Photo by Tim Weight

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – Going for two!

With Bellefonte girls soccer team winning in the District 6 Class AAA Semi-Final opener, the Red Raider boys team was looking to make it a Semi Final sweep as they hosted Tyrone in their Thursday contest.

At stake was an invitation to play in the title game Tuesday at Altoona’s Mansion Park.

It would be a battle but in the end, the Red Raiders punched their ticket to the title tilt winning 3-1.

“Give credit to Tyrone. They came out scrapping tonight. I knew they were going to come out and give us everything they had tonight and they did,” said Bellefonte coach Scott Martz. “In the first half, I thought they out hustled our guys. I challenged our guys at halftime. I said ‘you guys got out hustled now you have to step up.’ We hit some nice shots from the outside. I told these guys that outside the 18 is where our shots are going to come tonight. These guys buried those shots out there tonight.”

Things started out well for the red Raiders in the first half.

After a couple of near misses on runs from Bellefonte’s Andy Gerasenko, teammate Conelle Stabinger lit it up from outside as he took a pass from John Servant and sent it home at 23:52.

As the game got deeper into the first, the tensions were getting more intense as the defenses took over.

Both had key stops for a majority of the half.

The scoring stalemate continued into the last five minutes with the Red Raiders still clinging onto a 1-0 advantage.

With Bellefonte driving down in the Tyrone side of the field, the Red Raiders added to their lead.

Servant got the call this time, as he was able to slip one past Tyrone goalie Devin Nardelli.

With the battles being mostly in between the 20s, Bellefonte led in shots in first half by a 7-5 margin and also in corner opportunities 3-0.

In the net, Bellefonte goalie Eli Davis was clutch with three saves while Tyrone’s goalkeeper Nardelli had one.

After a Bellefonte dominated second half, the Red Raiders padded its lead to a 3-0 contest. Tate Tooker caught the rebound of a teammate’s header and brought home an unassisted goal at 27:15.

Tyrone refused to give up as they battled right back when Ned Smearman got one past Davis, making it again a two-goal contest.

With the game dropping under the 18-minute mark, Tyrone rolled down the field looking to cut more into the lead. They sent a  blast to the far right top corner. What looked to be a goal was stopped in its tracks as Davis jumped to the corner and tipped the ball out of the box on an acrobatic stop.

From there, the Red Raiders would maintain the lead as its defense shined in the final minutes to clinch the victory.

Bellefonte will be back in action Tuesday as they battle Hollidaysburg for the D6 Class AAA crown.

Bellefonte   3, Tyrone 1

TY  0 1 – 1

BE 2 1 – 3

Scoring

First Half

BE – Conelle Stabinger from John Servant, 23:52.

BE – Servant unassisted, 3:52.

Second Half

BE – Tate Tooker unassisted, 27:15.

TY – Ned Smearman unassisted, 24:53.

Shots on goals: TY – 8  . BE – 16.

Corners: TY –  2. BE –    6.

Saves: TY –   Devin Nardelli  4. BE –    Eli Davis 5.