SACO — Seniors had the day off at Thornton Academy on Wednesday, as underclassmen took the PSAT standardized test. The girls soccer team ”“ on its senior night ”“ appeared to take the first half of Wednesday night’s game against Gorham off, as the Rams outhustled Thornton. But the Trojans kept a clean sheet, and got a late goal in the first half before netting another in the second of a 2-0 victory in an SMAA clash at Hill Stadium.

“I absolutely think that at the beginning of the game we came out a little slow, and I think part of it is there’s so much going on before the game; our heads weren’t totally in it,” said Thornton senior co-captain Katherine Gillespie. “We’re all thinking ”˜this could be our last home game.’ There’s a lot of emotions that play into it.”

“They came out really strong and they played really well. We were back on our heels,” said Thornton head coach Chris Kohl. “We weren’t playing quick enough ”¦ just not playing with the quick intensity that we need to play in a game like this.”

The Trojans (11-1) had one good chance early on, but a shot by Haley DaGraca was cleared away by Gorham defender Noelle Dibiase on the goal line. Otherwise, the scoring chances were all by the Rams.

“I think we were pretty vulnerable at the beginning of the game,” said Gillespie, “and that fact that we didn’t let up any goals definitely changed the type of game that it was, because if we had let up a goal it would have been a completely different game.”

The Trojans made it through a tense first 30 minutes unscathed, then began to find some life over the final 10 minutes of the first half. They got the jolt they needed with 6:31 left, as Hannah McAlary sent a cross from the left side that was headed in stride by DaGraca, who beat Gorham (8-4) goalie Renae Staples to the ball.

“I absolutely think that that was what pulled us through in the first half. Most of us, you see a goal like that and you can’t help but want to play better,” said Gillespie. “The goal itself was huge, but especially how beautiful it was, I think she definitely gave the team a lot of energy and motivation to go out and play stronger.”

“Hannah had a great cross. She had a great cross there, and Haley timed it well; it was a beautiful play,” said Kohl.

Despite holding the lead at halftime, Kohl said his players knew they were lucky to be in that position, so the intermission was spent talking about what to do right in the second half rather than what went wrong in the first.

“We went into the halftime and we were like ”˜We got to pick it up a little bit,’ and we started to do that in the second half,” said Gillespie.

“We just needed to come and match their intensity, which I think we did,” said Kohl. “That second goal was really kind of a backbreaker, and it really kind of calmed us down a little.”

The Trojans didn’t take nearly as long in the second half to score another goal, as Tori Daigle streaked up the right sideline, carried the ball into the corner, then fired a low cross that was redirected in off the knee of Cassidy Cochrane seven minutes in.

“Tori got a great run down there, and Cassidy just found the right space, got a little bit lost, and timed it well,” said Kohl. “The first-half goal was beautiful. I’ll take ugly, too. A goal’s a goal.”

The Trojans’ two goals highlighted the strengths of their two senior strikers, while putting a bow on a victory in the 13-member senior class’ final regular-season home game.

“Every time a senior makes a play on a night like tonight it’s always a good one,” said Kohl. “Haley has always had great headers, so it was great to see her do that. Tori has always had great crosses. To see both of those is just pretty incredible. It kind of summarizes them, the things that they do (well).”

The final minutes of the game saw a much different Thornton team than the one that looked out of sorts in the opening minutes. The Trojans who closed out the victory looked like the team that has won 11 games ”“ eight by at least three goals ”“ heading into a showdown on Saturday with 10-win Scarborough. The Red Storm (third place) currently sit one spot above the Trojans in the standings entering the weekend.

“I think we know the intensity in which we need to start the Scarborough game,” said Gillespie. “We know that we need to go in tough, go in strong, and play 80 minutes of good soccer.”

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.