PORTLAND — On a night when the Thornton Academy defense allowed more than one goal for the first time all season, the offense stepped up, scoring three second-half goals to beat Cheverus 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Amanda Arnold scored a hat trick for the Trojans, who remained undefeated at 10-0.
Not only did the Trojans give up more than one goal, but they trailed for just the second time all season. The Stags scored a little more than seven minutes into the game, as Abby Maker’s shot from the just inside the 18 glanced off a Thornton defender and rolled into the right corner of the net. Maker then assisted Madeline Richardson on a goal nine minutes later, as Richardson looped a shot from the top left corner of the 18 into the upper right corner of the net and over the out-stretched hands of goalie Emily Richard.
“The bottom line is, we got punched in the mouth, punched in the mouth, punched in the mouth, and we kept responding,” said Thornton head coach Chris Kohl.
The Trojans cut the deficit to 2-1 on Arnold’s first goal of the game, with 16 minutes left in the first half. Arnold beat a defender to a ball at the top-left of the 18 and pushed it past Cheverus goalie Hannah Tyson.
“(That goal) gave us the motivation to keep pushing forward, and it gave us the mentality that we could do it, and come back and win,” said Arnold.
Arnold scored the equalizer early in the second half, as she beat a defender to a bouncing serve from Katelyn Pierson and flicked it over Tyson’s head and into the back of the net.
The momentum gained by that goal didn’t last long for the Trojans, as Cheverus pulled ahead two minutes later. Darby Rawcliffe sent a half-hearted shot towards the net from 15 yards out, and the ball took a funny bounce and sneaked past Richard.
“(Emily) said ”˜last year that would have bothered me,’ that third goal. And this year, she just fought through it, had a short memory, and that showed her maturity,” Kohl said.
The Trojans rallied around giving up that third goal. Arnold and Tori Daigle started pressuring the Cheverus defense, and with less than 20 minutes left, it paid off. Daigle snapped a close-range shot at Tyson, and pushed the rebound into the back of the net.
Arnold finished off the hat trick, and the game, with 8:22 remaining, as she scored in similar fashion to her second goal. As three Cheverus defenders casually retreated to get a bouncing ball at the top of the 18, Arnold came racing in and flipped it over Tyson’s head for the game-winner.
“I was very, very excited when we scored (the game-winning goal), but I knew that our team had to keep composure, and keep going forward, because the game wasn’t over yet,” said Arnold.
Sadie Lyons gave the Trojans a scare with four minutes left, as she had some space in the box, but looped the shot wide left. Richard only had to worry about a couple slow rollers in the last few minutes as Thornton held on and won.
“It was a great win for us,” said Kohl. “We kept battling back. And that’s the sign of a great team, that they don’t give up.”
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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