SAN JOSE >> Layla Tucakovic had waited six long days for a shot at redemption.

Last week, Archbishop Mitty’s sophomore goalkeeper was in goal for the only score of the game as a lofted shot from St. Francis’ Lynn Byun slipped through her fingers in the Lancers’ 1-0 Central Coast Section Division I title win.

Thursday against Bishop O’Dowd in the CIF NorCal Division I girls soccer semifinal round, Tucakovic got another chance. She was called upon in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 2-2 tie, and she came through in the biggest moment of Mitty’s season.

In the sixth round of penalties with Mitty leading 5-4, Tucakovic stopped the shot of O’Dowd’s Koffy’e Chappel, guessing correctly and diving left to stretch out and block Chappel’s close-range attempt.

Tucakovic’s clutch full-extension dive touched off a Mitty dogpile a few yards from goal and ensured that the defending champion Monarchs returned to the NorCal D-I final for the second straight year. They will play at second-seeded St. Francis today.

After the disappointment of last week, Tucakovic was Mitty’s biggest hero.

“Just fight,” Tucakovic said of her mentality. “No matter what, you always have to be ready. I was hyped up. Got called up to save some PKs, and I was just warming up and getting ready mentally.”

It was a big surprise initially that Mitty was even in a position to need penalty kicks to win. The Monarchs built a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from senior Tvesa Vathulya in the sixth and 43rd minutes.

But late signs of life from O’Dowd (19-2-2) quickly turned into something more. Abby Forsgren gave Mitty something to think about with a goal in the 74th minute after slipping behind the Monarchs’ back line, but Mitty still seemed to be in control.

That changed when Forsgren tapped in a second goal after a free kick generated a loose ball in the 78th minute. Suddenly, O’Dowd winning the game and moving on to the Division I championship was a real possibility.

“We’re called the Dragons for a reason, man,” O’Dowd coach Mark Savvides said.

MOUNTAIN VIEW BOYS TOP CLAYTON VALLEY IN OT >> With Mountain View and Clayton Valley tied 1-1 six minutes into overtime on Thursday in their CIF NorCal Division II semifinal, MV’s Cyrus Shafie had the ball at his feet on the right side of the field, a few yards outside the 18-yard box.

But he wasn’t pressured, and he had plenty of time to line up a shot. So he brought his right leg back and whipped a streaking attempt on goal, burying his shot past the CV keeper in the top left corner of the net and punching Mountain View’s ticket to the D-II final with a 2-1 win.

“The ball was rolling,” Shafie recounted. “It seemed like a nice spot, and I saw the goal. I said, ‘One goal is all you need to win. Might as well try it. Try something new, see what happens.’”

Shafie’s long-range attempt electrified the Mountain View bench, including coach Jim McGuirk, who wasn’t expecting his junior midfielder to take the chance from so far away.

“From here, he hits it and all you think is, ‘It’s not going to go in, right?’” said McGuirk, whose team will play host to Cardinal Newman in the final today. “You don’t see balls like that go in. And then you see the back of that net go. It’s a pretty perfect hit. It was a great shot.”

ST. FRANCIS GIRLS ROLL INTO FINAL >> St. Francis, the No. 1 team in the Bay Area News Group top 10, is once again playing for a championship after beating sixth-seeded Amador Valley 2-0.

Brooklyn O’Brien (PK, 35th minute) and Penelope Correa Mason (46th minute) handled the scoring for the host Lancers.

Now it’s on to the final.

It will be the fourth time St. Francis and Mitty have faced off this year. The Lancers have the overall advantage, having lost the first match 1-0 and won the second 4-0 and the CCS title matchup 1-0.

HILLSDALE BOYS TURN BACK GRANADA >> Second-seeded Hillsdale, the high seed playing at home, earned a shutout win to reach the D-III title game with a 2-0 victory over third-seeded Granada.

Carson Levy and Nisith Andrabadu scored goals for the Fighting Knights, and Tyler Hughes assisted on both.

Hillsdale (21-1-2) will travel to San Anselmo to face top seed Archie Williams in the championship match.

MENLO GIRLS FALL IN PKS >> Top-seeded Menlo’s remarkable season came to an end with a loss at home to Maria Carrillo in a Division III girls semifinal.

The Knights fell down early but equalized right before the half on a goal by freshman Amelia Warman, who was assisted by senior Alyssa McAdams and junior Ella Skinner.

After the teams played to a 1-1 draw through overtime, fourth-seeded Maria Carrillo prevailed in PKs 3-0.

The Knights finished the season 17-5-3.

SHP GIRLS CONTINUE HOT STREAK >> Third-seeded Sacred Heart Prep went on the road and defeated second-seeded Soquel 3-0 in a girls Division IV semifinal.

Lauryn Masetti got the scoring started in the second minute with an assist from Averie Sui. Lauren Bassett (40th minute) padded the lead just before half off an assist from Leah Lynch. Camy Sheldon added an insurance goal in the 69th minute thanks to an assist from Lewa White.

SHP (13-7-3) will travel to face Fresno Christian for the D-IV title today at 3 p.m.