WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Mila Marcisz had one memorable birthday on Tuesday.

 

Even if she did not remember much about the moment everyone else will remember.

 

“I kind of blank on it now,” Marcisz said of her game-winning goal in the 69th minute of a 2-0 win over Smith Vocational in the Western Massachusetts Class C semi-finals.

 

“It was a really good volley by Rowan [Apotsos]. I just went in for it. I got a foot on it. I didn’t really, like, see myself hit it, but when it hit the post, I looked up and thought, ‘Oh, it’s not going in.’ It hit the inside post, that was nice.”

 

A nice way to celebrate her birthday and a nice reward for a Mount Greylock side that dominated the match but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard most of the night.

 

A combination of the Vikings’ commitment to filling the defensive zone with bodies and the Mounties’ bad luck in the final third – not to mention a 10-save performance from Maggie Lauder – kept the game scoreless well into the second-half.

 

Top-seeded Mount Greylock (13-2-2) was about four inches away from having a 4-0 lead at half-time.

 

The Mounties’ shots went off the crossbar twice and the post once in the first 40 minutes. A fourth time, Lauder got a hand on a Nora Lopez shot that then went off the crossbar before crossing the end line for a Mount Greylock corner kick.

 

“It’s frustrating,” Marcisz said of the team’s near-misses. “But it was early. It just showed that we could score. It motivated us. It pushed us to really try harder to keep [the shots] under.”

 

After putting that shot that Lauder saved into the crossbar in the 32nd minute, Lopez fought through two defenders at the top of the 18 to get off another try about a minute later. Lauder made that stop, too, to keep it scoreless at the break.

 

In the second half, Mount Greylock’s attackers had even more trouble finding space in the attacking zone.

 

“I think, in the second half, [Smith Voc] had gone very defensive,” Mount Greylock coach Natalie Harris said. “I think most of the time, we were trying to break through eight of their players at the back. We were having a hard time, but I have to give the girls credit. They didn’t give up, and they kept pushing.

 

“We’ve worked on this in practice sessions and things – having patience with the ball, drawing them out, creating space. It’s sometimes a little harder when they’re just gunning to get the goal, and that patience isn’t there. But once we broke it down, I felt like we were contained and were a little more patient, and that enabled us to get that second goal.”

 

But first, Mount Greylock had to withstand the Vikings’ best scoring chance of the night.

 

With about 25 minutes left in the second half, Smith Voc made a rare foray into Mount Greylock’s defensive third and got off a shot from deep on the right wing. Mai O’Connor made the stop for one of her five saves to preserve her shutout bid.

 

Fourteen minutes later, Marcisz made sure that the Mounties would not be shut out.

 

Once the goal was on the board, the Mount Greylock offense started to create more chances.

 

And two minutes after Marcisz’ marker, Madison Drake sent a centering pass from the right wing that was deflected by a Smith Voc defender right to Lopez about 20 yards from the goal.

 

She carried the ball into the middle of the 18 before firing a shot past the drawn out keeper to make it 2-0.

 

Mount Greylock now makes its fourth straight trip to the Western Mass title game. It awaits the winner of Wednesday’s semi-final between No. 3 Lenox and No. 2 Monson.