The Bonny Eagle boys soccer team needed a win over Thornton Academy on Tuesday afternoon in Saco to gain enough Heal Points for a spot in next week’s West A tournament. But a successful penalty kick by the Trojans gave the hosts a 4-3 win, dashing the playoff hopes of the Scots.

Bonny Eagle was the No. 14 seed in the most recent Heal Point standings. A win over the No. 9 Trojans could well have given the Scots the necessary points to get into the 12-team regional tourney. Tuesday’s loss leaves the Scots with a 4-9 record with one regular season game left to play – at No. 16 Massabesic on Thursday evening.

“(A win over Thornton) would have given us at least a chance at that last spot,” said Bonny Eagle coach Alan Curtis.

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Sam Dussault, but the Scots answered with back-to-back goals from Jamie Ruginski (assists from Cody Marean and Tyler Shortsleeve). Bonny Eagle had momentum as the teams went to the half with the Scots holding a 2-1 lead.

Thornton’s Josh Lombard tied the score at 2-2 with a goal six minutes into the second half and the Trojans regained the lead off a goal from Alec Luro.

The Scots regrouped and had several decent scoring chances before Jamie Gerard knotted the game at 3-3. The Trojans then used a penalty kick to regain the lead for good when Travis Desjardins beat Bonny Eagle netminder Lincoln Sanborn to give Thornton what proved to be the game-winning goal.

“Maybe we didn’t move the ball east-to-west like we should have,” said Bonny Eagle senior Keith McClure trying to explain Tuesday’s loss. “We played with our hearts, but stuff happens and you get unlucky sometimes.”

“We were dribbling in the right areas, we were making their defense chase and our corner kicks were working,” said Curtis about the Scots’ first half success. “In the second half, we had too many one-on-one battles. We dribbled at players and we didn’t make (Thornton) move defensively.”

The Trojans were able to protect their 4-3 lead the rest of the way with Bonny Eagle unable to generate any quality chances against a packed-in Thornton defense.

“We hit the cruise control instead of trying to finish them off,” Curtis said about the Trojans’ ability to rally for the win. “That’s happened to us several times this year. We have those little moments where we didn’t defend like we should have and that gives other teams momentum.”