SACO — After some roster turnover in the offseason, some wondered what the Thornton Academy boys lacrosse team would look like in the 2017 spring.

Many players stepped up for the Trojans, who finished the regular season with an 11-1 record and the second seed in the Class A South playoffs, where they would advance to the conference final against Scarborough.

There was perhaps no one more explosive in the maroon and gold than Noah Edborg, who had a breakout year for TA.

After a somewhat quiet 2016, the junior attacker was a force in 2017, and emerged as one of the elite offensive weapons in the conference. His breakout year began in the offseason, according to TA coach Ryan Hersey.

“We moved him to attack about midway through last year. I think the difference is that last year he was just an athletic kid playing attack, but I think the difference was in the nine months he wasn’t playing for us — he was playing on travel teams and developing into a dodger and shooter,” said Hersey. “He came back this spring and he was a different kid.”

By season’s end, Edborg was a polished attacker whose confidence was contagious in the rest of the Trojan offense. Hersey was proud of the work that Edborg put in to reach his potential, and hopes that it serves as an example for the younger players.

“It’s what a coach wants to see,” said Hersey. “He really took advantage of his time away from our team and took his work seriously and came back a better player. I’d like to see all kids improve that much when they aren’t with us.”

Not only was Edborg a consistent player, but he also had the mental toughness to have big games against conference powerhouses. Edborg had multi-goal games against teams like Scarborough, Gorham and South Portland to help TA solidify its place as an elite program.

“He was super consistent all throughout the year and in big games. It was huge — he was a very dependable person,” said Hersey. “It’s easy against some of the weaker teams to have big games but the difference is how well he did he did against the good teams in the conference.”

Looking ahead to 2018, Hersey hopes to see Edborg become the leader of the team, and also looks forward to seeing how he continues to develop his game.

“We’re going to look to him to lead with John Giroux out of attack. He’s got to step up and really take the leadership role on his own with some less experienced guys filling in,” said Hersey. “Teams are definitely going to focus in on him and he’s going to have to get creative with what he’s going to do.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.