The Valley Central girls’ soccer team had a rough run through its first run through the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division II.

Coming off two straight divisional losses, the Vikings rebounded with a 5-2 win over Beacon on Friday afternoon at home.

“We’re definitely coming together,” said Mackenzie Delmonico, the Vikings’ junior midfielder. “I feel like the first few games were a little rough because we haven’t played with each other for a while. But now, we’re getting used to it.”

Rough as in losing two their only two divisional opponents – Pine Bush and Warwick – as the Vikings are only in a three-team division.

They opened the season with a 4-1 win over Wallkill on Sept. 2 and then were defeated, 3-2, by Pine Bush on Sept. 9 and 5-1 by Warwick on Sept. 13.

They won Friday afternoon’s game on the strength of three second-half goals.

“I thought we played really well,” Valley Central coach Jon Walsh said. “I thought we were able to combine well and move the ball. There were a couple of times where we got a little out of our form, but we got back into it pretty quickly.”

All five of the Vikings’ goals were scored by different players. Delmonico had one goal but made most of her contributions by bringing the ball down the field into the Bulldogs’ defensive third and creating scoring opportunities.

“Mac is a force out there,” Walsh said. “When she’s on her stride and she’s in her game, she’s hard to stop. She’s fast. She’s got technical skill, and she finds people with that cross.”

The Vikings got on the board 9 minutes into the game when Ella Brown bounced a shot off a Beacon defender and inside the right post for the first goal of the game.

Then, Delmonico was tripped up in the 18-yard box and the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick. Sophia Stahl buried the shot, giving the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

Then with 48 seconds to go in the first half, Beacon got on the board when Reilly Landisi tucked a shot inside the right post and past Valley Central goalkeeper Grace Suchy.

The Bulldogs opened the second half the way they closed the first with a goal from Landisi to tie the game.

“I heard their coach saying it was a new game,” Delmonico said. “So, I was like, ‘all right, it’s a new game. Let’s score again and do what we did in the first half.’”

The Vikings almost answered immediately when Delmonico sent a cross into the box, but Samantha Setteducato’s header was high. However, Setteducato wouldn’t be denied in the 62nd minute when she banged her shot off the crossbar and over the head of Beacon goalkeeper Hope Cleveringa to break the tie.

“I think, initially, we were a little shocked, but then we realized, ‘let’s go out and get it. Let’s finish this off right now,’” Walsh said.

About 9 minutes later, Delmonico blasted a shot from the left into the goal to restore Valley Central’s 2-goal lead, and then Kyrah Kelly finished the scoring with 8:35 to go.

“We definitely have a lot of strong players and a lot of younger players who have a lot of potential,” Delmonico said. “We have a good variety.”