SACO — Led by two goals from Simon Trcka, fifth-seeded Thornton Academy defeated 12th-seeded Bonny Eagle 2-0 in a Western Class A boys’ soccer prelim Friday.

Trcka broke a scoreless tie 16 minutes into the second half, then notched his second goal on a header with 6:28 left.

“Simon’s a good player. He scored twice today, (and) I think he hit the post three times,” said Thornton Academy Coach Andrew Carlson.

“It’s a little bit frustrating for him, he knows he’s going to be marked with a single marker and they’re going to bring somebody else over. We’re still learning how to play with him when teams do that.”

Bonny Eagle tried everything it could to slow down Trcka.

“He is a great talent,” said Bonny Eagle Coach Larry Robertson. “For a good portion of the game, I think Denzel Crockett played him well and frustrated him. (Trcka) has very good foot skills. I think some of the opportunities he got later in the game, (our) legs got tired and he just took advantage of it.”

The Scots also had trouble generating offense. Thornton keeper Andrew Coleman only needed to make two saves.

“We had a hard time transitioning from the defensive end to the offensive end,” said Robertson. “It was hard to get numbers forward. If you play the forward’s feet, it will give enough time for midfielders and the other forward to move up with us. We just didn’t have that today.”

Thornton Academy took 20 shots, 14 on net.

“We knew they were going to sit in and we knew we had to be patient,” said Carlson. “(In the first half) we hit the post a couple of times, had a couple of good opportunities. The second half, they got a little tired and we were able to take advantage of that and create more opportunities.”

Zack Moody was solid in net for Bonny Eagle, making 12 saves.

“Zack is a great shot stopper. If he can see the ball, he’s usually going to be able to make a play on it. He’s been doing that for four years, so I knew I could call his number and he would step up to the plate,” said Robertson.

Thornton Academy travels to fourth-seeded Deering on Tuesday. The Golden Trojans lost 2-1 in overtime at Deering on Oct. 9.

“I think in the first half (against Deering) we might have been the better side,” said Carlson. “In the second half, their game came around and we got a little tired. Hopefully we can give them a quality game and see if the results are more positive for us.”