SACO — After a quiet first half, the Thornton Academy girls lacrosse team surged in the second to push past visiting Scarborough 12-5 Thursday afternoon.

Both teams started off slow as the first half concluded with a score of only 5-2 in favor of TA, however the Trojans would bounce back and outscore Scarborough 7-3 in the second.

According to TA coach Craig Agreste, nothing was different in the Trojans’ game plan heading into the second half.

“Nothing, we did nothing (different). We told them that (Scarborough) has the best goalie in the league, she was making a lot of great saves in the first half. We told them to keep being aggressive and that’s what they did.” said Agreste.

Agreste felt that jitters may have played a role on the slow start.

“I felt in the first half that we were a little careless with the ball. I don’t know if it was first half jitters, but we finally settled down and got into a rhythm. We ended up playing really well and I’m really happy,” said Agreste.

TA finished the game with seven different goal scorers, which was key to cracking the Scarborough defense.

“The one thing is spreading the ball. People know who certain players are on our team are, especially the scorers,” said Agreste. “But we have confidence that if we get it to them they can make things happen with the ball.”

TA got on the board early on a goal from Julianna Grondin just 20 seconds into the game.

Scarborough fired back in the ensuing eight minutes, taking a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Abby Corbin and Jamie Sargent.

TA would then finished the final 15 minutes of the half by going on a 4-0 run that included goals from Catherine Henaire, Hannah McAlary and two from Alana Pettaway.

The Red Storm came out firing in the second, outscoring TA 2-1 in the first seven minutes with Ellie Smith and Emma Smith scoring goals, while Grondin scored her second for TA.

From that point on, it was all TA as the Trojans scored six straight goals.

TA received goals two goals from Faith Sinclair and Henaire in the stretch, while Paige LeBlanc and Adeline Paradis scored the other two.

Scarborough scored one last goal in the final minute on a shot from Emma Smith.

Not only did TA remain aggressive in the second half, but it also played smart in the Scarborough zone, helping the Trojans gain ball possession for the majority of the second half.

“It’s a simple game when you possess the ball and we possessed it a lot in the second half. Even when she made saves they weren’t able to transition back. We kept pressuring them and kept forcing them to turn the ball over. I think it frustrates teams after awhile when they can’t get it our of their end.”

TA will enjoy this win and turn the page to the next opponent.

“Any time you get a win against a quality team you’re excited … and the girls should be excited because this was a great team win. We’ll take it and move on to the next one,” said Agreste.