “I tried my reverse hit,” she said. “I’ve been working on it in practice. It felt really good.”

And, said Brown, it gave the Trojans a big lift.

“That just set off everyone,” she said. “We looked at each other and knew that was it.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com