KENNEBUNK — To the Western regional final. Again.
And via the same route as last year, too.
Thornton Academy moved one step closer to it first ever boys lacrosse state title game, Saturday, with a rousing, come from behind 11-10 overtime win over No. 2 seed Kennebunk.
Parker Roma’s goal with 6:57 gone in the extra session, capped a wild Golden Trojan comeback, and put them into Wednesday’s Western Class A championship tilt against top seed Scarborough.
Face off is slated for 4 p.m. at Kippy Mitchell Athletic Complex, and if it all sounds familiar, it should.
Thornton fell to the Red Storm last year in its first ever Western Region final, after having upended the Rams on their home field in the semifinal.
And on a similarly drizzly day, too boot.
What’s all this about deja vu times two?
“I don’t know if my blood pressure has come down enough,” said Ryan Hersey, Thornton’s second year coach.
It may have been off the charts when Roma, a sophomore, gathered a rebound from teammate Josh Cyr and parked it, setting off a wild celebration by the Trojans.
“Unreal,” said Roma, describing his reaction to his own deed. “Unreal. It was the best feeling.”
Both teams rode an emotional roller coaster throughout the contest.
The Rams roared out of the gate, rolling up a 6-1 first quarter lead, and threatening to leave Thornton behind on the soggy Veteran’s Memorial Field turf.
However, the Trojans rebounded, and by halftime, had sliced the deficit to 8-5.
“It was mental toughness,” said Roma, noting that Thornton had narrowly missed pulling off a six goal comeback against the Rams during the regular season. “We wanted to make sure we finished it.”
Thornton continued to work its way back into the contest, and by the 57 second mark of the fourth stanza, knotted the score, 9-9 via a Josh Cyr goal.
The teams swapped tallies late in the fourth, with Greg Lodge hitting from just six feet away to make it 10-10 with 2:55 to go in regulation.
That set up the tension filled overtime session, which featured strong saves by goalies Ben Bath of Kennebunk and Thornton’s Brett Levasseur.
“We did everything we could,” said Kennebunk coach Vinny LoBello. “Except score one more goal.”
Roma netted the clincher as he lunged past the left post, squeezing the ball through a pair of defenders and into the bottom of the cage.
“I scooped it (the loose ball) up,” said Roma, who had scored twice earlier, “and went in and put it in.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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