It all comes down to this.

Greenwood, a team that was just 15 minutes away from elimination two weeks ago in the Region 4 title match, will walk onto the pitch at 5:30 p.m. CST tonight at Georgetown College’s Toyota Stadium with a shot at a state championship.

The Gators (15-8-3) need a perfect plan - and perfect execution - against heavily favored St. Xavier. The two-time defending champ lost just once this season, has allowed a mere 11 goals and has four players planning on playing Division I college soccer next season.

The Tigers (22-1-1) are aiming to do what no school has done in the commonwealth: Win three straight state titles.

“This is nothing new to us,” Greenwood coach Scott Gural said before the Gators’ final training session Friday at Drakes Creek Middle School. “We’ve been the underdogs for quite a while. I like it. I relish this opportunity. If we win, it’s terrific and it’s something that most people don’t see coming. If we lose, oh well - hopefully it’s the better team that beat us.

“The bottom line is we can’t control what St. X does. We can control what we do. If we come out and play our game and they beat us, hats off to ’em. We’ll shake their hands, they were the better team and they deserve to win. I want to go out and show what we can do and what we’re capable of doing.”

Meanwhile, the defending champs thought 2009 might be a rebuilding year after losing 15 seniors from the 2008 squad. Instead, the Tigers have been just as impressive.

“I don’t think I could be happier for our team than I could be for these seniors,” St. Xavier coach Andy Schulten said. “We had our last practice (Friday) and it was real emotional. I think one of the difficult things for us (today) is to keep our emotions in check. These guys love playing for each other and they love playing for their school.

“It’s sort of emotional for me, too, because I know it’s the last time we’re ever gonna be together. I don’t want it to end and they don’t want it to end - but they know, win or lose, it’s over. Hopefully, we’ll put our best foot out there (tonight).”

Greenwood last played for a title in 2004, losing to Lexington Catholic 2-0. This run to Georgetown nearly didn’t happen after the Gators trailed Bowling Green 1-0 in the Region 4 championship on Oct. 22.

But GHS scored twice in the final 15 minutes of that game and hasn’t slowed down.

“We’ve been spending the last day and a half trying to figure out some things to do that might cause some problems for (Gural) down there,” Schulten said. “I know he’s a good coach and I remember playing (GHS in 2006, a 3-1 win) at Greenwood in his first year. They took it to us for the first 60 minutes of the match, it was a real close game, then I think they got a little tired and we had some depth that pulled it out.

“I’m pulling up some old tapes to see what kind of system they might run, calling some people to see what I can find out about ’em. Hopefully, we’ll give ’em a good match.”

The Gators jumped all over Henderson County and Marshall County in 3-0 and 4-1 state tournament wins, respectively, then took a 2-0 lead over Danville before holding on for a 2-1 victory Wednesday night in the state semifinals.

“If we just play our game, don’t even think about it and don’t even look at the rankings and what everyone talks about and come out ready to play - we have a chance,” Greenwood junior Philip Brown said.

Greenwood must find a way to limit St. Xavier’s Taylor Parker (an Evansville commit) and Tyler Riggs (a Kentucky commit). The two have combined to score 50 goals.

“Hopefully we can stay between them and the goal,” Gural said. “There’s only so much you can do. It’s one of the things we’ve already been talking about - yes, they have elite-level players, but at the same time they don’t do things that other players aren’t physically capable of doing. They just do them faster and better and quicker and stronger than a lot of people. The basic game plan doesn’t change - the intensity of it’s magnified. If we can match that intensity, we can defend them. If we can’t, we can’t.”

The Tigers have scored 113 times over 24 games - an average of almost five goals a match.

“If we just stand them up and cut off all the passing angles that are obviously going to the middle, force them to the outside, we should be all right,” Brown said. “If they cross it in, we have to be first to the ball and get it out.”

Greenwood has allowed a goal in five of its past eight games, but is 7-1 and has trailed only once over that span.

“Our defense always drops off in coverage on every play, so I think as long as we play good in coverage we’ll be all right,” GHS senior defender Trey Farrage said. “We always play better against good teams. If we’re able to change the point of attack and work against their sides - attack on the outsides - we should be all right.”

On offense, the Gators have been better than good over the past three outings, outscoring opponents 9-2 and never trailing. Senior Logan Guess has scored five of those nine goals.

“I’ve heard Logan Guess. That’s all everyone is saying is Logan Guess,” Schulten said. “Keep an eye on him. He’s not just a good scorer, but he’s a good creator.”

But while Guess and the GHS offense has been hot, the Tigers have registered 15 clean sheets and allowed two goals in a game just twice during the regular season.

“We watched them play (in a 4-1 win against Covington Catholic the other night) and their outside backs didn’t look very strong,” said Brown. “It looked like their center back - their sweeper - was the only one holding the defense down. If we pull him out then we should be all right. Our forwards, like Tyler (Daniels), are extremely good at turning the ball and they can turn on those outside guys, beat ’em to the end line and cross it. Hopefully, Logan or Tucker (Sago) or Shakir (Feyzulov) will be there to finish it.”

A win for St. X would give the Louisville school its 10th title in school history. Greenwood is aiming for its first soccer championship.

“It’s real easy to get hung up on paper,” Gural added. “You start looking at the stats and compare records and all those things - they play the game on the field and not on paper. All those records are out the window once that whistle blows.”

Watch live online

Fans unable to make the trip to Georgetown today can watch the match live online at www.kentucky.ihigh.com. The game will be streamed live on the Web site at 5:30 p.m. CST.