WINDHAM — Despite trailing 2-0 at halftime against undefeated Windham ”“ which had given up just five goals all year ”“ Thornton Academy found a way to battle back, only to fall just short in the Class A West girls soccer title game, 4-3, in double overtime on Wednesday.

Top-seeded Windham came into the game with only a 2-2 tie against Scarborough, preventing them from winning every game this season. The Eagles then edged the Red Storm on penalty kicks on Saturday to get to the Western Maine final.

No. 3 Thornton, which won in double overtime against Falmouth in the semifinals, was knocked on its heels when Windham took a 1-0 lead 7:15 into the game.

The Eagles dominated the opening minutes of the game, with Ciera Berthiaume’s opening goal seemingly inevitable.

“I don’t know if the situation overwhelmed us ”¦ I don’t know. We played a little tentative in the first half,” said Thornton head coach Chris Kohl.

The Trojans evened out possession midway through the half, using a corner kick and a direct kick to force the ball into the Windham end. Thornton nearly evened the game up with 18 minutes left in the half, but a close-range shot by Amanda Arnold was deflected away, and a rebound shot by Katherine Gillespie went wide left.

Windham made the halftime deficit even more daunting when Jenna Soucy was left unmarked in the left side of the penalty box and sent a low shot past Thornton goalie Lexi Nason with less than five minutes to play.

“We knew that, even though they scored two (goals), we’ve scored more than two in a half. So we knew we were still in the game; we had plenty of time left,” Thornton junior defender Kaitlyn McCrum said about the team’s mindset at halftime.

The Trojans got halfway to a comeback a little more than one minute into the second half as Tori Daigle dribbled through the right side of the box, then blasted a shot into the left side of the goal.

“It was great. It was definitely a confidence-booster for her,” McCrum said. “It got the whole team going, really.”

The Eagles regained their two-goal cushion less than four minutes later when Berthiaume scored on a pass from Cassie Symonds.

To make matters worse for the Trojans, senior defender Carly McKenna went down with an injury a minute later and didn’t return.

“It was kind of a momentum-stopper ”¦ but we were saying ”˜win it for her,’” said McCrum.

Undaunted, the Trojans rallied around their fallen teammate, and just before the 10-minute mark, Haley DaGraca was left open in the box, where Arnold found her for a goal. The scoring subsided after that, with the Trojans defense ”“ sans McKenna ”“ shutting down Berthiaume and the Eagle attack, which flipped field position with ease at times.

“She’s very fast. We just had to keep our shape ”¦ and don’t have any gaps for through balls,” said McCrum.

With the clock winding down, the Trojans started to get in desperation mode, and Arnold led the charge. The senior captain, who notched 21 assists during the regular season and was staring at the end of her high school career, was on the giving end of another goal, as she sent a cross in from the right corner to fellow senior Meg Hurrell, who flicked in a re-direct for the tying goal with 3:28 left to play.

“We put them on their heels. They gave up five goals all year; we scored three goals in one half,” said Kohl.

Arnold nearly ended the game in overtime, but a shot in the middle of the box on a cross from Daigle missed just wide right with 1:10 to go.

Windham got the ball first in overtime and held an advantage in scoring chances. Arnold had Thornton’s only close call ”“ a shot from 35 yards out that went just over the crossbar ”“ before a corner kick in the final seconds led to an off-balance shot from Hurrell that Windham goalie Kate Kneeland calmly scooped up.

The game ”“ and the season ”“ came to an abrupt end for Thornton in the fifth minute of the second overtime, the same point of the game that the Trojans scored against Falmouth to get to the regional final. Berthiaume sent a corner kick from the left side to the near post, where Emily Gorrivan re-directed it inside the near post to clinch the Windham win.

“They took it real quick, and we just weren’t ready. Kudos to them,” said Kohl. “They made a great play, and that wins the game.

“I wish we had won this game, because I think they deserved to win just as much as Windham did, in the sense that both teams left it out on the field. Windham just finished one more than we did.”

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