GORHAM — After having lost to perennial powerhouse Greely in consecutive matches, the Thornton Academy and Gorham golf teams both knew that Wednesday’s clash against each other was an important one. The two Class A contenders didn’t disappoint, as their match went down to the wire, with the visiting Trojans coming away with a 7-6 victory at Gorham Country Club.

“Today was a big match for us,” said Thornton head coach Jeff Camire. “It was nice to see them step up.”

The match was about as close as possible, as the teams split the six individual matches ”“ in both stroke play and match play ”“ meaning the match came down to collective team scores. The Trojans narrowly won that, 202-204.

Thornton got two points each from Hashilla Rivai, Noah Jacques and Jordan LaPlume. LaPlume’s match-up against Gorham’s Joey Gallant was a microcosm of how close the team match was, as he beat Gallant by just one stroke (48 to 49) and didn’t secure the match-play win until the ninth and final hole.

Four of the other fates in match play weren’t sealed up until the eighth hole, including wins by Rivai and Jacques.

The win moves the Trojans to 4-1 on the season, while the Rams fall to 3-2.

“We didn’t have our best day all around, but we did enough to win,” said Camire. “We’ll take it.”

The two teams will rematch to close out the regular season on Oct. 2, as the Rams travel to Biddeford-Saco Country Club.

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