SACO — Talk about efficiency.

Sam Neugbauer scored on Scarborough’s only two shots on cage in the fourth quarter Wednesday to spark a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Thornton Academy in a physical Western Class A boys’ lacrosse game at Hill Stadium.

Isaac Sinclair of Thornton Academy, left, is checked by Brian Garber of Scarborough while attempting to score from close range Wednesday during Scarborough’s 4-3 victory at Saco. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

The game was a rematch of a 2014 regional semifinal won by Thornton, 13-4. This time defense ruled as the Red Storm won after losses to Westbrook (6-5) and Falmouth (11-10).

Longstick defenders Anthony Quintiliani and Reece Lagerquist led the way in front of goalie Isaac Rico, who had 17 saves, including a handful of gems.

Defensive midfielder Brian Garber did his part as well. In the final moments, Garber picked up a hard-charging attacker and forced him wide.

“Garber doesn’t have that ability to recognize (personal) danger,” Scarborough Coach Joe Hezlep said. “He just sticks his nose into places it doesn’t belong, but sometimes it works out pretty well for him.”

Garber knocked the ball free in the corner and cleared it as the clock ran out.

“I was just thinking, ‘Secure the ball, get it going our way and finish off the game,’ ” he said.

Scarborough was fortunate to find itself in that position. Thornton tied the game twice and finally took a 3-2 lead just 2:27 into the fourth quarter.

“I’ve got to admit, I was pretty nervous,” Quintiliani said. “We just had to play extraordinarily tight defense. We helped transition the ball up and the offense scored. Everything counts in a game like this. You have to do your part.”

Neugbauer finished a fast break at 8:30 to make it 3-3. Five minutes later, again on a fast break, Neugbauer fired in another left-handed shot to put Scarborough ahead, 4-3. Cam Thibault set up both goals.

“Down 3-2, you know you’ve got to score,” Neugbauer said. “We played our offense, passed the ball around and broke the defense. With the score tied (3-3), you just have to calm down and play your offense.”

The game was a sharp contrast for Thornton (1-1), which opened the season April 15 with a 20-2 win over Marshwood.

“For the last month our offense has been clicking, high-paced and very fun to watch,” Thornton Coach Ryan Hersey said. “Today, for whatever reason, people thought they had to do everything themselves. You can’t do that against a team like Scarborough.”

Cam Nigro put Scarborough ahead 1-0 at 6:20 of the first quarter, taking a nice feed from Sam Ware to beat Thornton goalie Chris Camire (seven saves).

Two minutes later, Thornton defender Tyler Lynn tied it with a spectacular individual effort. Ten yards from his own cage, Lynn chopped the ball free, scooped up the ground ball and barreled through to score from 12 yards.

Scarborough regained a 2-1 lead when Neugbauer found Nigro at 10:59 of the second period.

Thornton made it 2-2 while a man up at 8:54 of the third, when Zach Bryant finished a feed from Christian Michaud. The Trojans then went ahead 3-2 just 2:27 into the fourth, when Bryant found Sinclair cutting across.

“Both goaltenders stood on their heads today and both defenses played really well as units,” Hezlep said. “One thing we did really well was when someone got beat, there was always someone there to help and recover behind him.”

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