Suburban, Central embrace budding rivalry
Central York and York Suburban aren't division rivals in football or basketball.
They aren't in the same division in baseball or soccer either.
So, it may seem a little different that these two schools have slowly developed a nice little rivalry on the boy's lacrosse ranks.
Since 2015, the teams have exchanged wins against each other, with Central holding a 2-1 record the past three years.
"Tom (Mayne) and I are really good friends. He and I have coached summer ball together, and he puts out a good team and they are well coached and I try and do the same thing. We have a lot of mutual respect for each other," Suburban head coach Luke Beam said. "It's just been a good matchup.
"My first year (2015), they had our number, but last year, was one for the ages as far as this county is concerned. You can't draw up what we ended up doing with that play (to win the game). It's just two teams that want to get after it and meet early in the season and provide a good test for each other."
In 2015, as Beam alluded to, the Panthers beat the Trojans, 12-7.
But, last year, in an instant classic, the Trojans came away with a 15-14 victory. That loss has been with the Panthers for a year.
"It's been stuck in my head ever since," said Panthers standout Kollin Vaught after Thursday's game against Suburban."After that game it was drilled in my head until we played them next year. Games like that one (last year) you can't forget."
Central's season also came to an end at Suburban last year in a District 3 first round loss to York Catholic, so the Panthers definitely had a bad taste in their mouth coming into Thursday's game against Suburban.
The Panthers turned a tie game after the first period, into a four-goal advantage by halftime. But, the Trojans battled back in the second half, before Central closed out the 9-7 victory.
TJ Ross scored with 1:18 to play to make it a 9-6 game, only to have Suburban get back within two in the waning moments of the game, but it was too little, too late for the home team.
"It was two different times we lost on this field last year," Panthers head coach Tom Mayne said of last year's defeat to Suburban and a district playoff loss at Suburban. "So, we wanted to get a win on this field and put that behind them."
Central was led by Ross' three goals and two assists. Ryan Fahs and Connor Hoch each added two goals apiece.
Suburban was led by John Geary's four goals and Dominic Corto's three assists. Suburban goalie Blake Wallace made 14 saves.
"Suburban's got a good team," Mayne said. "They are a lot better than people think they are. They gave us a run for our money. They showed us what we need to work on."
Just as good rivals will do, show your weaknesses and where you need to improve to get to where you want to go.
Until the next chapter in this budding rivalry is written, Suburban and Central will go their separate ways and try to reach their respective goals by the lessons they learned from each other.