It came down to a guess by Valley Central boys’ soccer goalkeeper James Joyce.

In a one-goal game, a handball in front of the goal gave Warwick’s 11 a penalty kick. Reading his hips, Joyce could tell Warwick’s Owen Beauregard was going to Joyce’s right. He dove in that direction and stopped the shot.

The ball bounced off him, giving the Wildcats another shot. Joyce smothered it, preserving the Vikings’ slim lead with about 10 minutes to go.

Shortly after Daniel Newhall scored a goal and Sean Watson put in his second, leading the Vikings to a 4-1 win over the Wildcats on Wednesday at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

“It was massive,” Joyce said. “We played great. We came out strong I had a lucky guess on that PK, but we’re ready for sections.”

The Vikings’ win eliminated the Wildcats from qualifying for the Section 9 Class AA tournament. The Vikings, who finished their Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II with a 7-5-0 record, will move on.

“It was a tough game,” Valley Central coach Paul Berkowitz said. “It’s always challenging. Warwick’s a very technical team. They’re very good and it was win or you don’t make postseason, so we’ve been in that situation a ton of time.”
Just not this time.

The Vikings earned the fourth seed in the tournament and are schedule to host the No. 5 Wallkill Panthers on Wednesday. The Vikings beat the Panthers, 3-2, on September 23 in Wallkill.

The winner gets top-seeded Cornwall in Friday’s semifinal.

The Vikings struck first when – in the 22nd minute – Joseph Rossi brought the ball down the field along the left side. He turned toward the goal and fired a shot past Warwick goalkeeper Dylan Gjertsen.

Five minutes later, Watson’s first goal gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

“That’s the toughest lead, and 60 percent of the time, that team loses. So, we talked about the psychology of it and then when it was 2-1, and they changed their shape second half they were all over us.”

The Wildcats scored that first goal in the 47th minute. Warwick’s Eric Bethmann’s free kick outside the 18-yard box bounced off the Valley Central wall and Symon Roldan fired the shot home.

The goal inspired the Wildcats who pressured the Vikings. A combination of Joyce’s goalkeeping and strong defensive play kept the Wildcats off the board.

“You just keep in defense composed,” Joyce said. “We’ve struggled with a lot of composure recently, but it was a really big win.”

But after he stopped the penalty kick and the ensuing rebound, Newhall and Watson gave Joyce and the defense the breathing room he needed.

“That took a lot of pressure off my back. “Joyce said. “I was really nervous on the PK, so it made it a lot easier for me to get through the rest of the couple minutes left.”

It has been mostly a successful season for the Vikings in the new OCIAA Division II. They lost five games – two each to Cornwall and Goshen- and split with Washingtonville. They beat the Wildcats, Minisink Valley Warriors and Monticello Panthers twice each for a fourth-place finish.

“We’ve been playing well,” Berkowitz said. “We have a good group of boys. So, we’ll see. It’s postseason play, and anything can happen.”