With playoffs quickly approaching, the Tyrone Golden Eagles were looking to get a few more wins to add to their resume and points for playoff seeding.
They lost both of their games this week, a 5-1 loss at Bellefonte and a 2-1 loss against Penns Valley, both powerhouse soccer schools in the district.
Bellefonte
The Eagles didn’t start the week as planned after a 5-1 loss against the top ranked AAA team in the district, the Bellefonte Red Raiders.
The Eagles were physically dominant the whole game and came up short of a win against the Red Raiders, whom they had previously lost to 2-1 earlier in the season.
Ned Smearman scored the Eagles’ lone goal on a Noah Gulvas assist.
“Even though we continued to improve throughout the season, so have other teams,” said junior Ethan Donofrio, “We will shape these areas of needed improvement in the upcoming days leading up to our playoff game, and hope to see Bellefonte again there.”
The Golden Eagles will likely meet Bellefonte for the third time this season. Instead, it will be on the big stage in the District 6 AAA semifinals.
Penns Valley
Tyrone looked much better in their second game this week, but once again they were put up head-to-head against another top-ranked team in the district, the #1 AA Penns Valley Rams.
Tyrone and their coaching staff developed a strong game plan to counter Penns Valley’s high-scoring offense and their brick wall defense that only allowed 6 goals all season before the contest.
The Eagles played a good defensive-heavy game that relied on taking away key players on the Rams and maintaining possession even if it was not driving it down the field.
The approach to get the ball to the offensive side and on the board was to get quick stops and fast transition looks.
The plan worked, giving the Eagles the lead to start the game after Noach Gulvas lobbed one to the top left corner of the net off a Potter Myers assist, putting the Eagles up 1-0.
The Eagles fought hard throughout the rest of the contest but sadly dropped two goals to the Rams, costing them another loss in the 2-1 nail-biter.
“We battled till the very end. We were the better team on the field, a couple of mistakes sunk us but overall, I was proud of our effort. Games like this will make us more weathered for playoffs,” said head coach, Alex Bartlett.
After a week of hard-fought games, Tyrone will turn into the next week with high hopes after punching their ticket to the playoffs for the first time in 4 years.
“This is the first time we’ve made playoffs in 4 years,” said Bartlett, “I am extremely proud and excited for our group. We deserve it as we have fought all season for this outcome.”
Tyrone finished the season with a respectable 8-9-1 record, standing at the four seed in the AAA District 6 playoff standings, just below Central Mountain, Hollidaysburg, and Bellefonte.
The team will play away Thursday, October 24th at 7:30pm against the 1 seed, a familiar opponent, the Bellefonte Red Raiders.
Tyrone will look to capitalize on this opportunity of facing Bellefonte again and hopefully pull off the upset and make a good run in the playoffs.
(If Tyrons beats Bellefonte, they will face the winner of Central Mountain vs. Hollidaysburg in the District Championship)
Tickets must be purchased at https://piaad6.hometownticketing.com/embed/all
