Goals come at a premium for the Wallkill Panthers.

It had been almost a month since they had scored more than one in a game. During that five-game stretch, the Panthers lost three out of four, and the fourth was a tie, but when they score at least two goals, they are unbeaten.

The No. 4 Panthers scored two early first-half goals as they defeated the No. 5 Washingtonville Wizards, 2-0, in the Section 9 Class AA quarterfinals on Thursday at Wallkill High School’s Robinson Field.

“It was so important to be able to hold a lead because they’re a very good team,” senior captain Brianna Merrill said. “We didn’t want to have them come back in the second half, so we really wanted to get up first.”
Senior Grace Rodriguez took care of that, as she took a shot from near the left post and her shot rolled toward the far post. Washingtonville goalkeeper Savanna Troast couldn’t get to it, the ball rolled into the goal.
Not even six minutes into the game, the Panthers had a 1-0 lead.

“When I saw that shot, I didn’t even think it was going to go in because she was so low,” Wallkill coach Kelly Wood said. “It was a really thin angle, but she put it in the far corner. It was nice.”

Then, four minutes after that, the Wizards committed a handball penalty in the goalie box, setting up a penalty kick.

Merrill took the kick, blasted a shot so hard to Troast’s left that the ball was in the net before she could move.
“We’ve been working on PKs in practice, so that definitely helps,” Merrill said.

But that was all the offense the Panthers provided, and the rest was up to the defense and goalkeeper Aoife Brady to keep the Wizards off the board.

“I think it was just our connection,” Brady said. “Our whole back line worked so well together. I feel like our communication, the skill levels of all of us combined makes us unstoppable.”

Also, Brady can go out and get a save when she needs to. Late in the first half a shot came flying in from the right, Brady plucked the ball out of the air and toed the goal-line to make sure the ball didn’t cross over to preserve the shutout.

“Aoife has been great this year,” Wood said. “She’s a sophomore who was our goalie last year and Thank God, we’ve got her for two more. She’s great.”

Brady made another key save in the 79th minute when Washingtonville’s Camryn Ardovino broke loose from the defense and started running toward the goal. Brady came out, dove on the ball, forcing Ardovino to trip over her.

“I saw her coming in and I was like, ‘all right, one minute left. What’s the worst that can happen,’” Brady said. “I just came out and got it, luckily. It hurt a little bit, but I was good. I got up right away.”

The Panthers don’t always have an opportunity to fit Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association teams into their schedule, but Wood did get an opportunity to scout the Washingtonville Wizards before Thursday’s Section 9 Class AA quarterfinal game.

“We knew what their system was, so we had a plan for that,” Wood said. “We made an adjustment in our back in our defense. Getting up early was huge, although in the same breath, 2-0 in a soccer game is the most dangerous because if you give one up after you’re going to play really tight.”

They were scheduled to face another unknown opponent on Monday when they paid a visit to the top-seeded Goshen Gladiators on Monday night. A win on Monday will send them home on Wednesday for the championship game against the winner of the other semifinal between No. 3 Valley Central and No. 2 Warwick.

“We feel amazing now that we have this on our backs,” Merrill said. “We feel like we could probably do anything.”

Section 9 Class AA Quarterfinals No. 3 Valley Central 3, No. 6 Minisink Valley 0
Samantha Setteducato scored two goals and Hannah Stahl added one as the Valley Central Vikings advanced to Monday’s semifinal with a win over the Minisink Valley Warriors on Wednesday.

Anna Ferraro made two saves for the Vikings, who were scheduled to visit the No. 2 Warwick Wildcats on Monday at Sanfordville Elementary School.

The winner will play for the Section 9 Class AA championship on Wednesday at Wallkill High School.