KENNEBUNK ”“ Max Meserve fired home five first half goals, and Kennebunk needed every one of them to hang on for a 9-8 win over Thornton Academy, in SMAA boys lacrosse action, Friday.
Impressively, Meserve was a perfect, 5-for-5 in shot attempts in the first half, when the Rams launched out to an 8-2 lead.
“I love the kid,” said Kennebunk coach Vinny LoBello. “I have so much confidence in him. Just catching the ball first. He rarely drops it. Then he looks up and can hit the corners, quick.”
The first of those came at 3:07 of the first quarter, two minutes after Nate Colpitts had given Thornton it’s only lead with a bouncer.
Meserve finished the quarter with his second goal, at 10:41 to put the Rams up 3-2, after Trojans goalie Brett Lavasseur had made a stellar stop on Clayton Spang.
Kennebunk reeled off five consecutive goals in the second quarter, three of them by Meserve, along with single tallies by Spang and Sean Foley.
“They were doing really well together,” said midfielder Sean Finn. “(Foley) would dump it down and Max was making big cuts.
The Trojans stemmed the bleeding with a goal late in the second quarter, then hauled themselves back into contention with a trio of markers in the third.
Scores by Thomas Abbott and Greg Lodge made it 8-5, before Christ Dolewa deposited a highlight reel goal with 29.6 seconds left in the quarter to bring the Trojans to within two goals.
Snaring a pass with his left hand, the 6-foot-6 Dolewa cut to the left post, then shoe-horned a shot into the upper left corner.
“I think he just had it in his mind,” said Thornton coach Ryan Hersey, “that he was going to bring this team back. He certainly did what he could to do that.”
From there it was a sprint to the finish line.
Kennebunk freshman Patrick Rimmer polished off a Meserve rebound to make it 9-6 with 19 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.
Thornton replied with goals by Dolewa and Cory Dion, both on wraparounds, to cut the margin to one goal with 5:48 left.
But despite a furious flurry by the Trojans late in the game, Kennebunk was able to hang on for the win.
Both teams have trips to Windham on their schedule, with the Rams (6-3) set to visit there, Monday, and Thornton (6-3) slated to follow, Wednesday.
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