SACO — Entering his sixth season at the helm of Thornton Academy’s boys lacrosse program, Ryan Hersey still carries with him a number of techniques he learned while he was a player at Mt. Blue in the late 1990’s.

Using his vast knowledge of lacrosse and combining the past with the present, Hersey will eclipse the 50 win total this season after turning Thornton in to a Class A powerhouse in a reasonably short time.

Hersey recalls a task former Mt. Blue coaches Drew Beedy and Mark Cyr constantly ask of the Cougars, something that help lay the foundation for years of exceptional Mt. Blue lacrosse teams.

“Everyday they challenged us to come to practice with the intention of getting better,” Hersey said. “I use that in my coaching now. It’s the first thing I give to the players and we try to embrace that concept every year.”

“We, also, do the Mt. Blue thing of circling up before practice and letting go emotionally,” he added. “That helps us get out a few things and focus on practice.”

Hersey assisted at Mt. Blue from 1999-2003 before taking a job in New Hampshire where he assisted with the boys team at Laconia, he eventually became the girls varsity coach. A teaching position at the Thornton Middle School pulled him away in 2006. At Thornton he coached his way through the ranks until named the varsity coach at the high school in 2010.

The task at Thornton was a challenging one considering the talent of the athletes at the school and the desire of the community to field a strong program.

Hersey turned to defense in his first couple of seasons and coupled with the athletic ability of the Trojans the team started to excel.

“For the first several years we played hard nosed defense. We tried to keep the games low scoring, making sure we started playing defense the moment our attack lost the ball,” he said. “We ran a zone and the kids got better at it as the years went on.”

Thornton developed a style that helped the Trojans challenge perennial state champion challenger Scarborough for one of the top spots. The first four years, Hersey’s teams fell to Scarborough somewhere in the Western tournament bracket.

Then last season, the Trojans made a break through defeating Scarborough in the semifinals only to drop a hard fought game to eventual Class A state champion, South Portland.

“We were right there last year,” Hersey noted. “We hungry to get going this season.”

A wealth of talent returns on the attacking end for the Trojans with seven of the top 10 goal scorers returning. The talent has prompted a tactical change by Hersey.

“I think you have to embrace what you have,” he said. “We are going to open up our game this season working to be more on the attack.”

On the sideline, Hersey is joined by brother Mike (also a Mt. Blue grad) as an assistant coach. Mike is a Division I lacrosse official, who takes time off during the spring to help his brother coach the Trojans.

“It’s good because he knows a lot about the game,” Ryan said. “We are able to go back-and-forth about what we do and have been able to turn out good results.”

Thornton is set to open regular season play this week, at Marshwood in South Berwick.

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