The Valley Central girls’ soccer team had a talltask last Wednesday. They needed to defeat the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders for the second time this season in order to be crowned the Section IX Class AA champion.

“I felt like things were fairly balanced,” said Valley Central coach Jonathan Walsh, whose Vikings took Faller Field in Middletown in hopes of a sectional title and berth into the state tournament. “Each team had a flow at times, one way or the other. It felt like it was going to come down to whoever got the first one.”

That’s exactly what happened. After a scoreless first half, Monroe-Woodbury drew a penalty kick about 15 minutes into the second half. The Crusaders converted, to take the lead.

Monroe-Woodbury (16-2-1) went on to win the Section IX title with a 2-0 victory.

“We were trying to throw everything at them that we could,” Walsh said. “When you get down one, you can still sit-in a little bit since we had 25 minutes left. You get down two, then you have to start trying to find ways just to get the one back, to get some momentum.”

Up until that point, the Vikings were using their entire bodies to thwart Crusader chances on goal.

“That’s been the way we’ve worked all season. Once we’re in the game, we’re all-in,” Walsh said. “The defense uses everything at their disposal. They tried everything to get around us and our defense kept stopping them. You get the one penalty call and it changes the flow a little bit.”

A few minutes into the start of the second half, while the game was still scoreless, Valley Central goalkeeper Grace Suchy had to leave the game after a collision with Monroe-Woodbury’s Ella Natal. Both players went down, which stopped the clock and required a substitution.

Grace Del Pilar, a defender, put on a yellow pinnie and headed across the field to take over in goal.

“I was really stressed,” Suchy said. “I’m the only goalie on the varsity team. Knowing that Grace used to be a goalie, I was pretty confident in her, but it was a little nerve racking. If they had scored, I felt like that would’ve been on me, because I went down and couldn’t stay in.”

The Crusaders almost scored in Suchy’s absence, but the Viking defense was able to hold down the fort until their goalkeeper returned.

With 25:44 on the clock, MW’s Francesca Donovan was taken down inside the 18 while attempting to navigate the Viking defense. The whistle resulted in a penalty kick, which was taken and converted by Emily McGee.

About four minutes later, Donovan found the back of the net, providing MW with a 2-0 advantage.

“We got a little rushed,” Suchy said. “Made a dumb foul in the box, which caused the PK. Just some miscommunication, where I didn’t step out on the second goal. It sucks to lose, but we played very well overall.”

The Vikings had multiple chances after going down 2-0, including some corner kick opportunities. While they had some success navigating through the MW defense, they couldn’t get anything past their keeper, Olivia Shippee.

“There’s not a better goalkeeper in this section than Olivia Shippee,” Suchy said in admiration of her counterpart. “She’s D1 bound to Boston College. She plays so confidently, without any doubt. You’re not getting any better than her around here, and she’s the best person in the world, too.”

Valley Central finished their season with an overall record of 12-2-1. They defeated Monroe-Woodbury during their regular season matchup in Montgomery on September 28.

They were also highlighted by the New York State Sportswriters Association by receiving the #2 Class AA ranking in the state on the week of October 4.

“We came into the year really comfortable as a team, since a lot of us have played together for awhile,” said VC senior Mackenzie Delmonico. “We have a great group and this is still a pretty young team. Next year I think we’ll be very strong too. We played well. We just didn’t get the result we wanted.”

Last season the Vikings fell to the Crusaders in the sectional semifinals, and during the 2019 season they fell to MW in the championship match.

During the Fall 2 season in the spring of 2021, VC captured their first-ever Section IX title with a 2-1 victory over Monroe-Woodbury.

“All the seniors this year were on the team when we won sections last time,” Delmonico said of the championship in 2021. “Obviously it was disappointing because we couldn’t go to states last time. I think everyone that was on the team then, that’s still on the team, wanted to get the opportunity to experience that this year.”