The Tyrone varsity boys soccer team hit the road for the second time last week to play the Clearfield Bison. The Golden Eagles took home yet another 2-0 win, improving their record to 5-1.

“We may not have played our best, but we went there and did what needed to be done. It was not our prettiest game, but we are still improving every game, and we are now 5-1, freshman defender Miles Smearman said.

The Tyrone boys started the game thinking it would be an easy win for them. They started slowly, unlike every other game this season.

The Clearfield Bison came out strong, preventing the Tyrone boys from scoring throughout the first half. The Bison were not fazed by knowing Tyrone was 4-1 and came out with energy against the Eagles.

The Bison adopted a “park the bus” defensive tactic that involves dropping 9-10 players behind the opposition when they are in possession.

The Bison tried to survive the game without being scored on, which worked for the first 45 minutes, but the Tyrone boys were able to break their lines in the second half.

Across all levels of soccer, this tactic is used with the intention of preventing higher-skilled teams from scoring. This was seen in last week’s Premier League game, Liverpool vs. Burnley.

Tyrone maintained possession for 74% of the game, which gave them many scoring chances, but Tyrone struggled to score until the second half.

After a scoreless first half, Tyrone pushed their defenders up into the Bison’s half to give more opportunities to score.

Smearman ended the 0-0 deadlock by taking the ball himself, creating a numbers advantage for the Golden Eagels, and scoring his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 Tyrone. .

After Smearman scored, Tyrone stepped up their pace, leading to a Gavin Tuskovich insurance goal late to secure the 2-0 win.

Tyrone faces Bishop Guilfoyle 2-6 tonight, September 16, 2025.