SACO—Coming off a loss, facing a deficit and a long scoring drought against the vaunted Thornton Academy zone defense, South Portland’s boys’ lacrosse team found itself at an early-season crossroads Tuesday afternoon at Hill Stadium.

And the Red Riots found a way to battle through adversity and earn their first victory of the season.

One which could be a springboard for even bigger things to come.

South Portland took a quick 2-0 lead behind goals from senior Lucas Mehlhorn and junior Jack Dreifus before the Golden Trojans got on the board in the waning seconds of the first period on a man-up goal from senior Lucas Hubbard.

Dreifus scored the only goal of the second quarter to put the Red Riots up by two at the break, but Thornton Academy dominated the third period, as sophomore Jackson DeLeo scored once and classmate Jacob Marcotte added a pair of goals for a 4-3 advantage.

South Portland still trailed by that margin as the clock ticked under eight minutes to play, but after being held scoreless for 24-plus minutes, it pulled even on a Mehlhorn goal with 7:41 to go, then went ahead for good on another Mehlhorn tally with 5:16 remaining.

The Red Riots’ defense and standout senior goalie Ben Kieu did the rest and South Portland held on for a 5-4 victory.

The Red Riots evened their record at 1-1 and in the process, dropped the Golden Trojans to 1-1.

“It’s huge as a confidence-boost for the guys,” said South Portland coach Dan Hanley. “We felt like we should be able to compete. We played two of the top teams at the start and to be right with them and eke out this close game, it’s something to build off.”

Getting defensive

South Portland wasn’t able to solve Thornton Academy in last year’s playoffs, as the host Golden Trojans advanced, 13-9, in the Class A South semifinals. Thornton Academy was then eliminated by eventual repeat champion Cape Elizabeth.

This spring, the Red Riots believe they’re ready to take the next step, but the schedule-makers did them no favors. sending them to Cape Elizabeth for the opener Friday (a 10-6 loss), then to the Golden Trojans.

Thornton Academy, a perennial powerhouse, opened with an 18-10 victory at Windham Saturday.

Last year, South Portland beat the visiting Golden Trojans in the regular season, 11-10, but the postseason rematch was a different story.

Tuesday, on an afternoon which saw spells of sun, rain and wind, goals were at a premium from the start and ultimately, in a battle of two very even teams, the Red Riots managed to score just one more than the hosts.

Thornton Academy had the first two good looks, but Kieu set the tone by denying both freshman Noah Veroneau and Marcotte.

With 9:45 to play in the first quarter, South Portland broke the scoring ice, as Mehlhorn finished unassisted, beating Golden Trojans senior goalie Jacob Parenteau.

The next shot resulted in the next goal, as with 7:29 on the clock, Dreifus finished unassisted for a quick 2-0 lead.

But the Red Riots would find the offensive going growing ever more difficult as the game progressed.

After Mehlhorn hit the post, Kieu denied Marcotte, robbed junior Adam Donovan and saved a pair of shots from Veroneau.

With 43.4 seconds left, South Portland senior Finn O’Donnell was sent off for slashing and Thornton Academy took advantage, as Marcotte set up Hubbard for a man-up goal with 12.8 seconds showing and the Red Riots’ lead was just one heading to the second period.

Parenteau came up huge early in the new frame, robbing Mehlhorn, then stopping a rebound from sophomore Beckett Mehlhorn before stymieing a great look from senior Brady Demers.

With 8:02 remaining in the first half, Beckett Mehlhorn set up Dreifus for a goal, but South Portland wouldn’t score again for a long, long time.

Late in the half, Parenteau stopped shots from Dreifus and Beckett Mehlhorn and Kieu denied senior Cameron Raymond.

The Golden Trojans went man-up again with 18 seconds to go, but opted to hold the ball and get possession to start the second half.

Sophomore Ian House (8) sets a screen for South Portland senior Lucas Mehlhorn during Tuesday’s game at Thornton Academy. Mehlhorn scored twice in the fourth period to lead the Red Riots to a 5-4 victory. Hoffer photos.

When the third quarter commenced, Thornton Academy needed just 29 seconds to cut into the deficit, as after Kieu saved a shot from Veroneau, Veroneau set up DeLeo for a shot the goalie couldn’t stop.

Then, after Veroneau’s bid to tie was saved by Kieu, Marcotte scored his first goal, unassisted, and with 10:03 remaining in the frame, the contest was deadlocked, 3-3.

With 8:36 left, the Golden Trojans got another chance to go man-up and this time, needed all of 12 seconds to capitalize, as Marcotte took a pass from LeBlanc and one-timed it home to give Thornton Academy its first lead.

“Our man-up offense has been fun to watch,” said longtime Golden Trojans coach Ryan Hersey. “We have a lot of guys back. They can really move the ball around and find the open guy, which is awesome.”

Thornton Academy wouldn’t score the final 20:36, however.

After Kieu kept the deficit at one by denying Veroneau, South Portland returned to its attacking ways, but was frustrated, as Thornton Academy’s defense surrendered few good looks and Parenteau did the rest, stopping shots from Lucas Mehlhorn and Demers before an apparent goal from Demers was waved off due to a crease violation.

Just before time expired in the quarter, Marcotte got free in front and had a chance to give his team a little breathing room, but he was robbed by Kieu.

Early in the fourth period, Parenteau preserved the lead by denying Beckett Mehlhorn and Lucas Mehlhorn, but with 7:41 to play in regulation, Beckett Mehlhorn got the ball to Lucas Mehlhorn and the elder Mehlhorn finally solved Parenteau, firing the ball into the net to not only snap a 24 minute, 21 second drought, but tie the score.

“We stayed composed,” Lucas Mehlhorn said. “It’s always tough going up against a zone, but we slowed the ball down and got some looks. (Beckett) drew the double, I stepped in, caught it and shot. That gave us confidence.”

Now playing with momentum, the Red Riots kept the pressure on, but Parenteau saved a shot from Demers, robbed Dreifus and denied junior Tobey Lappin as well.

But with 5:16 on the clock, Lucas Mehlhorn took matters into his own hands, beat a defender and finished unassisted to put South Portland in front to stay, 5-4.

“It was just patience and having trust in myself,” Lucas Mehlhorn said. “I saw the matchup and I went for it. I know I can make those shots.”

“It’s not that we weren’t generating looks, we were just a little over-eager, settling for outside shots,” Hanley said. “We just needed to be a little more patient and unselfish, then we got some great looks and we buried them when we had to.”

The Red Riots then managed to get possession back and milked the clock before turning the ball over.

The Golden Trojans then gave it right back and South Portland took the clock down to just over a minute before Thornton Academy got the ball again and called timeout.

The timeout resulted in a great look at a tie, but with 44 seconds to go, Kieu denied LeBlanc’s rocket from in close.

“I was just trusting my defense to slide,” Kieu said. “It’s definitely rewarding to make a save like that.”

“When you have someone winding up from about seven yards out, no goalie wants to see that, but I feel better having Ben in that situation than anyone else,” Hanley said.

“That’s exactly what we wanted,” said Hersey. “We had a good opportunity to tie it.”

The Golden Trojans got the ball one final time and Marcotte tried to race in from the side and score, but the ball was knocked away, Kieu was able to trap it and time ran out, allowing the Red Riots to celebrate their 5-4 victory.

South Portland senior goalie Ben Kieu is mobbed by his teammates at the final horn.

“This shows the state we’re a team that can compete with anyone,” Lucas Mehlhorn said. “I don’t think the Cape game defined us at all.”

“Every game is important to us,” Kieu said. “We knew we just had to put the Cape game behind us and keep playing. Things clicked in the second half and we played together.”

“It wasn’t a pretty game at all, but their zone does that to you,” Hanley added. “I’m proud of the way we were able to settle in and scrapped for ground balls and got possession. We talked a lot about the mental game and trusting in yourselves, your teammates and the system.”

South Portland’s offense was paced by Lucas Mehlhorn, who scored a game-high three goals. Dreifus added two goals.

Beckett Mehlhorn finished with a pair of assists.

Kieu, who will play next year at Division I Hampton University in Virginia, was his usual impressive self, stopping 11 shots.

The Red Riots had a 34-23 advantage in ground balls (Demers, Beckett Mehlhorn and senior Brady Angell led the way with four apiece), enjoyed a 38-23 edge in shots (19-15 on cage) and overcame 20 turnovers.

Thornton Academy’s offense featured two goals and an assist from Marcotte, a goal apiece from DeLeo and Hubbard and assists from LeBlanc and Veroneau.

LeBlanc led the team with four ground balls.

Parenteau made 14 saves.

“He made a lot of saves,” said Hersey. “He saw the ball really well from the outside. Defensively, especially being two starters down, our guys executed very, very well.”

The Golden Trojans had an 8-4 advantage in the faceoff circle and turned the ball over 24 times.

“In the second half, we really struggled to get the ball to our offense,” Hersey lamented. “In the fourth quarter, we played seven or eight minutes of defense and that’s too much. We scored three goals in four minutes (in the third quarter) and that’s good offense. We just need to be more consistent.”

Game three

Thornton Academy looks to bounce back Saturday at home, but it will face another top contender, Falmouth. The Golden Trojans then host Cape Elizabeth Wednesday of next week.

“We are who we are,” Hersey said. “We have eight more weeks to put a focus on passing and catching. We’ll put in some things to get the ball up the field to our attack.

“We don’t want to shy away from these games. We’d love to have more of them. Competitive games will make us better.”

South Portland concludes its season-opening road trip with a game at Massabesic Friday. The Red Riots finally get to play at home Monday when they welcome North Yarmouth Academy.

“We just have to keep working as a team,” said Kieu.

“This helps us see what our potential is as a team,” Hanley said. “There’s a lot we recognize we can do better. Offensively, clearing, taking fewer penalties.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.