HILLSBORO — Back on Sept. 4, the Sherwood High School girls soccer team battled Summit to a 2-2 tie in a non-league match played at Summit High School.
As Sherwood coach Bill Brown was getting ready to leave the field, he was approached by Summit coach Jamie Brock.
“She said, ‘see you on November 17,’” Brown said.
Well, Nov. 17 is this Saturday, and, Brock was right, the teams are going to see each other again.
Only, this time there will be much, much more at stake.
The state powers will clash in the Class 5A state championship match, set to start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.
“We’re really excited for that,” Sherwood senior defender Annie Govig said following the Lady Bowmen’s 2-1 win at Willamette in a state playoff semifinal match played Tuesday. “It’s going to be a good game. We’re going to need to bring the same passion that we brought tonight.”
Sherwood, the defending Class 5A state champion, brings an overall record of 14-1-2 into Saturday’s championship contest.
Summit, the Intermountain Conference champion, is 14-0-2 on the season. The Storm, which is led by junior forward Hadlie Plummer, scored a 3-1 win at Corvallis in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
“They’re very good,” Brown said. “We’re going to have to contain their speed and play defense all over the field.”
“It’s going to be a great game,” said Sherwood senior forward Jessica Imbrie, who scored a pair of goals for the Lady Bowmen in their semifinal win. “We need to play with a lot of heart.”
“It was a super tight game,” Sherwood senior Meghan Schoen said of the teams’ first meeting of the season. “This game is going to be super intense. We’re going to have to stay super close as a team.”
Govig, Imbrie and Schoen are part of a group of 12 Lady Bowmen seniors looking to finish their high school careers in a big way.
“We’re all real close,” Schoen said. “And we want to finish up by winning the big one.”
“Nothing would end the season better than to win the title,” Imbrie said.
And, Brown thinks his Sherwood squad is in position to accomplish that goal.
“I wouldn’t bet against these guys,” he said of the Lady Bowmen. “They want it bad and they’ll work hard for it.”
Saturday’s clash will feature the teams that have won the past Class 5A girls state soccer titles. Sherwood downed Wilsonville 1-0, in last year’s championship contest. Summit scored a 1-0 win over Mountain View in the 2010 title tilt.
