Thornton Academy’s Ben White, left, and Ben Knox celebrate after Knox scored during an 8-5 win over Windham earlier this season. The Trojans stayed in the top 5 of the Varsity Maine poll this week. Purchase this image

SACO — The Thornton Academy boys lacrosse team needed answers both early and late in a matchup Friday with Windham.

Each time, the Golden Trojans found one.

Will Edborg scored three goals, Ben White and Ben Knox scored two apiece, and Thornton prevailed, 8-5, for its fifth straight win.

“They’re a great team, they always answered our goals, but we wanted it more,” said White, who had a key goal to slow the Eagles’ comeback from a 6-1 first-half deficit. “We wanted those goals, we wanted those ground balls. … I think that’s the thing about our team, we want it more.”

Luke Drottar scored three goals for Windham (4-3), which dropped its third straight.

Key moments

• After Drottar scored off the opening faceoff, just 22 seconds in, Thornton quickly swung momentum with three goals in just over three minutes for a 3-1 lead. Edborg came from behind the net to score with 10:58 left in the first, White charged in for a goal 54 seconds later, and Edborg struck again on a quick catch-and-shoot off an assist from Jack Paradis with 7:48 to go.

• After Drottar scored goals with 5:17 and 2:48 left in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 6-3, White quickly responded with a leaping shot that found the net 49 seconds later for a 7-3 advantage.

• Windham’s Colin McKenna scored to make it 7-5 with 4:09 to go, but Thornton won the ensuing draw and never lost possession before Chase Paquette potted a goal to make it 8-5 and put the Trojans on surer footing.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times early on in that first half and made some mistakes,” Windham coach Pete Small said. “But I liked the way that the guys clawed back into it.”

Depth pays off

• Thornton’s defense took a hit when starters Brady Pecora and Mathieu Faucher left because of injuries, but while relying on substitutes, the Trojans still blanked the Eagles in the first half after the initial goal.

“We talk about it, when you have your opportunity to get in there, go prove why you’re on varsity,” Hersey said. “In the first half, we did an excellent job of talking, having our sticks up. … It was nice to see, being two or three starters down, that our subs were able to go in and execute.”

Notable quotes

• “In the third quarter, we got into the penalty box, we were getting sloppy with our passes and allowed them to get back in. We didn’t capitalize on our man-up as much as we should have.” — Thornton Academy coach Ryan Hersey

• “Chase’s goal at the end was huge. I’ve seen two goals happen in less than 10 seconds. It was nice to get that buffer.” — Hersey

• “After that first goal, we saw that they came out to play. … We’ve had our ups and downs a lot throughout the season, defensively, offensively. But overall, game after game, we pick it up (and) learn.” — Thornton’s Will Edborg

• “One of the things you look at is ‘Can these guys play 48 minutes?’ So I think these guys absolutely play 48 minutes, they play 48 minutes hard.” — Windham coach Pete Small