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“Coach [Jennifer] Regan saw we had a lot of energy coming out, so at halftime she told us we just needed to relax and calm down,” senior Alyssa DiCampli said.
DiCampli and her teammates listened to Regan, and the result was a DiCampli goal in the second half, sending the fourth seed to a 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded Valhalla.
Irvington, now 8-5-3, will play top seed and defending champion Bronxville High School in a semifinal Tuesday at noon. The other Class C semifinal is No. 6 North Salem High School at No. 2 Pawling High School. The Class C title game will be played at Mamaroneck High School on Thursday.
“All of the seniors started with Coach Regan when we were freshmen, and it was her first year, so we wanted to win this game so bad,” DiCampli said. “We knew we needed to calm down, and we also needed to move the ball more.”
Irvington survived a scare three minutes into the second half as Valhalla pressured the circle, but goalie Andi Regan and the defense denied the threat. Five minutes later, DiCampli finished off a fine play.
Ciara Morley intercepted a Valhalla free hit at midfield and rocketed a hit down right wing. Victoria Jelenek ran down the pass and sent the ball into the circle, where DiCampli deflected it in at the 7:51 mark.
“Once Victoria hit the ball, I knew I had to get there so I could tap it in,” DiCampli said.
Irvington’s midfield and defense took over as it held Valhalla without a penalty corner for the game.
“Our midfield is our defense and our offense,” DiCampli said. “They were carrying the ball back and forth for us. They really played well today.”
Valhalla coach Tara Lahm agreed.
“I thought the difference today was they were a little more physical than teams we are used to playing,” Lahm said. “They are tough defensively. They are good with their sticks and tough to get the ball through on. Even when we did, they had their next line of defense right there.”
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