Boys soccer slips to 7-7 with loss to Bellefonte

Senior Noah D’Angelo

With their leading scorer Noah D’Angelo hobbled by a knee injury, Tyrone knew they would have their work cut out for them against a tough Bellefonte squad.  While they lost 2-1, Tyrone showed their resiliency to stay in the game despite being a man down.

D’Angelo, who was injured in Tyrone’s last game, was limited by a sore knee and played only a portion of the game. If Tyrone wanted to win they would need to move the ball well and execute perfectly so that other players could score the goals that D’Angelo normally does.

Tyrone played a defensive minded first half. Any chance of a Tyrone offensive possession was swept away without the speed of D’Angelo.

Production was limited for both teams as neither got very many shots on goal. It was clear that the first team to score would have the advantage.

Unfortunately, Bellefonte struck first off a routine cross. Alex Schmoke miss-touched the ball and it bounced right to a Bellefonte striker who simply walked the ball into goal.

Tyrone was in a rut already without a healthy D’Angelo, but now the team had the pressure of needing to score as they went into halftime.

“I know [we] can score without Noah’s help! We had no trouble against Clearfield so score the ball!” shouted Head Coach Miller from the sidelines.

Switching sides seemed to do the trick as Tyrone was able to score in the second half..

D’Angelo flicked the ball over two defenders to Nic Mallory for an easy goal as his speed carried him past the defense.

Invigorated by their goal, Tyrone came back to life. Ball movement increased and opportunities to score came easier.

Again Bellefonte converted a crucial goal when a through ball squeaked past Tyrone defenders, Eric Hartsock and Schmoke.

Tyrone’s lack of production showed as they were shut out in the remaining minutes of the game.

Tyrone slipped to 7-7 with one week left in the regular season.