The Minisink Valley Warriors had scored two quick goals, erasing a two-goal lead.

Julie Capicchioni set things right in the second half, scoring two quick goals to restore the lead in the Vikings’ 5-3 Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II win on Wednesday at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

“It was pretty important because that’s what got our team’s intensity up,” Capicchioni said. “We didn’t want to give up. We just want to keep going.”

The Vikings did exactly that.

Capicchioni broke the tie in the 43rd minute and then in the 68th minute, she scored her third goal of the game when she took a shot from the right goal post and banged a shot off the left post and into the goal.

She scored her first goal of the day in the game’s 24th minute – assisted by Mackenzie Lennon – to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

“She’s tenacious,” Valley Central coach Jon Walsh said. “She gets out there. She works hard. She fights for every ball. And she once she gets into the right mind frame, she can drop three on any team that she wants. It’s good to see her do that today.”

Sophia Stahl scored the game’s first goal in the 21st minute. Samantha Setteducato scored the Vikings’ last goal in the 62nd minute.

The Warriors punched the Vikings in the stomach late in the first half to tie the game.

Lily Rodriguez cut the lead in half with a goal int the 35th minute and Kate O’Neill tied the game, scoring off a free kick to tie the game.

“I think it made us just want to fight back and show that we should have had that game,” Capicchioni said.

The Vikings had been playing short handed as two key players – Sophia Stahl and Kelly Schmidt – were out with injuries.

“In practice, we all put good effort in. Capicchioni said. “So, we all practice as if we’re in a game.”

The Vikings’ injuries are partially the reason for the shift in their schedule. Wednesday’s game was originally scheduled for September 8 but postponed due to a thunderstorm.

That would have given the Vikings’ three games in five days, as they were originally scheduled to host the Washingtonville Wizards on Friday.

Instead, the two teams hooked up Saturday morning at Valley Central High School, a game the Vikings won, 1-0.

There also was an early season heat wave during the first week of school combined with thunderstorms, which made it hard to get into an early season rhythm.

“It was really hard between practices being switched, games being switched, just trying to stay on a consistent schedule and keeping everyone on a regimen,” Walsh said.

“It was really, really difficult to come out and get a 30-minute practice when you’re expecting an hour and a half, and the other hours in the school going through formation stuff.”

Capicchioni said navigating those early season situations was tricky.

They got more into a flow with five games in the last 2 weeks, running their record to 4-2 and 3-2 in the division.

“We just used those days to talk about the game and what we need to do,” Capicchioni said. “We just came back next day and kept working hard.”