SACO — It was the younger players who shined in the girls’ soccer game between Thornton Academy and Bonny Eagle at Hill Stadium on Wednesday night.

Sophomore midfielder Hannah Niles and freshman forward Alyanna Beaudoin each scored a goal to lead the Trojans past the Scots, 2-1. Sophomore Cassidy Koons scored the Scots’ lone goal.

Both teams are 4-4.

“What we’ve talked about the last couple days in practice is just giving that little extra step,” Thornton Academy Coach Chris Kohl said. “That was evident tonight. We had that little extra step, which led to goals. These girls capitalized on those opportunities.”

Bonny Eagle Coach Ed Taylor said his squad, which has two seniors and six starting freshmen, didn’t mark up well at certain points – which resulted in Thornton Academy’s goals.

“I’m not upset at this point – I’m just realistic,” Taylor said. “Tonight, we gave up two goals on simple inexperience. We just didn’t do a good job defending them.”

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Niles opened the scoring 20 minutes into the game. After Bonny Eagle goalkeeper Sydney Gillingham, a sophomore, punched a Thornton Academy crossing pass out of bounds, Niles converted a corner kick into a head-ball goal to give the Golden Trojans a 1-0 lead.

The Scots threatened to score late in the first half. With five minutes left, Koons raced downfield on a breakaway before the ball got away from her and rolled into the arms of Thornton keeper Abigail Cook.

“We had opportunities – plenty of them,” Taylor said. “We were in front of the frame a lot, and we just couldn’t finish.”

The Golden Trojans added another goal 18 minutes into the second half. Freshman forward Mia Taranko threw the ball into the Bonny Eagle box, where Niles got knocked down in a scrum in front of the Scots’ goal.

But Niles managed to get up and pass the ball to Beaudoin, who tucked it into the back of the net.

“We knew it was definitely going to be a physical game,” Beaudoin said. “At halftime, we kind of said we need to keep playing and not let the physicality get to us.”

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Bonny Eagle got on the board with 11 minutes remaining in the game when Koons capitalized on a penalty kick, cutting Thornton’s lead to a goal. But that’s as close as the Scots would get.

Gillingham notched nine saves for the Scots, and Cook had four for the Trojans.

While Beaudoin noted Bonny Eagle’s physicality, Taylor said he thought Thornton Academy had the size advantage.

“I’m proud of them,” Taylor said. “I still think we’re a dangerous team. Once we put a little bit of size and experience behind those skills, it will be a lot more interesting.”


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