LEWISTON — Revenge. With a vengeance.

And for Thornton Academy it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The defending Class A state champion Golden Trojans earned a second straight trip to the title game with Tuesday’s 8-4 thumping of No. 2 Falmouth in the Western Maine regional championship game at the Colisee.

Thornton will meet Eastern champion St. Dominic Saturday, here, at 6 p.m.

The No. 2 Saints surprised No. 1 Lewiston, 1-0, in Saturday’s Eastern final.

“We’re going back,” said co-captain defenseman Tyler Danley. “It’s awesome. It’s an incredible feeling. Everyone’s mind is on repeating. Trying to get two rings on our fingers.

“Beating a great team like they (Falmouth) after having a couple of blemishes from them. It’s great to do what we just did.”

Thornton (20-1-1), had failed to defeat the Yachtsmen in two previous regular season matchups.

But the third time, well, it was charming.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Thornton co-captain C.J. Maksut, one of four Golden Trojans who scored twice. “It’s what we’ve been chasing all season. It’s important for our team. We faced adversity and battle through it. Now we’ve got ourselves a trip to the state championship game.”

To get there, they took the road less traveled.

The Trojans led 4-2 after the first period and 6-3 after the second.

How they got to that point defied all belief. Or at least kept it on hold for a while.

To wit: The teams hooked up for three goals ”“ two by Falmouth ”“ within the first 29 seconds.

“That was ridiculous,” said defenseman Bryan Dallaire, who netted two goals and racked up three assists.

Cam Bell scored at the 10-second mark to put the Yachtsmen up 1-0.

C.J. Maksut answered for TA, parking a cross-crease pass from Andrew Carignan, tying the game 1-1.

Just eight seconds later, Brandon Tuttle scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1.

“Of all the scenarios you work out in your head prior to the game,” said Thornton coach Jamie Gagnon, “this is not the way you would have drawn it up.”

It all served to give the Trojans a challenge, which for them has been something of a rarity.

They proved to be up to the challenge.

Robbie Downing knotted the score, 2-2, at 3:58 while Thornton was shorthanded.

Then, at 6:48, Dallaire bombed in a power-play goal to give the Trojans a lead they never relinquished.

“The guy came up,” said Dallaire, “and I faked a pass right, and I shot it. (Andrew) Carignan was a good screen and it went in.”

Carignan capped the wild period at 7:49, when he scored unassisted after swiping the puck at the blue line and slipping in a shot.

Falmouth fought hard in the second stanza to get itself back into the contest, but despite putting on a show of pressure in the Thornton zone, couldn’t dent goalie Joe Ferrante at that point.

Instead, Dallaire scored again, on a wraparound at 5:16 to make it 5-2.

From that point on, the Yachtsmen were forced to play a losing game of catch up.

Downing scored again to restore the three-goal advantage in the second, while Alex Fallon and Maksut both tallied in the third to put the game out of reach.

“We won every period of that game, and it showed,” Downing said. “We just kept moving.”

Now, they’re moving on to something bigger.

— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.