East Lyme coach Phil Schneider looks around the field and sees multi-sport athletes, all of whom have experience in the big moment.

Julia Bates has won a conference championship in field hockey and multiple state titles in indoor track and field. Laura Agbayani, soccer and indoor track. Maya Rose, field hockey. Megan Bauman, a recent addition to the lacrosse team, is going to college to play basketball, graduating as East Lyme's all-time leading scorer.

"Right now, they're lacrosse players," Schneider said. "I don't think the moment's going to be bigger than them. All of our players are at least two-sport athletes. In a tough game, they can draw on all those experiences."

The third-seeded East Lyme girls' lacrosse team (16-4) gets ready to seize the moment at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 13 St. Joseph (12-7), as the teams meet for the Class M state championship at Jonathan Law High School in Milford.

Stonington, the third seed in the Class S state tournament, is ready to do the same as East Lyme, it's Eastern Connecticut Conference counterpart: seize the moment. The Bears (18-3) meet top-seeded New Fairfield (21-1) in the state championship game at 10 a.m., also at Law. New Fairfield moved from Class M to Class S in 2017 and has won back-to-back Class S titles.

Stonington will feature a short bench due to injuries. The Bears have just 15 position players on their roster.

"That's what you coach up for, to be ready," Stonington coach Jeff Medeiros said. "We played one of our best games (in the semifinals) against Canton. (Senior Kate Johnson) touches the ball a lot and she was faceguarded in that game. We were still able to pull together as a team.

"It's a one-game, one-day thing. Big things happen on big days. This is a daunting task without a doubt, but we're definitely confident."

Stonington comes in with a point to prove, according to Medeiros.

Due to past injuries to members of the team, the Bears donned helmets this season. Medeiros said that more teams don't wear the non-mandatory helmets because people are afraid of the effect on the quality of play.

"The fact we've had helmets, it's been a complete success the whole way through and we're going to a state championship," Medeiros said.

Stonington also boasts some its best players in the history of the program.

Hannah Lamb, with 93 goals this season, broke Stonington's single-season and all-time scoring record with five goals in the 9-5 semifinal win over No. 2 Canton. She has 229 for her career, bettering the mark of 225 previously held by Caely Melford.

Emma Sabbadini has 66 goals and a single-season program record 47 assists and Johnson has 82 goals and 43 assists for a single-season record 125 points. Johnson also has an impeccable record in handling the Bears' draws, which allows them to maintain possession more frequently than opponents would like, definitely part of the game plan against New Fairfield.

"The three of them have been absolutely phenomenal captains," Medeiros said. "Great team builders. These three girls' numbers are insane. They're that good. We wanted this. You deserve to be here. But deserve has nothing to do with it. They've led well. They've earned what they've gotten."

East Lyme and Stonington each have a title to their credit in their only previous state championship game appearance.

East Lyme won the Division II championship in 2006 with a 7-3 victory over Amity. Stonington took the Class S title in 2014 by beating Granby 13-10.

East Lyme is meeting a St. Joseph team which is playing for the championship for the first time. The Cadets finished seventh in the East Division of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference at 3-7 and didn't qualify for the league's tournament, which says a little something about their level of competition.

"They've played a tough schedule playing in the FCIAC," Schneider said. "They're pretty battle-tested. ... The excitement (from Monday's 9-4 semifinal victory over Masuk) is still there. Masuk was a good team. We just played the way we played all year."

East Lyme has nine seniors on its roster. The Vikings are led by Bates with 52 goals and 20 assists for a team-best 72 points. Natale Taylor has 17 goals and 33 assists for 50 points and Abby Mountain 38 goals and nine assists for 47 points. Agbayani paces the defense with team highs of 62 ground balls and 39 takeaways.

"It's good to be around this group," Schneider said. "It's fun to be at practice. It's fun to be at games. It's fun to ride the bus. No matter what happens (Saturday), they'll be the same group of girls."

v.fulkerson@theday.com