Penns Valley boys jumps over .500 mark; tops Tyrone

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: October 3, 2019

The Penns Valley boys soccer team leaped over the .500 Mark in fine fashion as they defeated Tyrone in a nail biter, 4-3.

Penns Valley started things off with a goal by Zach Heckman goal at 8:54.

Tyrone tied the game on a Keegan Raabe at 17:04.

Less than three minutes later Tyrone took the lead when Corey Johnston found the back of the net at 19:28.

Penns Valley battled back when Connor Martz scored on an Assist by Caleb Narber at 21:46.

As the first half began to ran down the Rams Nate Long put his team back in front at 29:55.

Tyrone tied the game at 61:17.

But Penns Valley has the last laugh on a Aidan Culver goal at 72:36.

“It was a very warm October Wednesday – and things heated up fast on the pitch in a critical match for Penns Valley as we traveled to play Tyrone on their senior night. Play remained pretty even for the first 6 or 7 minutes until Zach Heckman took the ball off a skirmish in front of the Tyrone goal and finished a little arching header over the keeper for the first goal of the match. Play continued pretty even again for the next 8 minutes – then Tyrone added the equalizer. Just a couple minutes later they went up another on a controversial call for a penalty kick. I asked my guys on the field how they were going to respond now down 2 goals.,” said Penns Valley Coach Ken Gore. “The answer came in the 21st minute when Connor Martz took a rebound from a Caleb Narber corner kick and finished a turnaround shot in a crowded box to tie things up again. We are constantly telling our players to ‘win, control, possess’ and Penns Valley finally settled into an effective control and attack strategy for the latter part of the half. The result was goal number three – a header from sophomore Nate Long for his first career goal at Penns Valley. We were glad to go into halftime up by one – but we also knew that wouldn’t be enough against a physical opponent with the ability to strike quickly. In the 61st minute Tyrone tied up the match with a nice shot from the left from senior Corey Johnston. But that would be Tyrone’s final score and even though much of the 2nd half was played on our side of the pitch, we made several fast attacks that left the Tyrone defense on their heels. The biggest point of the match came in the 72nd minute when right striker Aidan Culver hustled hard for high cross at the right corner of the goal that looked like it would be controlled up high by the Tyrone keeper – but Aidan went up to win the ball off a header, pushed the ball behind the keeper and hit a half-volley into the back of the net for the game winner! Over the last few years, there has been a history of senior-night upsets between these two teams and we were thrilled to do it again in 2019 with a hard-fought, intense, and physical match that could have realistically gone either way. But when the final whistle blew, Penns Valley came away with a massive win and certainly our most important of the season so far!”

Tyrone led the Rams in shots on goal by a 17-13 margin.

Tyrone goalie Alex Roberts had 13 saves while Penns Valley Keeper Dristen Wolfe had 10.

Penns Valley led in corners by a 4-3 margin.

Penns Valley improves to a record of 6-5.

Next game: Penns Valley @ Hollidaysburg, Wednesday 10/3 5:30 pm.