DALTON, Mass. -- The Wahconah girls soccer team entered the season as the defending Western Massachusetts Division 3 champion.
Now it knows it will have a chance to defend that title.
Wahconah defeated Mount Greylock, 5-1, on Thursday night to improve to 9-3-1 this fall and lock up a bid in the Western Mass tournament.
Emmy Cote and Arden McKnight each scored two goals to lead the way as Wahconah won its fourth straight game.
During that stretch, coach Pat West's team has allowed just two goals. For the season, it has allowed only 11 in 13 games -- encouraging numbers for West.
"I knew we were going to have some offense," he said. "We've got some people who can really put it in the goal.
"But what I'm really liking is our defense. We lost Maddie Sprague from last year, and we were wondering. I'm not wondering any more. They're solid defenders. And they're quick. They know when to step and when not to step.
"I'm very happy with them."
And he was happy on Thursday when McKnight broke through the Mount Greylock defense for the game's first goal midway through the first half. She converted a through ball from Cote and beat keeper Tenley Smith (16 saves) to put Wahconah on top.
Then, in the 35th minute, Cote converted a rebound to make it 2-0 going to half-time.
Wahconah put the game out of reach in the first seven minutes of the second half. First McKnight scored on a run down the left wing; then Cote struck again, catching Smith off her line, for the second goal in a one-minute span.
The Mounties (5-6-2) got on the goard in the 52nd minute with the first varsity goal for eighth-grader Keiko Smith, who took a through ball from Melissa Swann and made a short run up the middle before knocking one home to make it 4-1.
"She's a good player," Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said of Smith. "And she hit a left-footed shot, which is what I'm most impressed with. Because we had some opportunities with other players with left-footed shots. You've got to take advantage of that because the defense overplays, and that's usually open.
"Wahconah is just a very good team. This is the second time they've beaten us 5-1. They just have more speed. They got by our back four."
The final goal came with 18:25 on the clock when Wahconah's Asi Graham followed the rebound of her own shot.
Mount Greylock has four more games to try to earn its own ticket to the Western Mass tournament, starting on Tuesday at Monument Mountain. Wahconah entertains Hampshire in an independent game on Saturday night.
