WESTFIELD - Chelsea Merritt did it again for the Gateway Regional girls soccer team.

For the second straight game, the sophomore scored the winning goal for the Gators who defeated Lee 2-0 Thursday in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament semifinals at Westfield State College.

"Chelsea's a special player. She's always doing something with the ball," Gateway coach Steve Estelle said. "She thinks way ahead. She's always got something she's trying to do with the ball. I play her at a number of positions and we are good enough in the midfield to get her the ball in the right places."

Merritt headed in a corner kick off the foot of Moira Pieciak in the 26th minute and the defense held the Wildcats scoreless to qualify for the championship game.

She added an insurance goal on a penalty kick in the second half for good measure.

The penalty kick "was really nerve-racking," Merritt said. "Earlier in the year I had a PK and I kicked it right to the goalie."

Merritt also scored the game-winner in the 10th minute of Gateway's 1-0 win over No. 4 Hopkins Academy in the quarterfinals on Monday.

Estelle said Merritt's performance has not been a surprise, even though it's the sophomore's first year on varsity.

"I have to keep a lot of quality players on my JV. I wasn't going to lose my JV program," he said. "She scored 19 goals on the JVs last year. It was a sheer matter of numbers.

"Now we have numbers back in the program, so I'm able to bring (younger players up sooner). I wish I could have done it" with Merritt.

No. 5 Gateway (13-3-2) advanced to the title game at 11 a.m. Sunday at Westfield State. The Gators will play the winner of the other semifinal between No. 7 Lenox (12-6-2) and No. 3 Granby (14-2-3) today at Westfield State at 5 p.m.

The loss for No. 8 Lee (12-7-2) marked the end of the high school careers for 11 seniors.

"This is a wonderful group. There are 11 of them. This has been a close-knit group," Wildcats coach Art Reilly said. "Some of them have been with the program for four, five or six years. It's tough to see them go."

The win marked the second straight playoff shutout for the Gators, which had excellent defensive play by Regan Teixiera, Monica Guzik and Pieciak.

"They've been playing great all year, but they are really coming together" at the end of the season, Estelle said.

Trailing 1-0, Lee looked poised to even the game midway through the second half.

Midfielder Molly Porter split the defense with a through ball to Alex Young on the right post. Young took control and blasted the shot to the near post.

But Gateway goalie Brook Fairman (four saves) corralled it with a dive to her left and the Gators quickly pushed the ball forward.

Jenna Powers took possession and made a long run into the Lee box, where she was pulled down by a defender, drawing a penalty kick with 20 minutes, 51 seconds left in the game.

Merritt converted the attempt and iced the game with the shot inside the left post.

"We only had one PK this season and after that one, she had to take the next one," Estelle said. "And boy, did she kick a beauty."

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.