SACO — Sometime between scoring 20 goals in a season-opening win and Wednesday afternoon, the Thornton Academy offense went missing. The Trojans were held to just three goals and wasted a stout defensive effort in a 4-3 loss to Scarborough in an SMAA boys lacrosse game at Hill Stadium.

A sign of things to come ”“ or more precisely, goals not to come ”“ were the opening three minutes of the game, when TA (1-1) held possession off the opening draw but failed to score in that stretch.

A Scarborough (1-2) team that started off 0-2 for the first time in recent memory got on the board first, as Cameron Nigro found the back of the net 6:20 into the game.

The Trojans tied the game less than two minutes later, as defenseman Tyler Lynn carried the ball coast to coast with his long stick and fired a shot past Red Storm goalie Isaac Rico.

That was one of just a few balls that got by Rico, who dueled TA goalie Chris Camire in making many difficult saves.

Rico and the Scarborough defense made a big stand late in the second quarter, as they held off a two-minute man-up scenario for the Trojans.

“We made sure we had help,” Scarborough head coach Joe Hezlep said of his defense. “They got some dynamic players. We made sure every time one of our defenders was in trouble there was someone there to help him and someone behind them to cover up their men.”

The Red Storm attack piggybacked its defensive counterparts with a go-ahead goal less than a minute after killing off the penalty. Nigro again was the shooter to beat Camire.

The Trojans went into halftime down 2-1 after notching 15 goals in the first half against Marshwood in their season opener.

“For the last month our offense has been clicking, it’s been high-paced and very fun to watch. And today, for whatever reason, people just thought that they had to do everything by themselves, and you can’t do that against a team like Scarborough,” said Thornton head coach Ryan Hersey. “They took too much stock in scores from other games ”“ scores that we’ve had against teams that beat (Scarborough) ”“ and we just didn’t come out ready to play our game.”

The Trojans didn’t fare much better in the second half offensively, as a man-up goal by Zachary Bryant was the lone goal in the third quarter, which knotted the game 2-2.

Thornton’s defense held its own, however, paving the way for Isaac Sinclair to put TA ahead early in the fourth quarter. Hersey called the goal, which saw Bryant find a cutting Sinclair in stride, “the only time that we really ran our offense all day today, and it looked really nice.”

But it was more of the same from the Trojans after that, as Rico and the Red Storm defense continued to shut the door. Although, Hersey said his team didn’t take advantage when the door was left open either.

“They weren’t stripping balls away from us. A lot of it came from our bad passes or bad shots,” said Hersey. “It was all on us.”

The Red Storm used its fast break to figure out the TA defense late in the contest. Twice in a span of 1:37 in the final five minutes Cam Thibault found an open Sam Neugebauer to the right of the goal before the Trojans could set up their defense. Both times Neugebauer found the back of the net.

“Catch left-handed and shoot? Yeah, Neuge has scored all 400 goals of his life that way,” Hezlep said sarcastically. “He sometimes looks like he can play a lacrosse game playing inside a hula hoop. Usually when he scores it looks similar.”

“That’s his spot right there,” said Hersey. “And unfortunately on a fast break, we can’t get out there fast enough to prevent him from shooting that.”

The Trojans had chances at the end to tie the game, with a man-up opportunity and then with one last chance in the attacking zone coming out of a timeout with 20 seconds left. But TA never got a good look and turned the ball over with 10 seconds left, allowing the Red Storm to run out the clock.

It was Scarborough’s third one-goal game in as many contests to start the season, with the third time being the charm in finally winning one. It was Thornton’s first after a no-contest win against Marshwood. The Trojans didn’t show well in their first one-goal affair.

“I hope we learn that we’ve got to be a lot more mentally tough than this right now,” said Hersey. “We’ve got to be mentally tougher or else games like this are going to be the norm, which I hope is not the case.”

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