The week began with two tough losses for the Golden Eagles soccer team but ended with a significant win as the Tyrone strikers continued to show steady improvement this season.

The boys went 1-2 on the week with a 3-2 loss against Philipsburg on Tuesday, and a 5-1 loss to Hollidaysburg on Wednesday.  However, in one of the highlights of the season so far, the boys beat Penn Cambria 4-0 on Saturday.  The league-leading Panthers came to Tyrone sporting an 8-1 record.

Philipsburg

Tyrone knew they would have a challenging game against Phillipsburg, who has one of the top scorers in the area in forward Carson Long who is averaging 2.8 goals per game.

Tyrone played physically and put up a good fight against the Mountaineers.

“We led the game with a strong start, but the Mounties were prepared and put up a good game against us, said Tyrone’s Rowan Moore.

In the first half, freshman Gavin Tuskovich scored a goal at the 14:04 mark to give Tyrone the early lead.

But Phillipsburg followed up with two goals to end the first half.

Philipsburg scored again in the 2nd half to extend their lead to 3-1.

Noah Gulvas scored moments later in the game at the 77:30 mark, chipping away at the lead.

However, there wasn’t enough time to complete the comeback and the Eagles lost the first game of their treacherous homestand.

Hollidaysburg

After dropping a close game to P-O on Tuesday, the Golden Eagles lost their second game of the homestand to the Hollidaysburg Tigers.

The Tigers are a soccer powerhouse in the LHAC and are at the top of the conferences’ standings sitting at a 7-1 overall record and an undefeated 5-0 in conference play.

This game was one of Tyrone’s biggest challenges this season but fell way short of the upset with a 5-1 loss.

The Tigers wasted no time starting the game with a goal in the first 45 seconds.

After the rapid goal, Hollidaysburg didn’t take their foot off the gas, adding 2 additional goals before the half.

The Eagles struggled to gain offensive possession throughout the first half and get the ball down the field due to the intense Hollidaysburg pressure.

“Hollidaysburg overloaded our middle, playing a high press, and were playing a lot more physical and harder than us in the first half,” said center-back, Tytus Novak.

This gave a lot of extra chances for the Tigers and the leading cause of the 3-0 deficit.

“Wyatt played a really good game in goal and was a leader in the backfield,” said defender Caleb Posnett.

Tyrone goalkeeper Wyatt Walls prevented the game from getting out of hand with multiple saves on several good looks from the Tigers.

The Eagles looked much better in the second half by not letting the Tigers dictate the whole game with the ball and finally got some good shots off themselves.

The Eagles played better defense as well, only giving up 2 goals compared to the 3 in the first half.

Rowan Moore scored the Eagle’s lone goal in the second half, assisted by Ned Smearman.

The goal was the longest goal of the season, a strike from 30 yards out over the keeper’s head to eliminate the chance of a shutout.

“I’m glad I could break up the shutout, just lofted one up with good placement and it went over the keeper’s head,” said Rowan Moore, “We need to score a lot more than just one to win these games. We will be working hard on our offensive game during the upcoming practices.”

Penn Cambria

After a good practice on Thursday, and working on their scoring abilities, the Eagles were prepared to play another grueling game and face off against the 8-1 Penn Cambria Panthers.

The Eagles finished the week strong with a 4-0 win over the Panthers.

The boys started the game off fast with a scoring mania in the first half getting up to an early 3-0 lead by half.

The half was highlighted by goals from Noah Gulvas, Tytus Novak, and Grant Miller.

The Eagles’ scoring slowed down a little in the second half, but their defense was stronger than ever completing the shutout.

Although the Eagles didn’t score as much as they did in the first half, they extended their lead by one with a goal from Ned Smearman.

“It was a great team win. We got back to the basics and really showed our identity,” Head Coach Alex Barlett said. “Our win against Penn Cambria, who was 8-1 going into the game, is a perfect example that our boys can go get a win on any day, against any team, on any field if we play our game,”

The Eagles stand at a 4-5 record with one more game remaining in their homestand.