MONOMUTH — It was likely a day that Nick Trenholm won’t soon forget.

The Monmouth Academy senior put on a show in front of a Homecoming crowd Saturday morning, scoring four goals and assisting on another to help rally the Mustangs from behind for a 5-2 triumph over Carrabec in boys’ soccer.

“That’s very fitting for him being a senior, and it being Homecoming,” Monmouth coach Joe Fletcher said. “He plays center-midfield. So he doesn’t score a lot of goals.”

Trenholm scored three goals all of last season and had just two this year. He led the charge against the winless Cobras. Monmouth fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 before coming back to tie. Trenholm assisted the first goal and scored the second. He then scored the game-winner in the second half before adding two more.

“I thought we played well,” Trenholm said. “We started off slow. Then we picked it up in the second half.”

The Mustangs (4-3) were playing on the girls’ soccer field after heavy rains made the boys’ home turf unplayable. Monmouth also had to adjust to being behind.

Carrabec, which had scored three goals all year, took the 1-0 lead 3:06 into the game. A cross from the left side wasn’t cleared and wound up on Isrial Davis’ foot for the quick lead.

“It was definitely like a dagger in the stomach, but we held strong and played well together,” said Trenholm. “We pulled it together.”

The Mustangs tied it at 9:06 when Trenholm’s corner kick was headed in by Kyle Fletcher at the left post.

The Mustangs had ample opportunity to build on that momentum. Monmouth outshot Carrabec 12-2 in the first half and 24-6 overall. The Mustangs just couldn’t bury their chances.

“I had confidence in our team that we’d finish,” Trenholm said. “We weren’t going to give up just because we were down.”

Carrabec (0-6-1) made good on its second shot of the game. Hunter Williams redirected a Charlie Landry corner that got through traffic for a 2-1 lead with 22:35 left in the half.

Trenholm tied it with 2:44 remaining. He dribbled past four different Cobra defenders along the end line and stuffed in a shot.

“That definitely lifted everyone,” Trenholm said. “It definitely felt good to tie it back up.”

The theme at the half was to continue generating chances, but to play more solid defense and possess the ball more effectively. Monmouth did that and took the bite out of the Cobras game.

“We talked at halftime about trying to control the ball a little more and try to wear them down,” Fletcher said.

The Mustangs came out strong in the second half and took the lead at 12:12. Trenholm had a dead ball that he drilled just inside the left post.

Carrabec struggled to mount any kind of comeback. The Cobras best opportunities came late in the game after the Mustangs had expanded the lead.

Trenholm made it 4-2 with a long shot that went in off keeper John Layman with 12:11 left. Then he completed the hat trick with 46 seconds remaining.

“It was a tale of two games,” Fletcher said. “We didn’t play well in the first half. We’re very young. I played all 10 freshmen. The future is bright, but we have a lot of work to do to compete with the other top teams.”

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