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Sports

"Team Before Self" is Farmington Girls' Mantra

Selflessness and a rugged schedule have Indians confident heading into today's Class L title clash against Avon

FARMINGTON – The way Farmington High girls soccer coach Steve Jarvis sees it, names of players at the forefront of the Indians’ sojourn to the Class L final are of little consequence.

The team isn’t paced by a handful of dominant players. Success is predicated on fundamentals of human interaction rather than overriding talent, technique or soccer savoir faire.

“Team before self” is the motto that has prevailed all season. It’s emblazoned onto their warmup jerseys and planted deep in their hearts and minds.

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“They took it upon themselves to embrace the team-before-self concept, which made my life easy,” said Jarvis, hoping to cap his sixth season leading Farmington with his first state title as head coach. “There is camaraderie amongst the girls. That came from them, not from me, and it’s stuck through the season. That’s why we’re getting ready to play Avon in the finals.”

The match is slated for Middletown High School Friday at 6:30 p.m.

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Proof of Farmington’s Three Musketeers mentality lies in Jarvis’ reluctance to name a starting lineup. The eighth-seeded Indians (12-3-3) probably have used a different starting lineup each time out. Jarvis isn’t sure and isn’t particularly concerned with it.

“I’ll probably change the starting lineup from the (1-0 semifinal win over Bethel). All season we’ve had different starting lineups. We play four different formations depending on the situation. Here we are in finals, so I guess it’s worked.”

Jarvis said he used 20 of his 23 players against Bethel.

“This team is about everybody making a contribution whether it’s for five minutes or 30 minutes,” he said. “I would love to see how many players some of the others have used from their bench.”

Facing Avon should conjure some semblance of revenge among the Farmington girls soccer community. Avon (2nd seed, 15-1-2) eliminated the Indians from the 2008 tournament in a 2-1 quarterfinal at Fisher Meadows. Last year, the Falcons again defended their home turf against their neighbors to the south with a 2-0 ouster in the second round.

“Two of the last three seasons they’ve ended our run for a championship,” Jarvis said.

Jarvis said the Falcons possess numerous talented players but reserved his highest accolades for Erica Primovic, comparing her to Farmington’s all-time leading goal scorer Amber Sidoti.

“She’s tenacious, aggressive, strong, physical, puts the ball in the back of the net and loves to win,” he said. “They’re very strong defensively. Their players are very good tactically and very well-coached. The biggest difference between us is they have some legitimate individual talents that they rely on more than others.”

While Avon has the higher seed and better record, Jarvis hopes Farmington will benefit from its grueling schedule in the CCC West. Avon plays in the NCCC, a collection of smaller schools which Jarvis said has potent top-end teams but some that are not very competitive.

CCC West champion Northwest Catholic inflicted two of Farmington’s three defeats this season and faces Granby Friday in the Class M title match. Farmington also sustained a loss and a draw against Hall, and coped with the likes of perennially strong Simsbury, Newington, Conard and Southington twice each.

“I would argue that [Northwest] is No. 1 in the state, not just Class M,” Jarvis said. “They destroyed by all accounts a very good St. Joseph team in the semifinals. They are legitimate at any level.”

Farmington and Northwest Catholic furthered their CCC West sisterhood by engaging in some “friendlies” while gearing up for the latter stages of the postseason.

“Before the semifinal and final we worked out with the Northwest girls,” Jarvis said. “We ran some plays on offense and were doing some friendly scrimmaging, which certainly helped both of us out in the semifinals. I hope it works for the finals.”

Jarvis looks for the Indians to dictate pace.

“We need to play in a controlled manner,” he said. “If we play too fast, that’s not our style. We don’t want to play so slow that it becomes predictable either. We don’t want to get caught up emulating Avon. We want to stick to our philosophies.”

Jarvis guided Farmington to the 2007 final, a 1-0 loss to Fairfield Warde. The Indians last won the championship in 2005 -- a victory over Wilton --when Jarvis was an assistant to Steve Coxon. The Indians shared state titles in 2003 (Guilford) and 1986 (Wethersfield).

Farmington’s tournament roster:

Celia Devoe, Taylor Walton, Monique Marcelino, Jerissa Goncalves, Amber Manning, Erika Isner, Katrin Ayer, Megan Brockleman, Caitlin Reeves, Ally Walsh, Liz Chamberlain, Brittany Galske, Chynna Jarrett, Bailey Nagel, Kaitlyn Baker, Becky Kulak, Courtney Hofer, Marisa Paiano, Grace Dunn, Dominique Papa, Nicole DiTomasso, Olivia Devoe, Maureen Gallo.

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