St Patrick's captain Emma Mathieson says her side will maintain its "flashy" style to chase back-to-back Capital League titles after storming into the grand final with a thumping semi-final win on Sunday.
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Defending champions St Patrick's beat minor premiers the Tuggeranong Vikings 5-0 in a semi-final thrashing at Lyneham, setting up a chance to repeat last season's triumph.
It was an ominous warning to its title contenders. The young Vikings failed to get any momentum despite losing just two games during the regular season.
St Patrick's has scored a remarkable 46 goals in its past eight games and is favourite to win the grand final.
But 15-season veteran and former Canberra Strikers defender Mathieson said St Patrick's had found its groove at the right time of the year.
"We haven't lost for a long time and we've been scoring a lot of goals, so it feels like it's finally clicked," Mathieson said.
"It feels like we're playing like we did last year. A lot of the girls have played a lot of finals now, so the nerves aren't as big."
Mathieson has won eight grand finals in her career and has postponed retirement for at least one more season.
Her experience helped guide St Patrick's through a tough opening, and the skipper scored to give her team the advantage.
Teammate Mikayla Evans finished with a double while Laura Grey and Aleisha Price rounded out the five-goal rout.
The Vikings were their own worst enemy, conceding two goals while Sophie Gaughan was off the field after being given a yellow card and conceding another following a green card.
The squad has an average age of just 17 years and the youngsters have to regroup in time for a preliminary final showdown against Central this weekend.
Central beat ANU 5-2 in the minor semi-final to keep its season alive.
The Vikings' loss was the first time they had been beaten in six weeks. Coach Jason Toole urged his players to bank the tough defeat as crucial finals experience.
"There's no excuses, we weren't good enough. We started poorly and our basics weren't good enough," Toole said.
"We got dealt a hockey lesson. We've got to turn it around next week and it's do or die now.
"I'd give the minor premiership back tomorrow if it meant we made the grand final. We just have to be better.
"I've got no doubt we can regroup. We finished [as] minor premiers, have lost two games all year and we're a better team than that. We know that – the challenge is executing it. Everyone is accountable this year."
Major semi-final: ST PATRICK'S 5 (Mikayla Evans 2, Emma Mathieson, Laura Grey, Aleisha Price) bt TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 0
Minor semi-final: CENTRAL 5 (Kate Dooley 2, Kyralee Bunt, Tonina Staunton, Isabella Apps) bt ANU 2 (Shelley Watson, Jenna Cartwright)
