Mount Greylock Girls Again Top Monson in Western Mass Final
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. – GG Nicastro scored in the 37th minute to break a 1-1 tie, and the Mount Greylock girls soccer team Wednesday went on to a 2-1 win over Monson in the Western Massachusetts Class C Championship Game at Berkshire Community College.
Nicastro converted an assist from Arianna Henderson for the game-winner as the Mounties’ girls earned back-to-back Western Mass title wins against the Mustangs.
The winning play started with a corner kick from the left wing by Nora Lopez that rang off the crossbar and dropped to Henderson. She found Nicastro at the top of the 18, and the junior midfielder finished for her fifth goal of the year and the final goal of a come-from-behind win for the top-seeded Mounties (14-2-1).
“Everyone was really jammed up,” Nicatro said. “I found the ball. It came right to my feet. And I just took the volley. I just had to go. It was take the shot or nothing.”
“Great finish,” Mount Greylock coach Blair Dils said. “Nice to see we scored off a corner kick and didn’t get scored on on a corner kick. We’ve worked on that a little bit.
“GG is such a strong player. She maybe had a little trouble hitting the target earlier in the season. But, lately, she’s been really good and took her chase. That was beautiful to see.”
A year ago, Mount Greylock scored midway through the second overtime period to earn the win over Monson. This time around, the teams did all their scoring in the first half.
The Mustangs got on the board first when the leading scorer in Massachusetts girls soccer history put another mark in the record books.
Hannah Murphy scored on a through ball from the midfield in the 11th minute to give Monson a 1-0 lead.
But unlike the teams’ 2023 Western Mass final meeting, when Monson scored in the second minute and went on to a 4-0 win, the Mounties were able to close the door from there. They only allowed Murphy one more prime chance, on a through ball in the 50th minute that ended with a low liner that went just side of the post.
“I wasn’t shocked by [Murphy’s goal],” Dils said. “She’s a special player. You give her a few feet to work with, and she’s clinical with her finishing.
“I think the second half, we did a really nice job of limiting their options and keeping it in the front half.”
Four minutes after Murphy gave Monson the lead, the Mounties had a chance when Lopez hit Tanley Drake with a through ball about 25 yards from goal, and she took a try past a drawn-out keeper that rolled just wide of the post.
Moments later, Mount Greylock earned a corner kick. Lopez’ cross was headed toward the goal by Lauren Powell, but her shot went off the crossbar. After the teams traded touches inside the 18, Monson attempted a clear, but Mount Greylock’s Maria Welch intercepted the ball about 35 yards from the net and passed to Rowan Apotsos.
Apotsos one-timed a pass into the penalty area that went off a defender to the foot of Madison Drake, who finished to level the score, 1-1.
Monson’s best chance to regain the lead came in the 43rd minute when Murphy took a try from about 45 yards out that went wide of the goal.
Four minutes later, Nicastro gave her team the lead. And Addie Cooper (two saves) and Mount Greylock’s defense made it hold up.
Dils coached the Mount Greylock boys into perennial Western Mass finals contenders for a quarter of century before retiring after the 2023 season. He returned this fall to coach a girls team that he knew had the potential to repeat as regional champ.
“We were hoping it’s how it would go,” Dils said. “Preseason, we looked at who was in Class C and who was coming back, and I talked a lot with [2024 Mount Greylock girls coach Natalie Harris, now an assistant women’s coach at Williams College] in the summertime. And I think hopes were high that we would repeat this year. I’m happy for the girls that they were able to do it.”