After losing to second-seeded Hollidaysburg 3-0 in the regular season, the third-seeded Golden Eagles entered the first round of the District 6 playoffs on Friday night as a clear underdog.  But no one told that to senior forward Owen Shaulis, who scored two goals in a 2-1 upset win on the Golden Tiger’s home field. 

“Play for your coaches, your parents, your teammates, and finally yourself,” said assistant coach Alex Bartlett before the Golden Eagles took the field.

The Tigers struck first on junior goalkeeper Alex Roberts on a breakaway goal by senior forward Grant Glass at the 7:09 mark of the first half.  Roberts was solid and was able to stop all but one of Hollidaysburg 10 shots on goal.

Nearly 10 minutes later sophomore midfielder Alex Taylor sent in a ball from the left sideline that hit the crossbar, causing a pile-up in front of the Tiger goal. Shaulis was in the pile-up and was able to get a foot on the ball striking it into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.

“We played the best soccer we have played all year. [Our guys] simply wanted the game more and outplayed the other team with heart, passion, and grit,” said assistant coach Alex Bartlett.

The score was tied at 1-1 and Tyrone continued great ball moment and won most of the balls in the air in the first 20 minutes of the first half.

“Towards the last 20 minutes of the first half, we were not playing as well as we could,” Tyrone head coach Nick Miller said, “we needed to play in the second half like we did in the first 20 minutes.”

Hollidaysburg head coach Craig Shale felt that his team didn’t play with intensity in the first half and was very impressed by the Golden Eagles.

The second half began very even with opportunities from both teams.

Midway in the second half key junior midfielder Corey Johnston was forced to leave the game with a rib injury. Tyrone played their hearts out even without Johnston, a key player all season long.

“We weren’t the more skilled of the two teams by any means, but we had more heart and passion. We wanted it more and gave it our all and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Shaulis.

Later in the game, Johnston came back on the field.

“I knew I had to get back up. I couldn’t let my team down that easy,” said Johnston.

Late into the second half with about 5 minutes remaining, Taylor sent a through-ball to the left corner for Shaulis. Saulis outran one Hollidaysburg defender and passed another inside the box to take a shot. The low shot beat the Hollidaysburg goaltender to the short side of the net for a late 2-1 lead.

Despite some late pressure from Hollidaysburg, Tyrone finished the game out with strong defense.

“We came together as a team and played as brothers,” sophomore midfielder Mason Thomas said.

Tyrone will play number one seeded Bellefonte in the District 6 championship game on Tuesday in Bald Eagle.

Bellefonte beat Tyrone in two regular season meeting this season but Miller is confident that his team can pull off another upset.

“It’s tough to beat a good team three times in one season,” said Miller to his players after the game.