SACO—It was a night like no other.

One that Thornton Academy’s boys’ lacrosse team won’t soon forget.

Cape Elizabeth, meanwhile, had to spend far more time at Hill Stadium as it would of liked and suddenly, the three-time reigning Class A champions find themselves at a crossroads with just a week remaining in the regular season.

Tuesday evening’s showdown started nearly 50 minutes late due to a lightning delay prior to the preceding junior varsity game, but when the varsity contest began, the Capers came out strong, as senior standout Keegan Lathrop scored one goal and set up classmate Alex van Huystee for another and a quick 2-0 lead.

The Golden Trojans, who lost by seven goals at Cape Elizabeth 10 days prior, then settled in and soon tilted the game in their favor.

Thornton Academy, which went with an uncharacteristic man-to-man defense in the teams’ first meeting, this time went back to its zone, with a twist, and the Capers’ offense soon dried up.

After pulling within a goal after one period, the Golden Trojans tied the score late in the first half when senior Noah Veroneau scored his 100th career goal and with just a second remaining, a goal from senior Jake Marcotte made it 3-2 Thornton Academy at halftime.

The game then turned for good 40 seconds into the second half when Lathrop appeared to give Cape Elizabeth momentum by scoring the tying goal, but in the aftermath, he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and had to come off for three minutes.

The Golden Trojans took advantage, going ahead to stay on a goal from junior Jack DeLeo, then adding three more before Lathrop’s penalty was up. By the end of the third quarter, the lead was 8-3.

And then, Mother Nature intervened again, as a lightning strike delayed play another 43 minutes, but Thornton Academy wasn’t fazed and never allowed the Capers to make a serious run before going on to a 10-5 victory.

Marcotte and Veroneau each scored three goals, sophomore Grady Hersey sparked a stellar defensive effort and the Golden Trojans improved to 9-2, dropping Cape Elizabeth to 10-2 in the process.

“It was a long night,” lamented longtime Capers coach Ben Raymond. “I thought we made it pretty clear how important it was to stay out of the penalty box tonight, but penalties were the difference. Most of the goals we give up tend to come off penalties.”

A little of everything

A season that seemed like more of the same dominance for the Capers took a sudden turn last week, when their three-year, 32-game win streak was snapped by visiting Falmouth (11-10) and in the process, the squad suffered its second costly knee injury in as many games, as senior Bobby Offit went down (following Sam Cochran, who was injured in the first matchup versus Thornton Academy).

Prior to that, Cape Elizabeth hadn’t lost, even though it had been tested.

The Capers opened by handling visiting South Portland in a state game rematch, 17-4, then defeated visiting Scarborough (12-3) before getting pushed by visiting York, the reigning Class B champion, only to hold on, 11-10, then edging host Falmouth (7-6) before winning at Messalonskee, 13-7. Cape Elizabeth then rallied from three-goals down to beat host Yarmouth (13-12) before handling visiting Gorham (17-4), host Windham (16-5) and visiting Thornton Academy (16-9). Friday, the Capers hoped to begin a new win streak with a 9-5 home victory over Marshwood.

Thornton Academy, meanwhile, started with 16-6 win over Deering in the opener (16-6), then defeated Gorham (24-3), Kennebunk (19-5), Brunswick (16-3), Scarborough (9-6), Windham (19-4) and Noble (20-6) before losing at Cape Elizabeth (16-9). The Golden Trojans rebounded to knock off South Portland (19-9), but Saturday, lost to York, 11-10.

In the teams’ first meeting this spring, Marcotte scored four times for Thornton Academy, but van Huystee’s five goals and a second half surge paced the Capers to the win.

Tuesday’s game-time temperature was in the mid-60s, but there was rain and more dramatically, lightning in the second half, but it didn’t stop the Golden Trojans from snapping a five-game skid in the series as they beat Cape Elizabeth for the first time since an 11-10 overtime home win May 20, 2022.

The Capers started fast, as Lathrop scored unassisted on his first shot, 57 seconds in.

Cape Elizabeth had a chance to double its lead when it went man-up, but Lathrop missed wide, then the Capers turned the ball over.

After Cape Elizabeth senior goalie Michael Foley denied sophomore Benjamin White, Marcotte broke free for an apparent easy goal, but Capers senior defenseman Colin Blackburn knocked the ball away at the last moment.

Cape Elizabeth then doubled its lead with 4:25 left in the opening stanza, as Lathrop threaded a nice pass through traffic to van Huystee, who beat Thornton Academy junior goalie Drew Maxcy for a 2-0 advantage.

But that would be the Capers’ highwater mark, as they wouldn’t score again in the first half.

After Maxcy twice denied junior Aidan Connolly, the Golden Trojans broke through with 26.9 seconds to go in the first quarter, as in transition, Marcotte got a pass from junior Jack Paradis and found the net.

Thornton Academy started the second period man-up, but Foley saved a Marcotte shot, then the Golden Trojans turned the ball over.

After Maxcy denied senior Aidan Mannsmann, Lathrop and sophomore Alex Mainville were off target and Maxcy robbed Connolly on the doorstep.

With 3:34 left in the half, Mainville was sent off for slashing, but Foley denied DeLeo.

Then, with 2:13 to go, Veroneau got a pass from Marcotte, then ripped a shot past Foley and into the net to tie the score.

It was also Veroneau’s 100th career goal.

“I’ve put in hard work for four years and I’m glad I did,” Veroneau said. “I’m glad I got the goal tonight. It was awesome.”

After Lathrop missed wide in an attempt to put Cape Elizabeth back in front, the Golden Trojans scored just before the horn, as White set up Marcotte for a goal with 1.2 seconds showing and the home team’s first lead, 3-2.

When Lathrop scored unassisted 40 seconds into the second half, ending a 17 minute, 5 second scoring drought, it appeared the Capers might get momentum back, but in the aftermath of the goal, Lathrop was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, hitting Hersey in a sensitive area, and Lathrop had to sit for three minutes.

Thornton Academy then picked up its teammate and produced an offensive flurry for some separation.

With 11:01 left in the third quarter, Marcotte passed to DeLeo, who fired a shot past Foley to put the Golden Trojans on top for good.

Twenty-nine seconds later, Veroneau scored unassisted.

With 9:09 showing, DeLeo fired a high rocket past Foley.

Then, with 8:28 left, just eight seconds before the penalty was due to expire, senior Bo Preston ripped a shot past Foley as well and just like that, a tie score had turned into a 7-3 Golden Trojans’ advantage.

“The entire momentum shifted there,” Hersey said. “We got on a run and kept going. We have great athletes and we have a great man-up.”

“The three-minute penalty gave us some emotion,” Veroneau said. We got four goals in three minutes and went from there. Grady’s a dog. He locked (Keegan) off tonight. We did it for him.”

“Our man-up was there tonight, so I was happy,” added Thornton Academy coach Ryan Hersey, who is Grady Hersey’s uncle. “We were able to adapt, which we had trouble doing earlier in the season. Man-up was the difference-maker. I’m proud of the boys for not taking their foot off the gas pedal. Four goals in three minutes was a big swing.”

After Maxcy saved shots from Lathrop and Mainville, the Golden Trojans struck again, as Veroneau scored unassisted with 1:20 to go and the lead was 8-3 heading for the fourth quarter.

But before the final stanza could begin, lightning was seen in the distance and by rule, play was halted for 30 minutes.

After the mandated delay, the teams got 10 minutes to warm up.

Thornton Academy then finished it off.

Lathrop gave the Capers’ hopes a jolt when he took a pass from senior Tom Hennessey and bounced a shot past Maxcy and in with 9:31 left, ending a 13:49 scoring drought, but after Connolly and Lathrop missed wide and Maxcy denied Connolly, Marcotte restored the five-goal advantage when he scored unassisted with 6:45 left.

Latrhop scored one final time, unassisted, with 4:51 to play, but with 1:34 left, an unassisted goal from sophomore Will Edborg slammed the door.

Maxcy made late saves on shots from Mainville and Lathrop and the Golden Trojans killed the clock from there.

At 10:06 p.m., over three hours after the game’s scheduled start time, the horn sounded and Thornton Academy celebrated its 10-5 victory.

“The guys were antsy in there (during the delay),” Ryan Hersey said. “They wanted to get out there and play, so I told them to take some deep breaths and I told them to focus on what they needed to when we went back out to be successful.”

Marcotte and Veroneau each scored three goals, while DeLeo had two and Edborg and Preston contributed one apiece.

Marcotte also had two assists, while Paradis and White finished with one each.

Maxcy made a dozen key saves.

The Golden Trojans finished with a 9-7 edge in faceoffs, a 27-25 advantage in ground balls (Preston and senior Hunter Boudreau led the way with four apiece) and put 20 shots on cage to the Capers’ 17. Thornton Academy overcame 17 turnovers.

Frustration

Cape Elizabeth got four goals and an assist from Lathrop, but the Golden Trojans produced a fabulous defensive effort overall.

“We had a game plan for them,” Grady Hersey said. “We were worried about Keegan. We didn’t want to let him take over the game. He’s the best player in the state and he got some goals, but we just couldn’t let him go off.”

“It’s not our typical zone, but it was one that allowed us to play on Keegan and make sure we had a man there and we zoned it up from there,” Ryan Hersey said. “We didn’t give up easy, one-pass, two-pass shots. They tried to throw the ball into the middle and we were able to knock the ball down.”

The Capers also got a goal from van Huystee and 10 saves from Foley.

Blackburn and van Huystee shared team honors with four ground balls.

Cape Elizabeth, which last lost two games in a three-game span way back at the start of the 2018 season, had an edge in total shots (31-26) and gave the ball away 20 times.

“The first half, we did a good job and the defense played well, but we didn’t do little things well in the second half,” Raymond lamented. “Ground balls were poor and we didn’t catch and throw well. We just didn’t do as well as the Falmouth game.

“Offensively, we’re still struggling and we’ll probably struggle for awhile until we get guys more time in those spots and adjust. It was a hard game for some of our offensive players. We got good looks here and there, but their goalie made some good saves and did a great job. They did a great job on Keegan and made things hard for him. Their zone is a difference-maker. The guys got experience against it and you can’t mimic it on film.

“Our defense needs to do a better job communicating and we need to be a little bit tougher. (Former standout) Nate Patterson (now playing at Bryant University in Rhode Island) covered up a lot for us for awhile. He picked up a ton of ground balls, so other guys could focus on other things. Nate’s not here anymore and we haven’t found anyone to replace him.”

Finishing up

Thornton Academy is home with Biddeford Friday, then welcomes Marshwood Tuesday of next week before wrapping up the regular season at Falmouth on May 30.

The Golden Trojans expect to finish third in Class A regardless of what happens in their final games, but they’ll be a dangerous team to face when the season is on the line.

“Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction,” Ryan Hersey said. “By no means did we play perfect. We still have a lot to improve on, but we’re dangerous and if we continue to execute, we can play with anybody. It’s about going out and executing.”

Cape Elizabeth, which is battling Falmouth for the top spot in Class A, will play at Greely Friday, then closes the regular season at home versus Yarmouth Wednesday of next week.

“I don’t think there’s anything we need to turn around,” Raymond said. “The kids just need more time playing. There are a bunch of guys who haven’t played that much at the varsity level. They need more time in practice and more time in games.

“There’s three teams in Class A that are all pretty competitive. Each team has strengths and weaknesses. I think Falmouth is more gifted offensively and TA’s zone causes a lot of problems. If we can get out in transition, we’re probably better there. Whoever is playing well on a given day can win.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net

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