On the heels of its first ever District 3 playoff appearance, Nate Beard and the rest of his Central Dauphin lacrosse teammates chose to downplay the significance of the program's watershed moment.
Instead, the Rams treated Tuesday's District 3 boys' lacrosse opener with Trinity like any other regular season tilt.
That even-handed approach served the hosts well in the second half of a tight game as the Rams held off the Shamrocks 8-6 at Landis Field.
Beard finished with a game-high four goals, teammate Eli Hudson added a pair and Kyle Page chipped in a goal and two assists to support a 10-save effort from goalie Jeremy Larkin.
"The key for us was working the ball around, keeping it on our sticks and taking advantage of the opportunities when we had them," said Beard, whose third goal of the game gave his team a two-goal lead.
"Trinity is always going to fight against you, keep fighting and give you a good game."
Central Dauphin (13-4), which also closed the regular season with a win over these same Shamrocks, continues into Thursday's District 3 quarterfinals against top seed Manheim Twp., an 18-9 winner over Wyomissing. Game time is 5 p.m. at Hershey High School.
"The last five years, we've come a long way, going 2-10 in our first year [as a PIAA sport]," said CD coach Will Driscoll.
"The last two years we've basically been one win short of getting into the playoffs, so the guys that have been in the program for awhile, this is what they've been working for and this has been their number one goal."
Driscoll's club held a series of one-goal leads in the first half only to see the Shamrocks (12-6) answer back to tie the game three times before half and once more in the third quarter.
Hudson's unassisted goal, off of a Trinity turnover, with 41 seconds left in the half gave CD a 4-3 lead at the break. David Hergenroeder answered for Trinity early in the third quarter to tie it at 4 before the Rams took the lead for good.
With the Shamrocks' Preston Whiteman in the penalty box for slashing, CD took a 5-4 edge on a man-up goal from Austin Rose after a feed from Page.
In the fourth quarter, the hosts got the insurance goal they needed after Larkin fired a quick outlet pass to Page, who carried over midfield and fed Beard to make it 6-4 with 8:34 to play.
Hergenroeder got the 'Rocks within 6-5, but goals from Beard and Hudson pushed the lead to three with 5:22 left.
"The game was still close enough [at 6-4]," said Trinity coach Dave Heisey.
"The game was a little sloppy on both sides, the ball was on the ground a lot, bouncing in the air and off guys' helmets. I really didn't feel that out of it until the very end."
Hergenroeder and Kyle Scott led Trinity with two goals apiece, while Karl Dickey finished with 10 saves.