TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area's Madison Donley (14) and Addison Tice (6) pose for a photo during a girls soccer game against Philipsburg-Osceola on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at Alumni Stadium. Both Eagles logged a goal in Saturday's 5-1 win over Moshannon Valley.

WINGATE – On Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, the Bald Eagle Area girls soccer team played host to Moshannon Valley (4-10), hoping to break back through after two tough losses to start the week. In what was slated to be an even matchup on paper, the Eagles did that and more, quieting that notion early on their way to a season high in goals.

Sophomore Addison Tice would kick off the scoring with a goal ten minutes in. And though the opportunities that followed initially fell short, they’d eventually stick. Fellow sophomore Abby Hacker made up two scores of a four-goal barrage that spanned just over ten minutes, as Bald Eagle (4-11-1) finished the first half with a 5-0 lead before carrying that into a 5-1 win.

After starting the season with a 1-9-1 record, the Eagles have now won three of their last five with multi-score victories over Philipsburg-Osceola, Penn Cambria and Moshannon Valley. It can certainly be called peaking at the right time, with playoffs still in the picture following Saturday’s win.

“We really have gotten better as the season has gone,” said Tice on the stretch. “We’re proving ourselves, coming out of our shell and showing that we can actually make the playoffs and it’s not impossible.”

“I think as a team we now have a connection,” emphasized defender Jordan Williams. “It’s no longer a bunc of freshmen and three people that aren’t freshman. We’re just a team now.”

It took some time for the Eagles to start converting their opportunities, as near-misses kept them off the board for the first ten minutes. But when Tice handled a rebound off the bounce-back of her own corner, a good chance presented itself.

It was still a tough shot, coming from about 20 yards out with a rough angle from the far-left side of the box. But having hit a similar shot against Chestnut Ridge a month ago, the sophomore took it with confidence, drilling the top-right corner of the net to grant her team its first score.

“I just keep trying to hit shots and hope they’re going in,” said Tice. “I looked up, saw nobody there and was like, ‘Well, I have to shoot,’ so I took the shot.”

“We were all like, ‘that’s amazing,'” laughed midfielder Savanna Albright when recalling the moment.

The Eagles continued to dominate control of the ball from there, consistently working themselves back into the box as they racked up shots and shots on goal. By the end of the stanza, they’d posted 17 shots, ten shots on goal and five corners. And eventually, that pressure caused the dam to erupt.

Ten minutes after her goal, Tice put a corner in a great spot deep in the box, with midfielder Abby Hacker belting it off Albright’s foot and Albright directing it into the right side of the net. And eight minutes after that, freshman Aiyana Henninger logged the first goal of her career on a rebound, ricocheting the shot off a defender into the right side of the net and jumpstarting a three-minute span that saw the Eagles add three to their lead.

It was a classic case of a barrage. Bald Eagle’s momentum hit its peak, and it wasted no time getting the ball back into the box.

90 seconds after Henninger’s goal, senior Madison Donley rebounded her own shot before drilling the net’s top-right corner. And one minute later, Hacker made it five separate Eagles to log a goal through the first, leaving no doubt on a penalty kick and belting it into the top-left corner of the net.

“After the first ten minutes, they really started clicking, working the ball around,” said BEA head coach Jared Moore on the span. “We had a lot of offensive zones where we just weren’t stringing the right pass together, so I brought up Maddie Donley out of center back. She put one in and another in the box, and we turned right around and scored off it.”

In terms of what has fueled its recent stretch of wins, Moore brought up the team’s resiliency, and his players brought up the team’s growing connection. Both have allowed the Eagles to make the most of what seemed to be a lost season, giving themselves a shot at squeaking into the playoffs with their momentum at its peak.

“Really connecting our passes has helped us,” said Hacker when discussing their recent success. “Finishing on goals and making them has been a problem for us, but now I think we’re really working together and doing better.”

“I think we’ve been winning more because our communication has been upped,” emphasized Albright. “We’re working as a unit instead of being diverse.”

As it stands, Bald Eagle Area (4-11-1) has a good shot at making it into the bracket if it can win its last two games.

That’s easier said than done, with it facing Central (8-7-1) next Tuesday, a team that defeated it 5-0 back in August. But Moore is confident that the team’s growth since then could give it a shot there. Win on Tuesday, and it likely sets up a winner-gets-in matchup against Penns Valley (4-9-2).

“Cami wasn’t in goal, the defense is different, and we had some injuries and low numbers when we played them the first time. I think we’re in a different spot, a better pot than we when we played them before,” said Moore. “It should be an exciting game.”

Both games are set to be played at Alumni Stadium at 6 p.m., with Tuesday’s game against the Dragons also serving as the team’s Senior Night.

Bald Eagle Area 5, Moshannon Valley 1

BEA – Addison Tice (unassisted), 10:43. BEA – Savanna Albright (Abby Hacker), 21:05. BEA – Aiyanna Henninger (unassisted), 29:09. BEA – Madison Donley (unassisted), 30:43. BEA – Hacker (penalty kick), 31:41. MV – Brylee London (Haley Dixon), 68:10.

Shots: MV 5, BEA 22. Shots on goal: MV 4, BEA 12. Corners: MV 2, BEA 7. Saves: MV 6 (Addie Brink); BEA 3 (Cami Walker).

Records: Moshannon Valley 4-11; Bald Eagle Area 4-11-1.