By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
For Byrd girls soccer coach Lisa Levermann, this is just like Game 1 against St. Michael.
Just like Game 11 against St. Louis. Or Game 21 against South Grand Prairie, Texas.
At least, that’s the plan.
And as much as she will try to make it that way, she knows as well as anybody that it really isn’t just like those games.
This is for the state championship. This is why her team played Game 1 and Game 11 and Game 21. And all of the rest of them.
All of that for this: Byrd vs. St. Scholastica for the Division I state championship on Saturday at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond.
“I want them to enjoy the ride,” Leverman said. “There’s a fine line there because you want them to go into it like we have every match. They are very superstitious so we are trying to do everything like we have done from the beginning.
“But I told them,” she added, “things are about to get a little crazy.”
St. Scholastica won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. Though Byrd was in the finals in 2016, it was 20 years before that since the Lady Jackets brought home the biggest trophy.
That’s a lot to think about, so they’d rather not.
“I’ll try to just focus on the exact moment,” said Natalie Dvorakova of what she’ll be thinking when the opening whistle blows. “At the end of the day, it’s still just a game we have to win. I’m just going to play my game and focus on having fun and enjoying my time on the field.”
Fun is kind of the operative word around the Byrd girls soccer program these days.
“I want them to focus,” Levermann said, “but I want them to enjoy it, too. I want them to know there’s no pressure. They (St. Scholastica) are the No. 4 seed. We have nothing to lose, so I want them to have fun and to play their hardest, no matter what.”
“It is just another game when you are playing it. But in the bigger picture, you know it’s not,” Dvorakova said. “But you have to think that way or the stress will get to you.”
The defense for 11th-seeded Byrd figures to be a big key in the game. The two teams have already played this year with St. Scholastica winning 3-0 on Dec. 28 at a tournament in Mandeville.
“I’m going to be super excited, but I know I need to keep my composure so we can have fun,” said defender Lauryn Fleming. “I’m proud of our team for getting here.”
“Honestly, I’m going to treat it like a regular game,” said freshman defender Sarah Katherine Murrell. “I don’t want to get my nerves too spiked, so I just need to keep my composure too. It means a lot to be starting on the back line as a freshman. It’s been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Just to get a chance to play for my school and this team at a state championship is a great experience.”
Levermann has been down this road plenty of times – she was the coach in 1996 when Byrd won the title – and she understands that her role as coach means more than just strategy and substitutions.
“I’m just trying to keep calm with them,” she said. “That approach has been working pretty well. so, we are going to have fun, be focused and just enjoy the moment.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com