SACO — After watching all three higher seeds win on Tuesday, Thornton Academy knew that a potential upset was possible against Deering in a Class A West girls soccer quarterfinal on Wednesday night. The Rams played the Trojans to a 1-1 tie during the regular season, and were coming off a 3-0 win over Kennebunk in the prelims. But a goal by Trojan senior captain Meg Hurrell 15 minutes into the first half was all the scoring Thornton needed to hold off the Rams and advance to a semifinal against Falmouth on Saturday.

“When the bracket came out, I was like, ”˜Wow, we’ve got them again,’” lamented Thornton head coach Chris Kohl.

The third-seeded Trojans got shots from their two offensive stars in the first four minutes of the game, as junior Tori Daigle ripped a shot that bounced off Deering goalie Lee Ann Downs’ gloves, then the corner of the goal frame, before deflecting out 2:30 in. Senior Amanda Arnold then looped a shot a minute later from the top of the penalty box that Downs easily scooped up.

Deering then turned the tide with a four-minute streak of pressure in the Thornton end, including a corner kick by Edie Pallozzi, but weren’t able to get a shot out of the attack.

“They were tough. They were in it to win it, too,” said Hurrell. “But I think tying them the first time really helped, because that motivated us more to beat them.”

The Trojans had a corner kick of their own 10 minutes in, but Arnold was stuffed at the goal trying to knock in a put-back by Katherine Gillespie. Daigle sent a shot from the right end line right at Downs a minute later.

The two hard-luck scorers gained a measure of revenge as Hurrell scored the game-winner four minutes later. Arnold fed Daigle in the right side of the box, and a shot by Daigle, that was deflected away, bounced to Hurrell, who flipped a shot that hit off Downs’ hands, off the crossbar, off Downs again, and finally into the top of the net.

“Basically it got crossed in, and then bounced around, and I just touched it in. It was kind of lucky,” said Hurrell. “It felt amazing. That was my first-ever, game-winning goal.”

“It’s a playoff goal,” said Kohl. “Playoff goals are blue-collar, getting rebounds, getting those things, and Meg did a great job of finishing it.”

The ball stayed mostly between the penalty boxes until about 10 minutes to go in the half, when the two teams traded pairs of corner kicks in the final minutes. Downs punched away a kick by Madison Tippetts with two minutes to go, and Thornton goalie Lexi Nason caught a kick by Pallozzi with 30 seconds left that amounted to the Rams’ first shot on goal.

The Trojans got the ball to start the second half, but Deering’s Alexis Elowitch ”“ who Kohl said is dangerous from her spot as a defender ”“ carried the ball from her own end three minutes in all the way to the top of the Thornton box before being veered away by Katie Senechal. The run ignited the Rams, however, and they poured on pressure onto the Trojan defense for much of the early part of the half.

“Alexis is a real special player, and real dangerous,” said Kohl.

Nason had to make a couple hard, but routine, saves on a shot from the left end line by Simone Lauture, then minutes later on a 40-yard shot by Courtney Brett off of a cleared corner kick.

Arnold just barely missed on two scoring chances midway through the first half. She just missed connecting on a cross from Daigle 14 minutes into the half, then was denied by Downs less than three minutes later on a high shot.

Thornton was denied on one of its best chances with 12 minutes to play, as Haley DaGraca was stuffed by Downs at the top of the box after a perfectly-placed send-in from Arnold.

“They’re a high-quality defensive team. I don’t think they’ve given up more than two goals all season,” said Kohl. “So getting that first goal was big.”

The Trojans had to suffer through some Deering runs deep into their territory as the clock winded down, but Nason wasn’t seriously challenged as Thornton held on for the shutout.

“It was a great game, and I’m glad we’re going onto our fifth-straight Western Maine semifinal,” said Kohl.

The Trojans will face No. 2 Falmouth ”“ a newcomer to Class A that plays a Western Maine Conference schedule ”“ on the road on Saturday. Thornton doesn’t know much about its next opponent, but Hurrell said the team knows how good it can be.

“We’re very confident that we can go in and give it our all, and we’ll really match up to them,” she said.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.