Surge in second half leads Thornton to 10-4 win over Red Riots

BIDDEFORD — Sometimes second half adjustments are all you need.

Oh, and maybe a player that scores five goals. Or excellent goaltending, and, while we’re at it, a big blue field.

The Thornton Academy boys lacrosse team had all of those factors on its side on Tuesday, going from a 4-4 tie at halftime to toppling South Portland 10-4 at the Big Blue Field at the University of New England in Biddeford.

It’s the third straight win for the Golden Trojans, who are now 6-2 on the season.

Thomas Abbott led the Trojans with five goals in the contest, and excellent defense in the second half, particularly from goaltender Brett Levasseur that helped the Trojans in the win.

“They were coming up to hit us, and were being a little scrappy,” Abbott said. “We just tried to work the ball around and get good shots, and that’s what seemed to work.”

The Trojans took an early 4-1 lead on the Riots in the first half, thanks to two goals from Chris Dolewa, one by Abbott and one by Parker Roma. South Portland, however, scored three unanswered goals late in the second quarter, tying the game at 4-4 going into halftime.

The Trojans surged back in the second half, as Abbott added four more goals, while Dolewa and Roma each added another, lifting Thornton to the 10-4 lead.

But it was Levasseur’s work in the net that stood out in the half, as he made nine of his 14 saves in the timeframe, mostly from shots 10-15 yards away from the net.

“He came up huge in this game,” Abbott said. “He made big saves, all on good shots, but he kept us in there.”

Thornton head coach Ryan Hersey said the Trojans work in the zone defense prevented shots up close to the net, and helped lead the Trojans to victory.

“It’s all about defense, and we asked them to go back to that,” Hersey said. “We had a 4-1 lead, and then we let them back into it because we were more concentrating on our offensive set than our defense. We play defense first, then offense. Shutting them out in the second half was huge. We challenged them to go back out and make us what’s been successful for the last two years.”

The game is the first of three contests Thornton will see against future playoff opponents in its final five games, making the win even more important for its run during the final stretch of games.

“We’ve been talking about how we’ve needed to step it up,” Abbott said. “When we played against Scarborough, they came out and whooped us. We knew we had to step it up to become state champions, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

Thornton must also face Kennebunk and Massabesic before the season ends. The game against Kennebunk will be particularly important, as the Rams are currently the No. 2 seed in Western Class A, while the Trojans stand as the No. 3 seed.

“We’ve got a [heck] of a team coming in Friday with Kennebunk,” Hersey said. “We said this is a big week where we have to take some big steps, because the opponents just seem to get harder.”

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