Lacrosse

In 1940 Thornton Academy boys basketball coach Frederick Kosiba introduced the
brand new sport of lacrosse to the school’s athletic program. Given the lack of available
competition, the Maroon and Gold played a modest three-game schedule. Thornton fielded
teams in 1940 and 1941 before World War II broke out and impacted the school’s ability to
field boys’ athletic programs.

Prior to the Maine Principals’ Association sponsoring state championship play in
lacrosse in the spring of 1998, Thornton had a club program that competed in the Maine
Interscholastic Lacrosse League (MILL). Once becoming a school-sanctioned sport in
1998, the Golden Trojans experienced immediate success on the field, earning a berth in
the regional semifinals in its first year and completing an undefeated regular season in
2000 under Coach Dean Wolfhart. Wolfhart retired following the 2008 season, a year in
which his teams completed a perfect 12-0 regular campaign en route to the Southwestern
Maine Activities Association championship.

Recently the Golden Trojans have emerged as one of the top boys lacrosse programs
in the state of Maine. Led by 2018 Southwestern Maine Activities Association Coach of the
Year Ryan Hersey, Thornton Academy has made nine regional championship game
appearances since 2010. In 2018, the Golden Trojans finished the season with a perfect
15-0 record and the first Class A state championship in school history. Thornton Academy
duplicated that feat in June of 2019 with a thrilling overtime victory over Falmouth in the
state championship game.

Thornton Academy fielded its first girls lacrosse team during the 1998 season. The
program has had only two head coaches during its two-decade history – Kelli Corrigan and
Craig Agreste. The girls program has been consistently competitive in Class A South during
Agreste’s tenure, having won ten or more games on seven occasions and appearing in
regional championship games twice (2009, 2014). Agreste is the winningest coach in
Thornton Academy program history with 140 career victories.

A number of outstanding players have competed for both the Thornton Academy
boys and girls lacrosse programs during their brief histories. Carly McKenna (2014) and
Paige LeBlanc (2017) were Maine Sunday Telegram All-State players and later went on to
compete for NCAA Division II programs. 2023 graduate Morgan Bolduc is the program’s
all-time scoring leader with more than 100 goals. Dan St. Ours (1999), C.J. LaBreck (2018,
2019), Ean Patry (2019), and Alex St. John (2021) were selected as U.S. Lacrosse All-
Americans while Noah Edborg tallied over 130 career goals in earning all-state status.

The typical Thornton Academy boys and girls lacrosse seasons consists of twelve
regular season games and five non-countable exhibition dates. The Thornton Academy
boys program hosts an annual preseason play day while the girls compete in a number of
large tournaments. 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 lacrosse contests and the majority of practices take place at Dr. Paul S. Hill,
Jr. Stadium. The lacrosse program also utilizes the Eastern Trail facility located on the
west side of the school’s campus, for some of its practices. Participation in Thornton
lacrosse is a six-day per week commitment with many of the regular season games taking
place on Saturdays.

Tryouts for Thornton Academy’s lacrosse teams take place at the end of March. The
varsity level is reserved for the school’s most highly skilled players. Students still
developing their skills and novice players are assigned to subvarsity teams. Thornton
Academy offers two subvarsity squads for boys players and one team for girls.

Season: Spring
2024 Opening Date: March 25
Teams: Varsity, Junior Varsity, First Team (Boys)
Varsity Boys Coach: Ryan Hersey
Varsity Girls Coach: To Be Announced
Junior Varsity Boys Coach: Brian Dougher
Junior Varsity Girls Coach: David Pasquarello
First Team Boys Coach: Wyatt LeBlanc