If experience means anything, Laurens should have a decided advantage when they play Cherry Valley-Springfield for the Tri-Valley Championship on Saturday.

The teams will play at 3 p.m. at the Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta, and will mark the third straight year the Leopards have played in the title game.

The Patriots, meanwhile, have not been in the championship game since the 1991 season.

`I think that experience certainly helps,'' said Laurens head coach Dave Miller. ``Our kids expect to get to this game and expect to do well. But Cherry Valley will certainly be hungry and very ready to play.''

The Leopards enter the game with a 12-0-1 overall record, which included a 3-1 home win over CV-S earlier this season.

`The difference in that game was they took advantage of their scoring opportunities and we did not,'' said CV-S boys coach Terri Adams. ``Other than that it was a pretty even game.''

The Patriots, 12-2-2 overall, finished the season strong, defeating defending T-V champion Milford 6-0 and perennial power Edmeston, 1-0, two days later.

CV-S is led offensively by junior Jason Guernsey, who set school records for goals and assists this season, including five in the division clincher against Milford.

`We want to limit his touches on Saturday,'' Miller said. ``He's incredibly fast, and a very talented player. We're going to double team him when he has the ball, and try to deny him the ball as much as possible.''

Adams said how well her team executes its short passing game will be one of the keys to the game.

``We've got to keep the ball moving and take advantage of every opportunity,'' she said. ``We also have to mark tightly, because they have a lot of offensive weapons.''

Unlike last season, when Greg Bruer scored the bulk of Laurens' goals, the Leopards have relied on a balanced offensive attack this year.

`Fifteen of the 25 guys on our roster have scored, and we've had a couple of games where we scored six goals and no one had two,'' Miller said. ``That makes us very hard to defend.''

Laurens has three senior defenders_Casey Townsend, James Warren and Mike Coryat_in front of talented sophomore goalkeeper Aaron Laing, who at 6'3'' has proven to be tough to score on this season.

`Our balance is what I really like about this team,'' Miller said. ``We're strong from front to back.''

Adams said she and her team are looking forward to the challenge.

`We're elated to be in this position,'' she said. ``We've tried to just take it one game at a time and not look ahead and that's been a good approach for us. I know we're all looking forward to it.''