The plan was simple: Put high school field hockey coaches Laurie Berger of Serra and Jane Morrill of Scripps Ranch next to each other for about 30 minutes, turn on a digital recorder and see what happens.

Anyone who knows the animated pair could easily predict the results – comedy, wit, sarcasm and playful shots at one another intertwined with a deep respect for their sport and those who coach it. There was also mention of the friendly, yet intense, rivalry the two have fostered the past 13 years.

Numbers 22 Appearances in San Diego Section championship games for coach Laurie Berger (19 with Serra, three with Morse). 6 Appearances in section championship games for coach Jane Morrill, all with Scripps Ranch. 9 Championships for Berger. 5 Championships for Morrill. 4-0 Morrill's record against Berger in championship matches. Head to head Results of the four section finals in which Berger's and Morrill's teams have met: 1997: Scripps Ranch 1, Serra 0 2002: Scripps Ranch 4, Serra 1 2003: Scripps Ranch 3, Serra 1 2007: Scripps Ranch 4, Serra 2 OT S.D. section playoffs Pairings: Announced Thursday. First round: Saturday. Finals: Nov. 22 at Rancho Bernardo High School. Division I at 3 p.m. Division II at 5:30 p.m.

“(Laurie) has been doing this for 35 years and playing for 45 years,” Morrill said. “If she were a high school football coach, she'd be the mayor of San Diego by now.”

Don't look for Jerry Sanders to relinquish his seat anytime soon. But one title Berger wouldn't mind having is San Diego Section Division II champion. She'll have to negotiate a tough playoff bracket over the next two weeks just to reach the final, where Morrill and Scripps Ranch most likely will be waiting.

Scripps Ranch and Serra are expected to be named the top two seeds in Division II, respectively, when pairings are announced Thursday night.

“(Jane and I) are cut from the same mold,” said Berger. “We are both very intense, very vocal and sometimes we fly off the handle. We might get (ticked) off at each other, then it rolls off our shoulders and we're right back to where we were.”

There's no disputing the two coaches' success. Berger, 57, has guided Serra to nine section titles. Morrill, 44, has led Scripps Ranch to five championships, including last year's thrilling 4-2 overtime win over Serra in the final.

Morrill holds a 4-0 advantage when the two have met for the title.

“No comment,” Berger said with a snicker.

Berger's roots are entrenched in San Diego. A graduate of Helix High, she played field hockey at Grossmont College and San Diego State. Morrill, a former basketball coach, hails from Massachusetts and didn't start coaching field hockey until moving to the West Coast.

Even more impressive is the success they have enjoyed while competing in the City Conference, which doesn't fund junior varsity programs. The coaches field JV teams through fundraising and parent contributions.

Known as much for their fieriness and gamesmanship as their titles, Berger and Morrill saw a natural rivalry develop between the programs in the mid-'90s. When Scripps Ranch opened in 1993, it drew many students from Mira Mesa High, which already had a strong rivalry with Serra.

Morrill took over the Scripps Ranch program in 1995. Two years later, the Falcons beat Serra in the title game 1-0, giving the school its first title. But the rivalry actually began earlier that season.

“It was for the league championship and we went into three overtimes,” Berger said. “It was really dark and they won. That's what set the whole thing off.”

One coach intimately familiar with the rivalry is Kari DiGiulio of Torrey Pines. She played for Berger at Serra and has coached Torrey to a pair of titles.

“Scripps week was so intense,” DiGiulio said. “The two of them are so passionate about their sport and their teams that it's impossible not to get caught up in it.”

Now that she's coached against both, DiGiulio said she's better for the experience.

“It's easy to be intimidated by them, but once you get to know them, you realize how much they bring to the sport and how contagious they make coaching,” she said. “You want to beat them because they are the best at what they do. And you know after you beat them, they are going to make a joke or throw a call in your face.”

DiGiulio wasn't alone in describing “Berg and Jane” as intimidating.

“Sometimes they are a little intimidating because they know the game so well,” said Maggie Fanta, a field hockey official in San Diego since 2001. “Sometimes they do let their emotions get the better of them. But they keep the tradition going. If it weren't for them, San Diego field hockey would be weaker. They give it stability and history.”

Berger and Morrill know they're perceived as rabble-rousers in coaches meetings and boisterous when a call doesn't go their way. But intimidating? They don't think so.

“We're intense, but I think we're also pretty fun,” Morrill said. “We're normal. We like beer. We like golf. We just also like winning.”

The two have even hit the links together, and, as the story goes, one of Berger's clubs ended up in a tree.

“It slipped,” she said. “That's all we'll say about it.”

When the two teams met last month in a nonleague game won by Scripps Ranch, the week leading up to the contest was unlike any other for the players involved.

“Coach is so intense during Serra week,” Scripps Ranch senior Deanna Kennedy said. “She pushes us harder and makes us run a little more. We know that no matter what, Serra is going to be a tough game.”

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Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com