Wednesday night’s Class A South quarterfinal game would be a different story as the No. 3 Trojans jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 15-1 win over the No. 6 Tigers.
“I think the girls were fired up to play. Last time we played (Biddeford) I don’t think we played the best that we could,” said TA coach Craig Agreste.
Agreste felt his girls found a way to turn their nervous energy into an advantage.
“I knew they would be a little anxious and nervous early on, but we kind of fought through it and got a couple goals that helped build some confidence,” said Agreste.
Thornton Academy would take a 7-0 lead at the half as the Trojans received goals from six different players in the first 25 minutes. Paige LeBlanc scored twice, while Jules Grondin, Amanda Cyr, Alana Pettaway, Cat Henaire and Faith Sinclair all scored one goal.
“I think they won the first six draws and it’s all about possession … and they are smart with the ball. Anytime a team goes up 5-0, it’s kind of hard to bounce back,” said Biddeford coach Caitlin Albert.
LeBlanc, who led TA with four goals and one assist, would add two more goals in the second half as the Trojans would eventually push their lead to 15-0.
Agreste was impressed with LeBlanc’s performance – on both ends of the field.
“She’s a solid player. Everyone wants to talk about goals, but no one wants to talk about the defense she plays and on the draw circle where she’s really good. She’s a very good all-around player,” said Agreste.
The Trojans would also get second-half goals from Cyr, Adeline Paradis, Sinclair, Pettaway, Hannah McAlary and Henaire.
“The biggest thing I saw was we had eight different goal scorers and when you have that balance, we are going to need that down the line,” said Agreste.
Agreste was also thrilled with his defense, which held down a Biddeford offense that scored 160 goals in 12 regular season games.
“We knew they have some good players and we wanted to make sure we limited them. In the first half, I think they had one shot … I think the biggest thing is we dominated the midfield,” said Agreste.
The Tigers would finally get on the board in the finals minutes of the game when senior standout Taylor Turgeon scored her 96th career goal, which is a Biddeford record.
Turgeon, who also holds the career assists record, is one of eight Biddeford players to compete in their final high school game on Wednesday.
“We are definitely going to miss our eight seniors,” said Albert.
Those eight seniors helped the Tigers reach new heights this season.
“We finished with our best program record ever, 8-4,” said Albert.
The Trojans will now face No. 2 Massabesic in the Class A South semifinals on Saturday.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282- 1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less