WEST GOSHEN >> Soaked by a cooler of water after a stressful afternoon on West Chester East’s baking turf, Springfield boys lacrosse coach Tom Lemieux received a long line of joyous, blue-clad fans with hugs and high fives Saturday. Joining that crowd was one of the people most attuned to the emotions swirling in Lemieux’s head. John Begier, who made the trip first and foremost to see his daughter’s Radnor team contest a state final in the front half of the doubleheader, stuck around for the boys game, waiting to see who would succeed his Radnor Raiders as state champions.
And when the final whistle blew, handing Springfield a 4-3 win over La Salle, Begier was among those ecstatic for Lemieux and the Cougars. Saturday’s finals were monumental for the PIAA, not just for the raucous crowd drawn by four eastern teams — get this — playing at an eastern Pennsylvania venue, or for the first crowns won by the Springfield boys and Conestoga girls since the PIAA started sanctioning the sport in the 2008-09 academic year. They mark the end of an era, with the football-driven glut of class expansion doubling the number of champions next season via Class AA and AAA tournaments.
But this postseason represents the height of another era, one of Central League domination. And a switch to two classifications may not dampen that. The girls competition has basically been the Central League final, part two, for nearly a decade. Only one team not hailing from the league (Downingtown East in 2011) has made a state final. All eight titles, led by Garnet Valley’s four, have been monopolized by Central League schools.
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