The Lee and Greenville girls soccer teams have matched up for the last two years with a championship at stake.

This year, however, the meeting between the Pandas and the Lakers has been jacked up even higher. Instead of meeting in the Eastern Maine Class D final, the two squads will square off for the Class D state championship.

The Lee-Greenville game is one of eight state soccer championships set for today. The boys games will kick off the day with 10 a.m. games in Classes A, C, and D, while Class B will be played at 4 p.m.

All four girls finals will have 1 p.m. starts.

The Class A Bangor girls will take on Gorham at Morse High in Bath. That game follows the Class A Mount Ararat-Scarborough boys.

The Class B boys game between Presque Isle and Yarmouth will be held at the Weatherbee School complex in Hampden.

That game closes out a three-game day at Hampden. The Class C boys matchup between Dexter and North Yarmouth Academy, followed by the C girls game between Madawaska and NYA.

The Class B girls game will be held at Lewiston with Winslow facing Falmouth.

The Class D games will be played at Hall-Dale High in Farmingdale, starting with the Bangor Christian-Richmond boys and then the Lee-Greenville girls.

Greenville changed regional affiliations this year, which meant that after two seasons of falling to Lee in the Eastern Maine Class D final the Lakers broke through in Western Maine.

The Pandas beat Greenville 7-0 in 2004 and 2-1 in overtime in 2003.

Both squads are used to facing opposing teams that pack in their defense, so Lakers coach Dan Menard said offensive pressure will be key.

“If you play 70 minutes of defense against Lee, you’re going to lose,” he said. “I don’t care who your goalie is, or how much luck you have, you’ve got to make something happen and you’ve got to have the ball in their end of the field.”

Madawaska coach Dan Cyr had a chance to watch NYA win its second straight championship with a 5-0 victory over George Stevens of Blue Hill.

Although the Panthers lost several starters from last year’s team, a key matchup for the Owls will be stopper Jamie Daigle on NYA midfielder Alex Mack, who scored two goals in last year’s state final.

“We’re going to try to cut down the opportunities that they have to get into good position,” Cyr said. “[Mack] strikes the ball very well, but Jamie has been an excellent player for us. If we can handle that part of it and let the attack come naturally, we’ll be all right.”

Daigle missed part of the season with shin splits but is now back in full force.

Although those teams have a good idea of what the opposition brings, other squads will be more of a mystery for the Eastern Maine representatives.

The Bangor girls, trying for the school’s first Class A state soccer championship, will face a team that already has a state title – Gorham, the 2004 Class B champ.

Gorham is in its first year in Class A. Not only was Gorham a new face in its classification, but with nine seniors from last year’s team graduated, the Western Maine Rams had new faces on the team. One key player has returned, however – junior Kelsey Wilson, who scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Winslow last year.

She scored a goal in last week’s WM final against Cheverus of Portland.

Class C Dexter will get another shot at a state title after falling 2-1 to Carrabec of North Anson last year. The NYA boys last won a state title in 2002, while the NYA girls are the defending state champs.

The Class D boys game features Bangor Christian, going for its first state crown, against Richmond, the 1998 winner. It’ll be the first state final without Waynflete, Van Buren, or Machias since 1997.

Both teams got to the final with wins over powerhouse teams. The Patriots beat defending Van Buren, while the Bobcats topped Greenville, which was undefeated until the last game of the regular season.