Different season, same teams.

The 2026 FAA Field Hockey Tournament final will have the same teams playing in it as it’s had for more than two decades.

Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich Academy will play for the winner’s trophy once again, as both varsity teams advanced to the championship game of the FAA Tournament with impressive semifinal-round victories on Nov. 11.

The undefeated, top-seeded Tigers earned a return trip to the title match by downing fourth-seeded Greens Farms Academy, 9-1, in the FAA semifinals. Third-seeded Greenwich Academy, which won the 2025 FAA Tournament title, moved on to the finals with a tight 1-0 win over second-seeded host King School.

The much-anticipated FAA Field Hockey Tournament final is scheduled for tomorrow (Nov. 12th) at Sacred Heart’s Magnetti Field at 2 p.m.

“I’m so excited, it’s always such a competitive game,” said Sacred Heart senior defender, Caeley Clough, one of the Tigers’ captains. “It’s always such a strong game and it brings out the best in everyone on the field and I’m really excited to see what Friday brings. The school will come and cheer us on, so it should be very exciting.”

In Sacred Heart’s decisive FAA semifinal-round victory against Greens Farms Academy, junior midfielder Cordelia Blanc recorded a hat trick, while freshman Hollis Koch and eighth grader Katherine Cerami, a midfielder, scored two goals apiece.

“We came out really strong, which was really nice, everyone was working really well, which was great,” Blanc said after the Tigers’ strong semifinal showing against the Dragons of Greens Farms Academy.

Senior forward Whitney Rousseau had one goal and one assist for the Tigers, who also received a goal from freshman forward Maeve Butler versus Greens Farms.

“I was really impressed with the midfield today,” said SHG coach Alex Gheorghe, whose team improved to a perfect 16-0 on the season. “They (the midfield) dominated early on. We scored early on and capitalized on our opportunities.”

Blanc began the scoring for SHG against Greens Farms, tallying 1:11 into the first quarter. Koch scored off an assist from junior midfielder Lindsay Schwind, giving Sacred Heart at 2-0 lead with 9:31 to go in the opening quarter.

“We really connect well and we play super focused as a team,” Koch said. “Everyone is really together and we’re feeling really great and if we play focused and determined, it should be great.”

Blanc scored at the 7:43 mark of the first quarter, then Rousseau tallied with Schwind receiving the assist, making it 4-0 in favor of the Tigers with 6:05 still to left in the first quarter. Blanc capped the opening-quarter scoring, tallying off a penalty corner for the hosts’ fifth goal.

“Everyone is such a family off the field and I think that translates to our passes and our defense and our offense,” said Blanc, as she described the Tigers’ outstanding chemistry as a team.

Cerami scored off a Rousseau pass with 10:32 remaining in the second quarter, then Koch converted her second goal, with Schwind receiving the assist, giving SHG a commanding 7-0 advantage on Greens Farms.

“We started off the game really well,” Cerami said. “We connected our passes nice, which led to a lot of our  goals.”

Cerami is one of the younger players on the Tigers squad that’s competing well beyond her years.

“The team is really great,” Cerami noted. “Our coaches put a lot of time and dedication into us, which really pays off during the games.”

Freshman forward Maeve Butler notched a goal with 3:30 to go in the second quarter and Cerami sealed the scoring, tallying off an assist from junior forward Joanna Eken at the 9:03 mark of the fourth quarter.

Junior midfielder Vicky Herold scored Greens Farms’ goal with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter with the Dragons on a penalty corner. Caroline Almeida, a junior midfielder, assisted on Herold’s goal. The goal was only the second allowed all season for Sacred Heart, which has outscored its foes by an eye-opening marging of 116-2 for the season.

“As soon as GFA had a goal we really stepped it up and tried to get a goal as soon as possible so we can add to our goals,” Cerami said.

As is usually the case, the Tigers displayed their competitive spirit and fire the entire playoff game.

“What pleased me most was that everyone stayed in it throughout the whole game,” Clough noted. “Even when we got to a point where we were playing possession, everyone was working hard and cheering each other on and giving it their all until the last second.”

Sacred Heart’s captains, Clough and senior Xan Collins have done an outstanding job of providing leadership to their Tigers team.

“It’s such a special group of girls, I’m so lucky to be on this team and it’s been so much fun playing with everyone,” Clough said. “We hang out all the time off the field and on the field, we’re like a family, I would say. It makes me so happy to see us doing so well.”

Indeed, SHG has followed an impressive pattern of imposing its will early on against its opponents this fall.

“We come out really strong,” Koch said. “In the first two minutes we score on them and then we have such great momentum that we carry throughout the game.”

Sacred Heart took eight penalty corners against GFA and Tigers senior goalie Olivia Starr made two saves in the winning effort.

In one of their final regular season games on Nov. 2, Sacred Heart visited FAA opponent St. Luke’s School and was victorious, 8-0.

Rousseau and Cerami had three goals apiece, while Blanc tallied twice for the victors.

Tomorrow’s FAA Field Hockey Tournament final is a rematch of the Oct. 21st regular season meeting won by Sacred Heart, 4-1. In the 2025 FAA Field Hockey Tournament final, Greenwich Academy defeated Sacred Heart, 2-1 and in 2024, SHG was victorious versus GA in the title matchup, 1-0.

“I’m super excited, it’s going to be a fun game,” Koch said of playing GA in the finals. “It’s always fun playing in those games. If we just carry our momentum, it’s going to be great.”