Annalee Willis who scored two goals against Hunter on her birthday. Photo credit John
Bamber

Lady Eagles Win Over Hunter Middle: Run Record to 6-0

With another strong performance against Hunter, the Rhea Middle School girls soccer team
moved their record to 6-0. This game was played for the first time at Spring City Middle
School and with cooler temperatures the Eagles had no trouble scoring against the Hawks.
First up was Talitha McKinney who slotted a pass in from Addie Hughes in the first three
minutes of the game. The Eagles kept the pressure on with Annalee Willis striking a ball that
was loose in the box that McKinney finished with a follow up. The third goal came soon after as
Willis won a ball and drove it to the goal where she deftly touched it past the keeper.
The next two goals came from what is becoming an Eagle trademark with Lidia Butt driving
two powerful bending shots from about twenty and thirty yards out making them impossible for
the Hawks keeper to save. The Eagles moved to work on passing and possession for the
remainder of the half. This effort saw improvements in moving into space and showing up in
passing lanes. Strong performances were seen by the Eagles back three of Millie Darnell,
Meredith Goggans and Leah Daniels who shutdown any Hunter drives to goal. As a result no
serious threats were mounted by the Hawks.
In the second half the Eagles came out strong with Willis driving through the Hawks defense
and lacing a ball in the net. Madison Smith was next up hitting a Butt corner kick that was a
team effort with girls jumping and letting the ball through until it came to Smith who pounded it
into the goal from the edge of the penalty box. With that goal the Eagles moved to possession
and improving their passing which has been an area of focus for the Eagles coaches. Talitha
collected a short Hawks’ goal kick and drove it to finish in the corner for her first hat trick of the
season. The final goal of the game came from Smith as she drove it past the keeper from
twenty yards out.
The second game of the day saw the Rhea JV team face the Cleveland JV girls in a good back
and forth battle. Glory McKinney scored early off a ball that had been driven up by Kelby
Anderson. Blakleigh Watson dominated in the middle of the field and drove a ball up to striker
Vivian Cranfill who shot it powerfully enough that the Raider keeper could not handle it and it
rolled into the net. The rest of the first half and most of the second half saw the ball moving in
the middle of the field with both teams battling for possession. Any drives on goal by the
Raiders was shut down by strong defensive performances by the Eagles including Ana
Domingo Matias and McKenna Ryan. The final goal of the game came from a perfectly chipped
ball up and over the defense by Brooke Reeves to McKinney who drove to goal, keeping
defenders on her back and shot the ball away from the keeper into the corner. Final score 3-0.