Eagles line up at goal to defend on kick by Howard.(Photo:MindySmith)

Eagles Suffer Close Loss to Cleveland and Get 3-0 Win Over Howard

April 9, 2024 -- Cleveland, TN -- Tuesday, April 9th, was a highly anticipated game between bitter rivalries over the years, the Cleveland Raiders.  The rainy day managed to clear off to cloudy and overcast for the two games played at Cleveland with the JV game starting at 5:30.  Ulises “Uli” Lopez scored for the Eagles to lead the whole game until late in the second half when Cleveland managed to tie the score up, with a final tie score of 1-1.  Varsity game followed and was a tightly contested match the whole game with controversial referee calls that seemed to favor the Raiders most of the game.  The Raiders managed to find the back of the net first in the game, but the Eagles battled back in the first half with a beautiful, outside-of-the-foot, spiral shot by Trey Eldridge around the 20 yard line to tie it up 1-1.  The Raiders received a corner kick before the end of the first half, and unfortunately the ball ricocheted off a Cleveland shin guard when trying to clear it out, so it found the back of our net, Raiders were up 2-1 at halftime.  It would have been easy to hang their heads and give up, but that isn’t what the Eagles chose to do, battling back over and over, they continued to drive up the field in the second half until Koelar Smith chased down a defender who wasn’t paying attention, stole the ball, dribbled it down 10 yards, and chipped it passed the goalie to tie the score up 2-2.  The game continued to be back and forth until the last minute of playtime left when an Eagle defender came out to guard a ball in the corner of the field, outside of the 18 box.  The 2 players battled for the ball, but the Raiders player flopped after the ball was released and another questionable foul was called in the corner of the field, but not as questionable as when the player moved the ball up 5 yards towards the top of the 18 box for a new angle when the ref wasn’t looking and walking away, so the shot placement was placed perfectly in the upper right corner of the net, Raiders up 3-2 with 1 minute left on the clock. Despite pushing the ball up and driving, they did not manage to tie the score up again and ran out of regulation time. 

Rhea 3 Howard 0

4/11/24 Evensville, TN -- Eagle's second game of the week was on Thursday, April 11th, which was a blustery, overcast day with on-again, off-again rain bursts throughout the day and evening.  Home field advantage still had to battle the windy elements that made the ball bounce at odd angles and whip through the air differently as well.  JV started the games vs. Howard High School, where they won 2-1, both goals by Dima Hamilton.

Varsity followed immediately afterward the JV game, with Norman and Anderson still out due to injuries.  The game started out with both the Eagles and the Tigers fighting for dominance and the first to get on the scoreboard.   Within the first 20 minutes of the game, the Howard goalie was injured on a 50/50 ball, so their back-up goalie was brought in to play the remainder of the 1st half.  The Eagles pressed the advantage and the first goal was a beautiful header by Stephen Henriquez off of a gorgeous, long throw-in by Andrew Morgan. Eagles' second goal followed shortly after with a foul and direct kick being awarded to the Eagles, which Koelar Smith took around the 20 yard line and managed to bury over the keeper’s head. Third goal was towards the end of the first half when Henriquez chased down 2 defenders for the ball, stole it from them, dribbled it down 10 yards and shot it past the goalie, score of 3-0 at halftime.

The second half saw the Tigers were very aggressive and around 14 minutes into the half a Howard player shoved and slide tackled from behind an Eagle player, which resulted in a direct kick for the Eagles.  After the foul, there was a scuffle, and the game ended with Eagles up 3-0.

 Eagles record now stands at 6-4-1 at the end of this week and have 1 game next week at Ooltewah High School on Tuesday, April 16th; JV at 5pm and V at 7pm.  RMS boys’ soccer has 2 games next week as well: Tuesday, April 16th at Cleveland with JV at 4:30pm and V at 6pm; and Friday, April 19th at Lake Forest with V at 5pm.

Audrey Norman

Photos: Mindy Smith