Fallon stepped into TA’s leadership role

SACO — Alex Fallon knew he had some big shoes, or more aptly skates, to fill heading into the 2012-13 ice hockey campaign.

The forward was a key contributor to Thornton Academy’s 2012 Class A state title winning squad as a sophomore, scoring three goals and dishing out nine assists as the Golden Trojans brought home a second-straight title.

But that team was led by a massive senior class of 17, and Fallon’s 12 points made him the leading returning scorer on this year’s talented, but much more youthful, Thornton roster, pushing Fallon into a leadership role he’d been far removed from previously.

“I knew I had to come in and be a leader of the team this year losing all those seniors last year, and when I was placed as an assistant captain that sort of gave me the confidence that I needed,” Fallon said. “I just had to do the best that I could.”

Fallon certainly responded to the call, leading all area skaters with 20 goals and adding 12 assists for a Golden Trojans team that was one double-overtime goal away from getting back to the Western Maine semifinals. For that, Fallon has been named the Journal Tribune Boys Hockey Player of the Year.

Fallon said his aim was to “lead by example,” and perhaps his best game came at the most pivotal time for the Thornton, who, after losing four of the previous five, rolled into Lewiston on Feb. 11 to play a confident Blue Devils squad on an eight-game winning streak.

But behind a Fallon hat trick the Trojans pulled an 8-4 upset, becoming the first team to beat Lewiston at the Colisee all season as well as the first to put more than three goals past Devils goaltender Evan Bourassa.

“Bigger games, obviously it’s a bigger stage and you just want to come out and compete,” Fallon said. “I did need to step up my scoring for sure. I definitely improved as a finisher this year. But it’s a team game, and I was put in that position to succeed.”

And the player who helped Fallon thrive the most was his line mate ”“ and fellow Journal Tribune All-Star ”“ Steve Comar, who co-led all area skaters with 19 assists, many of them to Fallon.

“I’ve played with Steve a couple of years (now,) and I’ve known him for a while,” Fallon said. “We’ve played on some teams together here and there, so we definitely had some chemistry.”

Fallon won’t have the services of senior Comar next season, but Thornton will return nearly all the roster that gained plenty of first-hand knowledge going through the rough and tumble world of Western Class A this season, experience that Fallon said should bear fruit a year from now.

“Of course the expectations weren’t as high after winning states two years in a row and losing all those seniors, but we accomplished some very good things for what we put in,” he said. “We didn’t get as far as we’d like to, but we had a really young team this year, not a lot of experience, so next year we’ll have a good team and definitely come back strong.”

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