Beaverton has returned to the Oregon state final against reigning champion Grant, only this time, the Lady Barbarians are coming in with razor-sharp focus.

“The entire year, all we have talked about is playing Grant – how we’re going to play them, contain them, how we're going to beat them,” Beaverton coach Greg Tracy said. “There isn’t one girl on this team who wants to see Grant win the trophy twice. It’s more about the girls’ pride; they want the state title back. They really think they can do it, and that’s half the battle – the confidence.”

But the Lady Barbarians aren’t taking any chances. The players requested that the coaches up their training regimen from two to five practices per week, and the results are being realized. Last weekend, Beaverton beat the Valley Panthers 50-22 in the state semifinals. When the teams met in the regular season, it was only a seven-point victory.

“We changed our style of play to something that they hadn’t seen before – pod play,” Tracy explained. “Before it was more 'regular' rugby – there were the forwards and there were the backs. Now we have the tight five, loose forwards, and backs as units working in certain areas of the field, so they’re not running around the field.”

Tracy introduced the pod system to the Red Hawks (Oregon's all-star team) this year, and that’s where 11 of his senior players picked up game concept. Those vets – like captains Lakayla Gillaspie and Emily Acuna – liaised with the younger players, and the team employed the system to the tune of 21 unanswered point in the first 15 minutes.

“But then the Valley Panthers regrouped, while we pulled off the gas a bit,” Tracy explained the seven-point margin at halftime. “I asked them leading questions – What’s going on? What’s happening? They weren’t hard on themselves but they knew it was their fault for letting them back in the game. The leadership picked up on that and helped the team turn it around.”

Decision-making and the ability to react will be major influences in this Saturday’s outcome, and Tracy focuses a lot of energy on refining his players’ mental game.

“It’s what we build toward the whole season – having the girls make decisions on the fly and on the field,” Tracy said. “Against Valley, there wasn’t enough time [during the first half] to sort it out and get it going, but it was comforting to see them self-asses during halftime and then perform better.

“At practice we’ll play different situational games and then ask: How can you be more effective,” Tracy said of developing decision-making skills. “They think about it and in the repetitiveness, it will start clicking. It clicks for some players, but it needs to click for everyone.”

Tracy was also pleased to see another team concept – that will be very helpful in the final – develop.

“We had discussed what it means to play while hurt versus being injured – that they’re different things,” said Tracy, who explained that Rugby Oregon’s high school leagues have rolling substitutions, so long as the home team initiates the practice. “Valley came back really hard and I had five starters come off in the first half. At one point, forward Crissy Miranda sat down on the pitch for five seconds, and then got back up to play. She knew the difference between being injured and playing hurt, and her teammates realized that if she could do that, then they could, too. Crissy really stepped up her game.”

Tracy indicated that his starting 15 is well fit and usually plays about three-quarters of the game before needing some relief. Unfortunately for the Lady Barbarians, captain Acuna is questionable for Saturday, having injured her elbow against Valley. She’ll be a huge deficit in terms of leadership and defense.

But about half of the team has played in a state final, and the drive from up-and-comers like sophomore Nini Kalamafoni and junior Lauren Garrison will propel the squad into an inspired performance against Grant. How are the Generals looking? Read about the team's big win against North Clackamas last weekend.