Rome Free Academy, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Camden will be looking to bring home Section III field hockey championships in their respective classes on Saturday when the finals are held at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
VVS and Camden will collide first on Saturday in the Class B final at 2:30 p.m. before RFA battles Liverpool at 4:30 in the Class A championship game.
Camden and VVS were crowned Tri-Valley League co-champions this season, and the two squads are certainly no strangers to each other when it comes to the Class B finals.
The Lady Blue Devils defeated VVS on penalty strokes in 2007 and advanced all the way into the state semifinals, where they were defeated by Rye. Last year, the Lady Red Devils’ Ashley Palmer scored the game’s only goal of the contest in overtime to down Camden, 1-0, at Chittenango, and VVS eventually advanced to the state semifinals, where they lost to Garden City.
The Lady Blue Devils were in control and threatened to score for most of last year’s contest against Camden but were unable to put one in.
Camden coach Shannon McPheron said she expects another exciting game between the two rivaled schools, and added that her girls will do everything they can to stop a repeat from last year.
"Truthfully, I know my girls have that in the back of their minds going into that game," she said. "They want to prove people wrong and show Camden is a good team. They want to make sure that doesn’t happen again and finish it up."
McPheron, a former field hockey standout at RFA, added that getting the championship on Saturday would help heal the wounds that were made in last season’s championship loss.
"I think it will seal the deal and get us to move on as a team," she said. "The ones that are still here from last year really respected the seniors that graduated especially for what they’ve done, so they’re doing it for them and for themselves."
The 13-3-1 overall Lady Blue Devils have won both regular season TVL matchups against 14-3 overall VVS this year after winning 1-0 in Verona in September and 3-1 at Camden last month.
"From the two meetings, we learned that we really have to play hard until the final whistle," said McPheron. "I know its not going to be an easy game, so my team has to be mentally prepared for it and not let down because VVS will take advantage if we let up."
VVS coach Wendy Seifried said the Lady Red Devils are also looking to do whatever it takes to win and said the best way she motivated the team is by reminding them of what happened last year.
"We are going to do what we have to do to win," she said. "I have confidence in my defense, but I want to make some adjustments by picking up the pace and using our speed a little better and use our corner skills."
RFA will also face a tough task on Saturday when they battle 15-1-1 overall and top-seeded Liverpool.
The Lady Knights enter with a 11-3-3 overall record and have faced Liverpool twice this season. RFA lost in the first matchup 1-0 in September but managed to pick up a 2-2 tie in October.
RFA coach Linda Harjung feels that her squad has the skills to come away with the victory this time around.
"Third time is a charm," she said. "I felt that we really dominated a good part of the first game despite starting the season without having any scrimmages and having a lot of injuries. The second game, I felt we had a good shot and felt we were the better team, but we couldn’t get that winning goal in the end."
Harjung added that the key to overcoming Liverpool would be taking advantage of them early on in the contest.
"I think the key is scoring early against them," she said. "They get frustrated quickly, so if you play hard and keep the ball off their sticks, frustration starts to break down."
Harjung also feels that her squad also has more scoring depth than Liverpool and it could work out to their advantage. "We have more kids that can get in scoring position at anytime," she said. "Liverpool relies on a very few players to score so I think that’ll help us. Our passing game is on now and its not an issue anymore like it was earlier in the season."
Harjung said that despite battling early injuries that caused a small roster size while starting the season with no scrimmages, she knew from the start that the Lady Knights would still go far.
"This group, from day one, we knew that they had talent," she said. "I had to change my philosophy of coaching with the lesser number of players I had, but it’s been a much better learning experience for them and myself. This group has been focused and wanted to play for the title all season."
The winners of Saturday’s sectional finals will move on to state regional play scheduled on Saturday, Nov. 14, at C-NS.
