Tyrone Boys Soccer Opens Season Tonight at Home

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The Tyrone 2020 Boys Varsity Soccer team.

After coming off back to back District 6 Championship games, the Tyrone/Bellwood boys soccer team is hoping to keep the streak alive as they open the season at home tonight against Philipsburg.

This will be a rebuilding year for the Golden Eagles. The team lost seven senior starters from the 2019 season, including the starting goalkeeper Alex Roberts and leading scorer and Mountain League all-star Corey Johnston.

This season will go as planned as long as we stay conditioned and conquer all of the challenges that COVID-19 and our opponents present

— Senior Alex Taylor

The seniors this year are Aiden Taylor, Kelton Raabe, Alex Taylor, Brendan Andrews, Abe Black, Andrew Tornatore, and Mason Thomas.

There are three returning sophomores, Brayden Daniels, Eric Sims, and Kevin Carper. The team also added two starting freshmen, Elija Knar and Rocky Romani. 

The biggest challenge this season is probably going to be the lack of depth.  With only two players on the bench, the team will have to be well-conditioned and avoid injuries in order to be successful.

But there is enough talent on the team to have a good season.

“We are an interesting mix of experience, talent, and grit,” said assistant coach Dustin Elder.

The team’s main goal is to be Mountain League Champions and return to the District 6 championship for the third year in a row.

They would also like to improve on last year’s record of 6-11-1. Last year the Golden Eagles finished 4th in the Mountain League with a record of 6-7 and second in the district after losing a close district championship game to Hollidaysburg.

This preseason, the team dropped their first scrimmage to Blair Christian 3-6.

Head Coach Alex Bartlett believes that it solely came down to numbers with Tyrone only having one substitution that game. 

We are an interesting mix of experience, talent, and grit

— Assistant Coach Dustin Elder

Tyrone was up 3-1 in the first half and lost momentum in the second. Since then the team has focused on conditioning and conserving energy on the field.

“This season will go as planned as long as we stay conditioned and conquer all of the challenges that COVID-19 and our opponents present,” said senior captain Alex Taylor.

The main concern for the team this year is the lack of substitutions with multiple players having to play without a break