The Helias girls soccer team certainly wouldn't mind it if history repeats itself today.
This time last year, the Lady Crusaders were preparing for a Union Wildcats squad that boasted a prolific scorer in the sectional round of the state playoffs.
Helias held that player scoreless, won 3-2 in overtime and went on to make an appearance in the Class 2 Final Four, where it lost in the state championship game to St. Dominic.
The only difference this year is the sectional against Union will be held at home, at 6 p.m. at the 179 Soccer Park, instead of on the road. Still, the Lady Crusaders (17-8-1) are looking to get past the Wildcats (22-5) and perhaps make another deep playoff run.
"The key is for us to keep the ball, for us to win every 50-50 ball and for us to control the game," Helias coach Brad Dempsey said.
The prolific scorer for Union is the same as last time, Bethany Coons. The junior has racked up a whopping 145 goals in three seasons. She followed up a 55-goal freshman season with 44 last year and has tacked on another 46 this season.
The forward, who verbally committed to the University of Missouri last year, also has 24 assists this season for 116 points.
"One of the most dangerous players on the field (today) is wearing a Union uniform," Dempsey said. "She's scored almost 150 goals in her career, she verballed to Mizzou as a sophomore, she's a very dangerous player.
"Last year, she didn't score against us in the sectional, but they scored both goals because of her. So you've got to do what you have to do."
While Coons get the majority of the attention, Union does have a potent No. 2 option in Karlie Peth, who has 20 goals and 15 assists for 45 points.
Helias, meanwhile, will counter with its Big Three of Becky Roberts, Jordan Poire and Tiffany Weaver. Roberts leads the way with 26 goals and 13 assists for 65 points, Poire has 16 goals and 13 assists for 45 and Weaver is close behind with 16 goals and 11 assists for 43.
Dempsey said this will be a matchup between two very athletic squads.
"We get into trouble when we play a team like Union who is very athletic as well and we don't take what we've learned from (this year's rugged schedule), when we don't to build an attack and keep the ball in front of us and move as a team. We get into trouble when we get into a kickball game.
"(In the district championship) against Rolla, we were up 2-0 and it looked like it was getting ready to get ugly. Then they settled in on us, we didn't get the third one, next thing you know, they get a penalty kick because we make a mistake and it's 2-1. We got into kind of playing how they play and that's not good for us.
"So we talk a lot about our composure, our poise as a team, and bouncing back from when you go through adversity in a game."
That's a lesson the Lady Crusaders learned this season in a schedule where roughly half the teams they played were state-ranked.
"We feel we're ready because of that schedule, and now we're healthy," Dempsey said. "Through that schedule, against the different opponents we played on different surfaces in different areas, we had different key players sit out at different times. And I think that was a benefit to us. We had players step up and come off the bench, we learned what different players could do."
That was a big thing, seeing what those playing could do, not worrying about those who weren't playing.
"That's the great thing about our team - when somebody was out, we didn't focus on it," Dempsey said. "We'd talk about it, but we didn't focus on it and we just kept playing."
Helias and Union have three common opponents this season. Union beat St. Francis Borgia twice (3-1 and 4-0), while Helias lost to Borgia (1-0); the Wildcats lost to Rolla (1-0), a team the Lady Crusaders beat twice (1-0, 2-1); and both teams lost to Incarnate Word, Helias falling 3-2 and Union losing 5-1.
With a win, Helias would play Saturday in the quarterfinals at either Willard (15-8) or Carl Junction (22-3).