They say lightning doesn't strike twice but Melbourne Victory will be hoping for another bolt from the heavens to clinch the A-League Women grand final when they face Sydney FC in Sunday's decider.
Like this year, the 2020-21 season finished with Sydney on top of the pile with the Victory just sneaking into the finals.
After qualifying for the grand final, Victory then had to travel away to Kogarah Oval to face the Sky Blues and stole the championship in the last minute of extra-time when Kyra Cooney-Cross sealed an unlikely 1-0 upset.
This year Sydney have lost just once in the regular season, conceding a measly six goals and have looked unstoppable except for a brief period where they faced a congested mid-season schedule.
Victory coach Jeff Hopkins, who can become the most successful coach in Australian women's football by clinching a fourth title, knows the odds are against his side.
But he said they will head interstate with the confidence they can repeat last year's feat.
"Knowing that we've been there before and it (winning) is possible to be done (is a boost)," he said.
"It is a difficult thing to do and we did leave it pretty late last time as well.
"Our away form this year has been way better than the home form.
"We've got an incredible resilience, will to win and nobody messes with us out on the field.
"We get around each other and you've got a team that's very hard to beat."
Victory had to get here the hard way, knocking off Adelaide in a sudden-death final before beating Melbourne City.
Sydney had seen off City in the first round of the finals and were rewarded with a week off.
To keep them on song, coach Ante Juric facilitated an inter-squad game last week.
This will be Sydney's fifth grand final under his watch, but they have only one championship to show for it.
Sydney's scars from last year will dominate the narrative heading into Sunday's game but Juric says it's barely been mentioned.
"I'm not that kind of person," Juric said.
"The girls will say I'm boring but I try to be consistent.
"They've got to go out and enjoy the occasion.
"You still need to be motivated but it's just another game. We've got into grand finals the last few years and you want to make the most of that success.
"I'm proud of their effort this year - we've got an average age of 22 and I'm happy with how consistent they've been.
"I can't ask for much more than that."
