La Costa Canyon Mavericks

La Costa Canyon 9, Torrey Pines 8

Some rivalries evoke great emotion. And when the rival comes to town, the entire community is there with great intensity.

Then there is the La Costa Canyon rivalry with Torrey Pines in high school boys lacrosse.

That was never more apparent than Friday night when defending San Diego Section Division I champion LCC went to Torrey Pines in what was a revenge game for the Falcons.

Torrey Pines dropped both Avocado League games as well as the section finals to La Costa Canyon, so to say this was a big game would be an understatement.

“They have last year’s playoff brackets up on the wall of the locker room,” Torrey Pines coach Jonathan Zissi said. “They have had this game marked on their calendar since last year’s finals.

“This rivalry is real. I’m from back East and this rivalry is better than a lot of them back there.

“These guys are lucky to have a rivalry that is more than a playoff game. This one felt like a CIF championship game.”

So when La Costa Canyon sophomore Dino Renna scored the final goal with just 1:15 to play for a 9-8 LCC win, it felt like it did last year when the Mavericks (11-2, 3-0) won the title from the Falcons (10-3, 3-1).

And since both teams are in the Open Division this year and are guaranteed a playoff berth, the chances of two additional meetings are almost assured.

The way the first meeting unfolded, both games will be worth watching.

“We’re here to stay,” said Renna, who scored three goals. “I came out nervous, but once I took a couple of checks I was ready to go.”

But Renna still waited until the final seconds of the third quarter to score his first goal of the game.

There were only four seconds left when Renna hit the net for the first time, pulling the Mavs even 7-7 after three quarters.

“I was just saving it,” Renna said, smiling. “The game went back and forth all night. The momentum was even, but the fourth quarter always belongs to LCC.

“I wanted to get one before the fourth for momentum going into our quarter.”

He did, and for good measure Renna scored both of the Mavs’ goals in the final quarter.

After Greg Newman gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead, Renna’s first one came with 5:42 left to tie the game at 8-8, the sixth and final time the score was tied.

Then came Renna’s biggest goal. Cutting through the crease, he took a pass from Ben Keen and whipped a shot past goalie Jake Kennedy for the game-winner.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Renna said. “Ben and I made eye contact. I just took the shot. It was more Ben than it was me. I had no time to think about it. It was just like practice.”

By Terry Monahan