Old Lyme — Jenna Peduzzi remembers what it felt like playing in last year's state tournament championship game as a member of the Old Lyme High School girls' soccer team, both teams drained and barely standing after 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.

"I was, like, dead running up and down the side of the field," said Peduzzi, a senior forward for the Wildcats, who tied Notre Dame of Fairfield 2-2 for the 2015 Class S title.

It's an all-out effort that Peduzzi is willing to commit to one more time during her high school career, as second-seeded Old Lyme returns to the Class S final to meet No. 13 Old Saybrook in a matchup beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at West Haven High School.

It would be the first outright title in program history for either team, as Old Lyme (2009, 2015) and Old Saybrook (2013), both members of the Shoreline Conference, have combined for three ties.

"I'm super-excited to have the state final as my last game," said Peduzzi, one of three seniors on the team along with Mary Bolles and Caleigh O'Neil. "The feeling is just awesome. I love it. Being a captain on this team is such a privilege. ... It's definitely going to be intense."

The teams played to a 2-2 tie during the regular season (Oct. 3).

Since then, Old Lyme went on to win the Shoreline Conference tournament title for an unprecedented fourth straight season. The Wildcats (18-1-2) have breezed through Class S, too (defending co-champ Notre Dame is now in Class M), allowing only one goal in three games. Old Lyme blanked No. 11 Terryville in the semifinals 3-0.

Old Saybrook (12-4-5), meanwhile, has won four times to reach the final, beating No. 24 Portland on penalty kicks in Monday's semifinal (2-1). Old Saybrook is coached by Montville High School graduate Berkeley Cecchini-Bond and assisted by Wheeler High graduate Kendra Gerrish.

The top-seeded Old Saybrook boys' team is also in the Class S final at 2 p.m. Saturday at West Haven, facing No. 3 Coventry.

"I'm sad because the season's coming to an end," Old Lyme coach Paul Gleason said Friday, as the sun set on the Wildcats' final practice of the season. "(The seniors) are going to have great careers in whatever they choose to do."

Gleason, assisted by a pair of Old Lyme graduates in his daughter Ally Gleason and former goalie Jeremy Kiefer, gave a brief summary of his three seniors.

On Peduzzi, who has drawn several Division I soccer offers for her play: "Lit up. The whole year she's been lit up like that. She drives to the goal, makes one move and shoots the ball. She just wrecks defenses."

On O'Neil, who plans to row in college: "She started as a midfielder. She cursed me the day I put her back (on defense). She's one heck of a ballplayer, let me tell you. Caleigh has some great moves. She goes right around 'em."

And on Bolles, a Class S all-state pick last spring for the Old Lyme lacrosse team: "She stuck with us," Gleason said. "A group of kids decided last year just to work on lacrosse. Mary was one of the kids that just stuck it out. Now she's on a potential championship team. That's a rare thing in life." 

O'Neil was the ball girl for Old Lyme in 2009 when her sister Caitlin (who went on to row for the University of Alabama) played for the Wildcats team which tied Immaculate for the Class S title.

"I always looked up to the girls," O'Neil said. "I've been looking forward to my senior year. All the freshmen have really stepped up. We had a lot last year and this year there's even more. ... I've been playing my whole life and this is my last game. We definitely have to be confident."

"(Old Saybrook) has two or three really talented players that are very fast," Gleason said. "It's going to be quite a challenge for us to keep them quiet. They're not the type of team that's going to be quiet. They're going to fight hard. We have to fight harder."

v.fulkerson@theday.com