Super-defender Caroline Wallace, one of the players Old Lyme coach Paul Gleason likens to the giant kauri trees of New Zealand — for the staunchness of the Wildcats' back line — missed about a month and a half of the season with a torn right hamstring.

All-time leading scorer Mya Johnson, meanwhile, the heroine of the story for the Wildcats on so many occasions, had an aching quad, then groin, now her left ankle, which occasionally swells to the approximate size of a bus.

The Wildcats, after a perfect regular season a year ago, lost to North Branford, Cromwell, Woodstock and Morgan in 2018.

Shaping up as the theme? Old Lyme High School girls' soccer: not as good as it usually is.

That only set the Wildcats up for something more spectacular than usual, though. Because Old Lyme, Gleason's team, Johnson's team, Wallace's team, found its way back to the Class S state championship game for the fourth straight season.

Fourteenth-seeded Old Lyme (12-5-4) plays No. 4 Immaculate of Danbury (16-4-1) beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Middletown High School, with the Old Lyme seniors looking to claim a fourth consecutive state title before they go.

"It's so special," Wallace, the center back, said following a 3-1 victory over East Hampton in the semifinals earlier this week. "Not many people believed in us this year. That's what helps motivate us. We've improved so much. It's so special. I'm so proud of everyone.'

"The determination of our team," fellow senior Dani McCarthy said of what got the Wildcats to this point. "We knew this was our time."

Now, the Wildcats will be underdogs again against Immaculate, which has outscored teams 15-0 so far in the Class S tournament.

Immaculate has won 12 state titles and the Mustangs, under coach Nelson Mingachos, have eliminated Old Lyme from the Class S tournament nine times (three times in sudden death and once on penalty kicks). Old Lyme and Immaculate tied for the championship in 2009.

"I think we have something to prove," said Johnson, who will continue her career at Connecticut College. "It means a lot. We've been the underdog this whole season. We are here to play, win or lose. It's just awesome to be there. All our seniors deserve it. We want to keep it going."

"Listen, it's a school of choice," Gleason said of taking on Immaculate once again. "(But) we're going there with the intentions of winning. I don't care. We're going there with the intentions to win the game."

Old Lyme, which has seven seniors — Johnson, McCarthy, Wallace, Britney DeRoehn, Colleen Walsh, Ciara Klimaszewski and Emma Danes — tied Notre Dame of Fairfield 2-2 for the 2015 title. In 2016, the Wildcats won their first outright championship in program history with a 1-0 victory over Old Saybrook and last year they edged Holy Cross 2-1 in double overtime on a header by Johnson off a corner kick from McCarthy.

McCarthy assisted one of Johnson's three goals again in the semifinal victory over East Hampton, feeding Johnson a through ball for what proved to be the game-winner with 10 minutes, 51 seconds left to play.

"Mya and I always work together at the top," McCarthy said. "... We just have to give it our all (against Immaculate). It's our last game; we just have to give it our all."

Immaculate, in its 14th final, most recently won the Class L title in 2014 and shared the Class M championship in 2016. The Mustangs beat No. 17 Coginchaug 3-0 in the semifinals, getting goals from senior Kayla Mingachos and freshmen Maddie Bourque and Kayla Ondy.

"It's nice to get back to the finals," Nelson Migachos told the Danbury News-Times. "We've been away from S for a couple years, so to be back, it's nice. To be back in any class in any finals, it's awesome, so for the younger kids, they can experience getting to a state championship and seeing what it's all about."

v.fulkerson@theday.com