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Undefeated Bellefonte blasts Tyrone

By Kenny Varner

WINGATE – For the love of the game.

Saturday, the Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area boys soccer teams added another page in its long and distinguished rivalry.

In a morning thriller, Bellefonte’s AJ Packer posted two goals in the contest as the Red Raiders defeated the Bald Eagles 3-2 contest.

Bellefonte’s goalie Quinn Tooker finished with four while Bald Eagles Seth Pope tallied nine.

Offensively, the Red Raiders posted 16 shots on goal while the Eagles finished with nine.

Bellefonte also led in corner opportunities by a slim 5-4 margin.

“Every time you get Bellefonte versus Bald Eagle you get a back-and-forth-game like that,” said Bellefonte coach Scott Martz said. “Defensively, we knew what they were going to do on offense. They were going to chip and run and everything, ”said Bellefonte coach Scott Martz.

The game started out quickly as the Red Raiders immediately pushed the ball into the defensive back-third of the Eagles.

Bellefonte’s Harry Horner posted the first goal of the game on an unassisted goal at 37:54.

But the lead would only be temporary as the Eagles would battle back a little more than a minute later as Ethan Gerber from picked up a pass from Noah Giedroc and 36:03 and sent it past the goalie, tying the game at one.

From there both the defenses played very stingy and dug their heels in for a battle.

For the next twenty minutes, the two teams refused to give up a goal.

But at the 15:15 mark, with the Red Raiders knocking on the door Packer picked up a pass from Gabe Koller and then blasted it in giving his team the lead once again, 2-1.

Despite trailing for the second time in the contest, the Eagles refused to go into half trailing.

With 1:38 left Shane Eveleth got free and went on a breakaway goal, tying the game at two going into the intermission.

“I’m very proud of their effort. They never quit. A lot of things didn’t go our way today but our guys never quit,” said Bald Eagle coach Jason Bair. “They kept trying to overcome adversity and that’s why I’m proud of them. Their full potential is still not there yet. We just played two of the better teams in our league and we played Penns. Alley and won 1-0 and we took this game to the very end. So I’m proud of them.”

Like in most rivalry games the second half is usually the most physical one and this one different.

Things started to get very intense.

As the minutes wound down on the clock, the tension was growing to a fever pitch as each team took their shot at trying to get the advantage.

Less than 12 minutes in, the Red Raiders would pick up the second goal from Packer as he was in the right spot at the right time collecting a rebound off a Bellefonte shot and blasted it home to put the visiting team ahead.

But the physicality and pace continued to escalate with every shot and every possession.

In the end, despite the strong effort by the Eagles to knot the game at three, the Red Raiders survived to take the 1-goal victory.

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