Victor’s Anna Schwarzweller is congratulated after her first half goal.
WEBSTER – As the final seconds ticked away on Tuesday night, the girls from Victor darted onto the turf and headed for Angela Ratka, the senior goalkeeper who’d just played the game of her life.
It was the sprint every soccer player wants to make this time of year. They mobbed Ratka.
The second-seeded Blue Devils used an 11th-minute goal from Anna Schwarzweller and got the clincher from Gianna Damico with 12 minutes to go to edge top-seeded Fairport, 2-0, in the Section V Class AA championship at Webster Schroeder High. The Blue Devils (13-3-3) play Section VI’s Clarence in Saturday’s 6 p.m. state quarterfinals at Niagara University. It’s their first title since 2007, when they shared the crown with Pittsford Mendon but were eliminated by penalty kicks.
“I’m just so incredibly proud of them,” said coach Kelly Ahern, who was a rookie head coach in 2007.
This is a Victor program that won just one match four years ago. Seniors Kate Leonard and Kirsten Haggerty, who missed the past two seasons with knee injuries, are the only holdovers.
“This is probably the best feeling in the world,” said Leonard, who wore a brace on her knee after injuring it in Saturday’s physical 2-1 win over Churchville-Chili when Victor also lost top-scorer Kaci Messier (concussion).
Messier has 12 goals and four assists; Leonard 11 and 6. To be fair, Fairport (14-5) had more of the ball and more dangerous chances. But that’s soccer and what can happen if a goalie makes a handful of spectacular stops.
“She was fantastic,” Fairport coach Tom Natalie said.
The teams split regular-season meetings with the Raiders taking the most recent one, 3-2 on Oct. 14 behind two goals from sophomore Claire Myers. Fairport’s 17-goal scorer had two terrific looks in each half on Tuesday. But Ratka made a good kick save with 14:11 left in the half and another stop with her feet four minutes into the second half, the second one from close range.
“All that was really going through my head was, don’t let the ball in the net, don’t let her dribble, don’t let her take any shots,” the third-year starter said.
All Damico was thinking was: Don’t miss. Her goal was a beauty. Dribbling on the right side of the box, she cut the ball back to beat a defender and ripped a shot that hit the left post and caromed in. It was the junior’s first career goal.
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“We’ve been waiting for that,” Ahern said.
“I still I can’t believe it right now. Every time I think about it I’m going to cry,” Damico said. “I got the ball and it was literally like a one-second decision, it was make it or break it. I just took a touch and it just happened.”
Schwarzweller’s go-ahead goal happened off a loose ball in front following sophomore Jojo Leonardo’s direct kick. It was her seventh.
“I thought when we came out we were playing not to lose instead of trying to win,” Natalie said, “and we gave up some space and gave up that dead-ball early goal that gave them momentum.”
Sophomore Hannah Shin, another good one from a solid group of Fairport underclassmen, saw a shot sail wide after a good through ball by sophomore Zoey Janes 10 minutes after intermission. Ratka also made good saves on a 17-yard shot by Megan Konieczny, dived to block a blast by Janes and got some help from the crossbar on Shin’s long shot off the crossbar in the second half.
“Best game you’ve ever played,” Ahern told Ratka after the match.
As a player, the 38-year-old Ahern won two sectional titles in basketball and two in soccer while at Mercy High. From one win four years ago to a sectional block this fall, the celebration was special and included her two daughters, both toddlers.
“They have left me speechless,” Ahern (formerly O’Neill) said about her team.