Bald Eagle girls lose late nail biter to Tyrone

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: August 28, 2023

By Kenny Varner

WINGATE – Two former Mountain League girls soccer team made its Laurel Highlands debut Monday when Tyrone visited Bald Eagle Area in booth’s season opener.

Coming into the game both teams came in with very similar talents, evident in the way the first period went.

In the end, Tyrone came out with the 4-3 nail biting victory.

“We gave up too much space in the middle of the field and he (Tyrone coach Mike Sparacino) ran three forwards at the end and put a lot of pressure on us. We conceded too much room on the field. We weren’t playing tight enough and it hurt us,” said Bald Eagle coach Jared Moore. “There are a lot of positives. They looked good, they moved the ball pretty well. I was happy with that so we have some things to work on. We have some more days before we have our next game. We get some good work outs this week and learn from it.”

In the first half, the two were tied at one and in goals and five in shots. Tyrone held the advantage by a 4-3 margin in corners and Golden Eagle goalie Pyper Sparklin captured two saves while Bald Eagles’ goalkeeper Madalyn Smith had one.

Bald Eagles speed led by Sybil Thompson got her team out and running, making the first push of the game.

However, the Tyrone backfield was very stingy, refusing any good looks at the goal to their opponent.

It would be a back and forth contest possession wise as both teams continued to find a crack in the others defensive armor.

Bald Eagle hit pay dirt with 31:36 left off of a corner. Spicer was at the right place at the right time to watch the ball go in off of a nudge of the ball in traffic, making it 1-0.

Defensively, Bald Eagle’s backfield led by Candence Stem, Addisyn Burns, Sydney Thompson and Alexa Thomas, proved to be solid.

As the first half started to tick down Tyrone knotted the contest when Adrienne Maloney lifted a header right over the finger tips of the Bald Eagle Area goalie, tying things at one.

Coming out of the intermission, the sense of urgency for both teams grew.

Bald Eagle made the first move of the half. Lily Spicer found Sybil Thompson, making it a 2-1 contest with 31:11 left.

Both defenses continued to frustrate the other team’s offense, going into the last 15 minutes with only four total shots in the second half at that point.

The intensity grew as the clock dipped below the 10-minute mark. Both team took their game up a notch.

Tyrone made the most of a corner opportunity.

After the kick into the box, the Golden Eagles kicked numerous shots before Briley Campbell would get a rebound and blast it to the corner of the goal, tying it at two with 7:17 left.

Minutes later, Campbell was able to battle her way straight to goal, hitting the go ahead goal with 3:24.

Tyrone added an insurance goal by Allie Blasko, making it a 4-2 contest.

Bald Eagle refused to go away as Savannah Albright, cut the game to within one as she blasted a goal at 1:49.

However, it wasn’t enough as Tyrone survived to notch the victory.

Bald Eagle will be back in action Saturday against Mo Valley.