The Valley Central Vikings and Goshen Gladiators were playing the last girls’ soccer game of the regular season, and it seemed like everything was at stake.

The Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II championship was on the line, along with the top seed in the Section 9 Class AA tournament. The Gladiators seized both as Emma Duffy scored two second-half goals in a 2-1 win over the Vikings on Thursday night at Goshen High School.

“I thought we came out strong,” Valley Central coach Jon Walsh said. “Going into halftime, I felt pretty good. In the second half, we came out a little flat. They took advantage and they finished the game.”

The two teams last faced each other on Sept. 17 at Valley Central High School in Montgomery in a game where both teams battled to a 0-0 tie. However, eighth-grader Kaya Russell made sure that wouldn’t happen again when she scored a goal in the game’s 17th minute to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

“That was good, especially coming off of the game the other day,” said Walsh, referring to the Vikings’ 3-0 loss to the Warwick Wildcats on Oct. 22 at Sanfordville Elementary School. “That gave us a little bit of a boost. Then after that, we played really well for the next 10 or 15 minutes, and then we settled back in.”

The Gladiators came out strong in the second half, and tied the game when Emma Duffy tucked a shot into the left corner of the goal in the 47th minute. Then, eight minutes later, Gigi Obligado sent a corner kick in from the left and found Duffy one more time. Duffy took the crossing pass, redirecting it into the goal, giving the Gladiators their first lead of the day.

“I think it was when Lorena (Rivera) got hit with the ball, we took a moment off,” Walsh said. “They got the goal, and that stunned us. Then we were never able to put it back together, and they took advantage of it. They’re a good team. We can’t let that happen.”

The Vikings also had trouble stringing passes together down the field. Playing on turf for the first time this season, the ball outran them, and they couldn’t catch up to their through balls down the field.

“This was the first time we played on turf all season,” Walsh said. “I think that played a factor in the second half, too. We haven’t had the touches on it. It got a little faster than we thought.”

The loss drops the Vikings to the No. 3 seed in this week’s Section 9 Class AA tournament and they will host No. 6 Minisink Valley on Thursday. They split the two meetings with the Warriors, losing 2-0 on Sept. 9 on the road and then winning, 2-1, at home on Sept. 25.

A win will send them on the road to No. 2 Warwick. The Vikings were nearly unbeatable at home, but three of their four losses came on the road. Their only home loss was against Class AAA top seed Monroe-Woodbury.
“I feel good,” Walsh said. “We might have a little work to do to get there, but I think by next Thursday, we’ll be ready to go.”