It took about 77 minutes, but the Valley Central girls’ soccer team delivered some history.

Sophomore Hannah Stahl delivered the game’s only goal as the Valley Central Vikings won the Section 9 Class AA championship on Sunday at the Hudson Valley Sports Complex in Warwick.

Now, they’ll head to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship for the first time.

“I’m so incredibly proud of this team,” Stahl said. “Everything we’ve come from, practices and everything. We’ve had our ups and downs this season, but we put it all out when it mattered.”

It took almost all of regulation, but with 3:29 to go in the game, Stahl took a pass from Julia Capicchioni near the right side of the goal post and blasted a shot over the reach of Minisink Valley goalkeeper Cayleigh Kuiken and into the top-left corner.

“I think we were all just really happy,” Capicchioni said after the 1-0 victory was recorded. “We earned it. We’ve been working really hard as a team. So, we deserved it.”
The longer the Vikings went without scoring, the more Valley Central coach Jon Walsh felt the tension build on the bench.

“We were coming closer to having to go into overtime,” Walsh said. “It was a back-and-forth game, especially in the second half. I thought we got lucky and happened to get the one that pushed us through.”

The break in the tension was also felt on the field.

“It was a relief,” Stahl said. “I was so happy with everyone on the team. One person scored, but the whole team put in to get that goal. Every minute that we played was hard, and well fought.”

It was the third time the Vikings have beaten the Warriors this season, posting a 4-3 win on September 20 at home, and prevailing, 2-1, on the road.

Stahl’s goal was the only one the Warriors had given up in the tournament as they shut out No. 5 Wallkill in the quarterfinals and shutout top-seeded Washingtonville in the semis.

“They’re just a very tough team,” Walsh said. “They have a lot of good players. They play really tough and they’re fast. They know the game. They were just on a great roll the past couple of weeks. Coming into the game, you’ve got to respect that.”

The Vikings, who advanced to Saturday with a 3-1 win over the No. 3 Goshen Gladiators, have been in the Section 9 title game in four of the last five seasons, counting Sunday, and this marks their second championship. The last came during the spring 2021 COVID-19 season. However, there was no state tournament.

Stahl is the younger of two sisters on the team. Her older sister, Sophia, is one of two players remaining from the spring 2021 team. The other is Grace Del Pilar, a senior with two younger sisters on the team. Stahl’s goal also launched Sophia to the state tournament in her senior year.

“That means everything,” Hannah Stahl said. “When she goes to college, I don’t know who I’ll be on the field without her. To get that one goal and to be able to get this opportunity to go to states for the first time ever as a program, I’m really proud.”

They’ll move on to Saturday’s regional championship game between the winner of Wednesday’s subregional between Section 1 champion Somers and Section 4 champion Vestal at 3 p.m. Saturday at Wallkill High School.

“It’s incredible,” Capicchioni said. “I’m really happy that this is the team that gets to be the first to go.”