Soccer

Season: Fall

2026 Opening Dates:
August 17– High School
September 4 – Middle School

Boys Teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity, First Team, Club
Girls Teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity, First Team
Varsity Boys Coach: George Sherry
Varsity Girls Coach: Ellie Agreste

Soccer at Thornton Academy traces its roots to 1973 when longtime track and field
coach Larry Bowie started the first boys team. 

The Thornton Academy girls soccer program offered its first varsity team during the
1992 season under Scott Nason. The Golden Trojans were immediately successful upon
entering Western Maine Class A and captured conference championships in only their
second and third seasons. 

The typical Thornton Academy boys and girls soccer season consists of fourteen
regular season games and five non-countable exhibition dates. The Thornton Academy
boys program traditionally plays in a preseason tournament at Marshwood or Noble and
also hosts an annual game against some of the program’s alumni. The girls program also
competes in one or more preseason tournaments as a means of preparing for the regular
season. For regional post-season purposes, the Golden Trojans are grouped in the Class A
South region and traditionally compete against some of the top programs in southern
Maine.

All home boys and girls soccer contests take place at Dr. Paul S. Hill, Jr. Stadium.
The boys program also utilizes the Eastern Trail facility located on the west side of the
school’s campus, for most of its practices. The girls program alternates between Hill
Stadium and a grass facility located to its west for its practice sessions. Participation in
Thornton soccer is a six-day per week commitment with occasional regular season games
taking place on Saturdays. Practices generally occur immediately after school.
Tryouts for Thornton Academy’s high school soccer teams take place during the
month of August. The varsity level is reserved for the school’s most highly skilled players.
Students still developing their skills and novice players are assigned to the junior varsity or
first teams.

Thornton Academy Middle School has offered soccer since the school’s inception in
2006. The team competes in the Southern Maine Middle School Athletic Conference
(SMMSAC) against York County competition. All of the team’s practices and the majority of
its home games are played at the field adjacent to the middle school building.

The school also fields a boys entry in the Maine Association of Independent School
Athletic Directors (MAISAD) league. Boys not earning a spot on one of the other school
teams may participate on the MAISAD squad. Many of the students who compete for the
MAISAD soccer team are members of the school’s residential life program, but that team is
also open to interested day students as well. Practices generally take place after 4:30 PM.