SCARBOROUGH — The effort was a plucky one, but elbow grease alone wasn’t enough to push No. 3 Thornton Academy to an upset over top seed Scarborough.
Instead, the Trojans expended too much energy trying to play catchup, and fell, 8-3 to the defending state champions in the Western Maine Class A boys lacrosse final, at Kippy Mitchell Athletic Complex Wednesday.
The Trojans’ road was a rough one from the outset, as they fell behind 6-0 in the first quarter and were never able to recover.
“All year,” said senior attack Chris Dolewa, one of three Thornton goal getters, “we’ve had a quarter where we don’t really play to our full potential, where we forget what we’ve been told the whole season. That happened here.
“Usually we can come back from that. But Scarborough is a great team, and it didn’t happen here.”
Scarborough scored three times in the first 4:30, after being allowed to pour in on Thornton goalie Brett Levasseur.
Nate Hopkins made it 4-0 with the second of his three goals after he lashed in a right hander.
“They (the Red Storm) have an ability to pressure the ball,” said Thornton coach Ryan Hersey, who has brought the Trojans to consecutive Western finals in both of his seasons at the helm. “There’s nobody else in this conference, nobody that we’ve played who can pressure the ball like they can.”
Thornton managed to steady itself, and began to chip away at the deficit, beginning with Kyle Hopkins’ marker at 5:25 of the second quarter, which made it 6-1.
With 24 seconds left in the half, Dolewa took a feed from Greg Lodge and swatted home the Trojans’ second goal.
“It was about getting our sticks up,” said Hersey, “and just playing fundamental lacrosse on the defensive end.”
Cory Dion netted the lone goal of the third period when he curled out from behind the net and threaded a shot into the top left corner, making it 6-3.
Thornton pressured Red Storm goalie David Pearson early in the fourth quarter, but any comeback hopes were dashed when Scarborough popped in two late goals.
“I wish we could have won,” said Dolewa. “Things didn’t go our way. Maybe we could have cleared the ball better. Gone to the net a little more. But it’s over now.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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