Two numbers separate Davenport and Schenevus from every other girls soccer team in the area.
For the top-seeded Wildcats (17-0-1), it's 39 _ the number of games Davenport has played since its last loss.
Second-seeded Schenevus (16-1) counters with two _ the number of goals it has allowed this season, both coming in a 2-1 loss to Edmeston on Oct. 14.
The teams will meet at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame fields in the Section Four Class D championship game.
"We've got our hands full Saturday," 29th-year Davenport coach Ray Preston said after Tuesday's 1-0 squeeze past Edmeston in a sectional semifinal. "I've said all along that Schenevus has more athletes than anybody.
"If these kids keep doing what they've been doing, you never know," he continued. "Anything can happen."
Dragons coach Stephanie Banks said she remembers playing against Preston's Wildcats in high school.
"(Preston) brings a lot of experience and he knows his sports," said Banks, an eighth-year coach who graduated from Franklin in 1994.
One thing Preston and the Wildcats haven't experienced over the last four years is an outright sectional title. Davenport fell, 1-0, to Milford in the 2006 Class D final; lost, 2-0, to Edmeston in 2007; and tied the Panthers, 0-0, last season to complete a 20-0-1 season. Edmeston advanced to states last year with a 3-2 shootout victory over Davenport and went on to earn a share of the Class D state championship.
"We are prepared and ready," said Davenport sweeper Samantha Meyerhoff, a fifth-year varsity player who experienced all four sectional setbacks. "We've gone there too many times in the sectional final. We have to get over the hump."
The last sectional title for Davenport came in 2004, a 1-0 win over South Kortright.
"I think we can do it," said Lauren Hotaling, who scored Davenport's sectional goals in 1-0 victories over Edmeston and Milford. "It should be a pretty good matchup."
Senior Jackie Gilley leads the Wildcats with 19 goals and 10 assists this season. Sarah Haight, who missed the Wildcats' semifinal win with the flu, has 13 goals and five assists. Hotaling has six goals and five assists, Holly Waid has four goals and nine assists and Meyerhoff has five goals.
But the Wildcats' offensive standouts likely haven't faced a defense comparable to Schenevus' this season. The Dragons, who last won a sectional title in 2000 _ when they beat Margaretville, 1-0, in the final _ have 16 shutouts.
"We have a very experienced sweeper," Banks said of senior Jayme Bentley, a fifth-year starter who has been at sweeper the past three years. "Having that experience, the constant communication has been key."
Stopper Tara Keaney and fullbacks Chelsea Gantner and Katie May, along with midfielders Jessica Bentley, Cassandra Brown, Jenaye Sutton and Amy Weber, also have contributed to Schenevus' success on defense.
"The best thing is we've been under the radar all year," Banks said of her Tri-Valley League championship squad. "The other thing going for us is we've won. We've been successful in basketball, softball and soccer. The girls know what it takes to be successful and how to improve. Even when we don't play well, they're the first ones to admit it."
Offensively, Schenevus is led by Jessica Bentley's 13 goals and eight assists. Brina Herr, who scored the Dragons' goals in a 2-0 semifinal victory over Gilboa on Tuesday, has 10 goals and seven assists. Brown has contributed eight goals and five assists, and Sierra Bentley has seven goals.
"I met the Bentleys when they were in third grade," Banks said of senior twins Jayme and Jessica, whose sister Sierra is an eighth-grader. "I coached them that year in (youth) soccer. You knew they were going to be really good athletes.
"It's a tight-knit group as a whole," she continued. "Academically, I don't think anyone on the team has less than 90 percent average. They're just a hard-working group and set high goals for themselves. They all have that drive to be successful."
The winner of Saturday's game will play the Section Three champion in a quarterfinal next weekend. Top-seeded McGraw (18-0) meets No. 2 Remsen (15-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Cortland State in the Section Three final.
___
Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
