BIDDEFORD — Thornton Academy girls soccer coach Chris Kohl says senior forward Haley DaGraca has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time in the opposing team’s penalty area.

On Wednesday night against rival Biddeford, DaGraca again showed off that unteachable talent, scoring a pair of first half goals on bouncing balls in the Biddeford box to lead the Golden Trojans to 5-0 victory in an SMAA game at Waterhouse Field.

After Thornton’s high-powered offense was continually frustrated by Biddeford’s packed-in defense over the opening 20 minutes, DaGraca was found by a bouncing ball at the back post for an easy finish to get the Trojans on the board midway through the half. A few minutes later, the ball again found DaGraca inside the box as Katie Senechal’s long ball was allowed to bounce and evaded a number of players near the top of the box, allowing DaGraca another easy tap in right on the goal line.

“Haley has those really good kind of moments,” Kohl said. “She’s a good finisher as long as she stays patient, and she gets those easy goals.”

Thornton had controlled the opening 20 minutes, applying plenty of pressure on the Tigers’ defense but failing to find a way past goalie Anna Marie Seiler. The Golden Trojans forced Seiler into five saves in the opening 20 minutes, but sent twice as many shots wide of the net or over the bar.

“We took a lot of shots in the first half, and a lot of them weren’t on frame or their goalie made a really good save,” DaGraca said. “We just had to keep shooting, and eventually they’d go in.”

“They made lot of really good saves and blocks, and we were taking some weird-angled shots,” said Kohl. “They were letting us come to them, but they were doing a very good job of packing the box and making it difficult on us.

“We just needed to stay patient. We were taking some desperation shots early on that we didn’t need to, but we were getting down there a lot.”

The Trojans’ dominance paid off with 18:16 left in the half. With a throw in to the right side near the end line, Thornton’s Brooke Cross wound up and flung the ball into the box. It took a big bounce over Seiler and Tigers defender Jija Young, and found a slightly surprised DaGraca waiting alone at the far post for a tap in.

“I know that Brooke has a good throw, but still, I was like, ”˜Wow,’ when it got to me,” DaGraca said. “It bounced over their heads, and I was just there.”

She could have said the same thing when describing her second goal. With a free kick won near midfield, Senechal stepped up and lofted a high ball into the box from straight on. Seiler and three Thornton players went up for the ball but missed, and DaGraca, who had slipped behind the Tigers defense, again found herself all alone with the ball on her foot from point-blank range.

“Katie just lobbed it over the top, and it was a perfect ball,” DaGraca said. “Three of our players crashed the goalie, so I was wide open. All I had to do is just tap it in. It was an easy goal, but it was a good play.”

Biddeford’s lone chance of the game came soon after as midfielder Missy Huot ran onto a ball through the Thornton defense and from just outside the box took a swing. Hit hard, the ball dipped and swung and just evaded the reach of a leaping Trojans goalie Lexi Nason, but harmlessly hit the top of the bar.

Thornton then put the game away after the half, scoring three goals in a 2:39 span. Cassidy Cochrane got the Trojans’ third goal with a left-footed shot from near the penalty spot into the bottom left corner of the Tigers goal, a spot Tori Daigle then found with a hard-hit shot from the right side of the box.

Katherine Gillespie then ended the scoring with a run through the Biddeford defense before hitting a shot that took a deflection off a Tigers defender and left Seiler (11 saves) with no chance.

“We worked really hard on being disciplined in the back line and all over the field when we defend,” Biddeford coach Darren Boynton said. “Some of those touches just get away from you, because you can only be disciplined for so long, but for the most part, the goals did a good job against a high-powered offense.

“(Thornton’s) off-ball movement is very good, and they do a good job of getting in behind defenders and play balls in. Technically, they’re a very strong team, and when they get the ball, they do damage.”

Thornton, which has now scored 33 goals in six games, improved to 5-1 and will face a test when it hosts 5-0-1 Marshwood on Friday.

On the other side, despite the loss, which drops Biddeford to 1-4-1, Boynton said that overall, he was happy with his team’s performance, especially on the defensive end, something that he hopes carries over into Saturday’s game against 1-5 Massabesic.

“We step away from this game playing as a team again,” Boynton said. “It’s something that we’ve struggled with recently. When we play as a team, that’s what we can do. Thornton is a very strong team, and it was a matter of us playing as a team again. That’s what it takes at Biddeford.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.