In some ways, Tuesday night was a high-water mark for the Valley High School boys soccer team’s return to WPIAL competition.

With only a minute left, a Valley player scored the go-ahead goal against Leechburg and put his team in the driver’s seat for its first victory of a season marked by double-digit losses.

“We were riding the high, the fans were cheering,” said head coach Erik Kidwell.

Moments after the ensuing kickoff, as a Blue Devils player booted the ball downfield in a last-ditch attack, Vikings midfielder Joey Villella went down. He had suffered cardiac arrest.

A Valley trainer rushed out, and soon after, a security guard waved over to Morey Scitticatt, assistant rescue captain at the Gilpin Volunteer Fire Department.

Scitticatt was there by coincidence. His son plays for Leechburg.

An ambulance wouldn’t arrive for about eight minutes, so it was up to on-site medical personnel to save Joey’s life.

“He went down and I went out to assist, and it seemed like I was the one who was actually doing the deal,” Scitticatt said. “I did my assessment. I called for an AED. I immediately put it to use and, at that point, I did two shocks on him, and I did have some faint pulses coming back.”

Villella, a junior known for his infectious attitude and relentless drive to improve his game, is recuperating at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

His father, Robert, told TribLive that Joey’s condition is stable, but serious. Doctors have started a slow process to wake him up, easing him off various treatments and closely monitoring his response ahead of a recovery that could take months.

Robert Villella said the incident came out of the blue, with Joey having no known history of cardiovascular issues.

But when Joey fell, his parental senses told him something was wrong.

“I knew immediately and bolted down to the field,” he said.

From there, “it was the response of the coaches and everyone there that made a really big difference,” he added.

From his 30-plus years of responding to emergencies, Scitticatt knows it’s hardly a given that defibrillation, rescue breathing and other lifesaving measures will work as well as they did Tuesday.

“You can do everything by the book 100 times and maybe you’d have one or two that everything went perfect,” he said.

Scitticatt is eager to meet Joey under more fortunate circumstances.

“When he comes out of the hospital, I just want to meet him and shake his hand,” he said.

As Joey recovers, Robert Villella asked people to show support by channeling kindness toward their loved ones. They also can send cards using a link he posted to Facebook, where he’s shared a few updates on his son’s condition.

At their game Thursday, the Leechburg boys soccer team rallied behind Joey by writing his number, 16, on their hands and holding a banner that reads, “Our (hearts) are with Joey V.”

Right away, Leechburg coach Devon Browne said he thought, “We need to do something for this kid, just to show him our support.”

At Valley, Kidwell is helping the team work through the complicated emotions of their hard-fought win coinciding with the temporary loss of one of their own. Joey, by recruiting many of his fellow juniors to the team and filling the roster to WPIAL standards, was part of the reason they could participate in high-stakes conference play to begin with.

“I am really stressing with them that I know this is hard, but you know Joey better than I know Joey. And you know for 79 minutes of that 80-minute game, he would want you focusing on those 79 minutes and not the last minute he was down,” he said.

Another thing about Joey: He tends to fall when battling for a loose ball, determined to win back possession for the Vikings.

“It was kind of a running joke because he would always pop back up,” Kidwell said. “I’m just waiting for him to pop back up from this one.”

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