LYNN — You could say there’s nothing like the state tournament – it’s when all of that hard work is put to the ultimate test.

The No. 15 St. Mary’s field hockey team (13-4-1) will be hosting a first-round game at 3:30 p.m this Saturday. The opponent: No. 18 Blackstone Valley RVT (14-3-1).

Spartans’ coach Victoria Sanders said the Division 3 matchup will be against “a hard-working team.

“They battle a lot of their opponents,” she said. “They are very scrappy and they are definitely going to show up to battle.”

The Spartans will have to stick to their gameplan and show a lot of discipline. That’s a challenge Sanders and company seem to be looking forward to.

“We just have to stay disciplined, communicate, and persevere from start to finish,” she said.

The Spartans will have to rely on some key members at Manning Field.

“Junior Ava Korisianos, who plays forward and midfield for us, along with our senior group on the field,” Sanders said. “We have four key seniors in Deirdre McCarron, Audrey Zinck, Katy Sarazen, and Abby Malcuit, as well as our goalie, Tabby Lopes.”

Home-field advantage is a plus, but then again, at this point in the season, nothing is for certain.

“We’re definitely appreciative of it in the first round, but as we know from last year, Medfield had the home-field advantage and it doesn’t really mean anything,” Sanders said. “We are in the fourth quarter of the season and everybody is going after the same prize, so it’s all about who shows up.”

The Spartans defeated Medfield, 1-0, in that game before falling to top-ranked Watertown in the Round of 16.

Sanders has a simple, yet impactful message for her players.

“Give it all you’ve got,” she said. “We’ve got nothing to lose and I’m really proud of the progress this team has made, especially our six seniors who we have and what they have built for this program to be what it is today.”

Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism