SACO — A championship is not won or lost in the first game of the season, but for two teams with championship aspirations, a lot can be learned after just one game.

As it did 10 1/2 months earlier, Massabesic got the better of Thornton Academy in girls lacrosse, but with far less on the line this time around. The rematch of last year’s Western Maine Class A regional final went the same way Friday afternoon, with the Mustangs downing the Trojans, as the regular season opener was decided by a 7-5 score.

The Trojans (0-1) lost last year’s playoff game by a similarly close score (6-5), but head coach Craig Agreste said that had little bearing as the 2015 season opened.

“It meant more to the returning starters than it did anybody else,” said Agreste. “To me it’s a whole different team. They’re a different team, we’re a different team.”

Thornton got first whack at scoring the first goal of the season, as it won the opening draw and held possession for the first 3:30 of the game. But a Massabesic (1-0) team that had plenty of roster turnover from last year’s championship team passed its first test of the year by shutting out the Trojans on that opening possession.

“As a defensive coach, you feel like it’s down there forever when it’s only been a minute, minute and a half,” said Massabesic head coach Brooks Bowen. “You have to be prepared for those long duration stands.”

While the Trojans failed to score on their first possession, the Mustangs didn’t, as Maquila DiMastrantonio scored 4:32 in on a free possession shot.

Thornton showed some life on offense, tying the game then taking the lead in a 57-second span on goals by Amanda Cyr and Faith Sinclair.

But just over two minutes later back came the Mustangs, as Emma Desrochers scored a pair of similar goals 61 seconds apart. Desrochers received the ball at the top of the arc and slinked through the TA defense before splashing the back of the net.

The Mustangs continued to close the first half strong, as they scored three of the next four goals in the final 10 minutes of the period to go up 6-3 at halftime.

It was a half that didn’t sit well with Agreste, who liked how his team ran the offense ”“ save for some forced shots ”“ but was concerned with some breakdowns on defense.

“In close games against good competition when you make a mistake it magnifies. I think in the first half, we made three critical mistakes, and we went into the half down three goals. Against a good team you can’t get in that deficit,” said Agreste. “I thought in the second half we were better, but unfortunately we went down too many goals early.”

The Trojans closed the gap to just one goal 1:17 in, as Julianna Grondin scored on a free position shot 62 seconds in, then Sinclair won the ensuing faceoff and took it all the way for another score.

Thornton had a chance to knot things up a couple times four minutes later, but Massabesic goalie Megan Hill twice stopped free possession shots.

“Meg’s been a rock for us for ”¦ this is her third year now,” Bowen said of Hill. “She gets better every year.”

“We had our chance, unfortunately it was ”“ against a good team ”“ too big of a deficit,” said Agreste.

Karlie Pike put the final stamp on the game nine minutes in as she finished off a fast break, with an assist by Mackenzie Kidder.

It was Pike’s second goal of the game, as she joined DiMastrantonio, Desrochers, Kidder and Delia Sylvain in the goal-scoring category.

“I think that everybody leaves here now with kind of a bulleted list on where those areas of improvement lie. And the truly great teams address those early on, and they polish it up, and they get ready for whatever lies out in front of them in the end. We’ve got a pretty good list of things that we can go to work on,” said Bowen. “You always want to see where you’re at and have some sort of a barometer. I’m glad that we came out with a W. TA is a great opponent; we always play each other really tough.”

Agreste also lamented that Friday’s opener was just one game in a long season, and that his team will only get better as the season progresses.

“I told the girls before the game ”˜whatever happened today doesn’t define the season.’ Do you want to win? Absolutely. But I was more concerned about how were we going to compete, and I thought in the second half we competed like the team I think we can be,” said Agreste. “Hopefully we build on that.”

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