Ward Melville girls soccer wins third straight state title as Kate Ronzoni makes big save on late penalty kick

CORTLAND — Kate Ronzoni was the first eighth-grader Ward Melville girls soccer coach John Diehl promoted to varsity. He made that decision five years ago and it seemed only fitting that the longest-tenured varsity player was in the middle of one of the most important plays in program history on Sunday.

Ronzoni, a senior goalkeeper, has been thrown into many different situations throughout her varsity tenure. But staring down a penalty kick with a one-goal lead with less than two minutes left in a state final? That was a new one. Ronzoni didn’t have time to get nervous. She was focused on ending her senior year the way she did her sophomore and junior campaigns — as a state champion.

“I just told myself, ‘There’s no way this is going in,’ ” Ronzoni said. “There was no option other than to save it because in my head, I knew we were the team that deserved it. And I knew if I made that save, it was game over.”

Ronzoni was right.

She made a diving stop to her left and shortly after Ward Melville kicked the rebound out of play, the Patriots celebrated their third straight state title. Ward Melville defeated Arlington, 1-0, in the girls soccer state Class AAA final at SUNY Cortland. 

“It was my last two minutes ever on this team and I knew I had to make an impact,” Ronzoni said. “I knew I had to make it count and do something people would remember.”

No one will forget these last three years of Ward Melville’s dominance over New York State girls soccer. The Patriots haven’t lost a game over the last three seasons.

Ward Melville finished the season at 20-0-1 and improved to 56-0-7 since the start of the 2022 season. The Patriots’ 63 straight games without a loss is a Long Island girls soccer record, according to Newsday records.

“It’s crazy, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a team doing this,” senior midfielder Maddie Costello said. “Not a college team, a professional team, so the fact that we did it is crazy because we’re just a bunch of high school girls.”

After scoring three goals in a 5-4 win in the state semifinals on Saturday, including the winner, Adriana Victoriano delivered again on Sunday.

She slid a shot past the charging Arlington goalkeeper on a 1-on-1 with 21:01 left in the second half. Aliya Leonard played a through ball to Victoriano from midfield and the senior received the pass 35 yards from goal, dribbled another 20 yards before placing the shot bottom-left for a goal.

“I just knew I had to finish it,” Victoriano said. “I probably wasn’t going to get another opportunity like that, so I had to make it count.”

“She’s been clutch all year,” Diehl said. “She’s had ice in her veins all career for us. She just comes through. Since 10th grade, she’s been on the field leading us in the state championship.”

Diehl was overwhelmed with pride in his team after a third straight state title.

“Three years in a row is historical,” Diehl said. “Like I told the girls, you’re making history. It’s just incredible, they did everything they could to make it happen.”