By Mike Zummo
Two days after suffering its first loss of the season, the Valley Central girls’ soccer team got back in the win column.
Despite some early-game experimentation, the Vikings scored two goals in the second half to defeat the Wallkill Panthers 3-1 in a non-league game on Saturday.
“It was really important to connect and show that we can be here for each other,” said Nikki Schmidt, who scored two goals in the winning effort.
Schmidt got the Vikings on the board early when she took a pass from Lindsey Ford and blasted the ball into the top-left corner out of the reach of Wallkill goalkeeper Savanna Stoddart.
“It was very important to get that first goal,” Schmidt said. “That gave us a lift.”
She scored her second goal with about 7 minutes to go in the game to give the Vikings a little bit of insurance off an assist from Madeline Feller.
“When you have a girl like Nikki Schmidt, she makes all the difference,” Valley Central coach Randy Axtell said. “When she gets chances, she has finishes them with composure like few others in the league.”
Coming off the Monroe-Woodbury game, Axtell used the first half to experiment with the defense, playing with only three in the backfield instead of the Vikings’ usual four.
“I changed formations and tactics in the first half, so we really didn’t adjust as well to that as I’d hoped,” Axtell said. “We gave up a sloppy goal, but I thought in the second half, we had most of the play and got our chances. We could have had a few more goals.”
The Panthers (3-5-0) evened things when Wallkill’s Kayla Miller corralled a loose ball from Lainey Flanagan and pushed it past Valley Central goalkeeper Deanna Murdock.
“At the end of the first half, they were doing fantastic and just had to keep up the intensity,” Wallkill coach Christopher Valencia said. “That’s what it boils down to. They are able to adjust to the game very well, but at times I find them just lacking the intensity and playing on their heels.”
That’s exactly where the Panthers found themselves in the second half as the Vikings broke the tie on a goal by Giulia Satriano off an assist from Ava Stahl.
“(At halftime we talked about how) we just needed to connect our passes and work together as a team,” Schmidt said.
The Panthers were scheduled for a non-league game against Pine Bush before returning to Mid-Hudson Athletic League play on Thursday at home against Saugerties.
“We’re in a good position but I think we could be in a better position,” Valencia said.
The Vikings, meanwhile, have some tough games coming up as they look to establish themselves as one of the top team’s in Section 9 Class AA this year.
“If we work together, I think we can pull it off,” Schmidt said.