Goalkeeper Liberty Raymer on the left and Lyla Roddy who scored the winning goal. Photo: GaryBolden

Lady Eagles pick up big wins; Move on to Championship Game

Rhea Over Cleveland in Final Regular Season Game

There were two tough games for the Rhea Middle School girls soccer team over the past week,
both against perennial powerhouse Cleveland. The first game, which was the final game of the
regular season, was a battle that ended in a draw and went to penalty kicks. The game was as
close as the score suggests, with both teams making multiple drives on goal.
Liberty Raymer, Rhea’s goalie had some excellent saves including a one-on-one where Liberty
came out fast, played it perfectly and smothered a ball at the Cleveland attacker’s foot.
The defense for Rhea was solid all night with many battles that were won by Rhea’s strong
back three including Lily Love, Juliet Ferguson and Meredith Goggans. This last line of defense
bent but never broke.
In the first half the Eagles did a good job of moving balls outside and up for shots by Mercy
Ferguson and Annalee Willis. Many of those shots were from outside and were collected by a
strong Cleveland goalie. In the second half Cleveland starting playing balls through the back
three of Rhea county but these were shutdown with Juliet Ferguson going shoulder to shoulder
with Cleveland players and driving them out of danger.
At the end of the game, with a zero to zero score, the teams went to penalty kicks. Cleveland’s
keeper stepped up and saved three of Rhea counties penalties. Two were made, one by Lily
Love and the other by Blakeli Graham but this was not enough and the end result 3-2 went to
Cleveland. The Rhea County Eagles ended their season at 7-3 and in second place in the
conference going into the tournament. Rhea’s second place finish in the district granted them
a bye for the first round of the playoffs and granted them home field advantage for the second
round game.

Rhea Middle 1 Cleveland 0 Playoff Game 1

Tuesday’s playoff match saw a battle right from the start with the Eagles outshooting Cleveland
4-1. Rhea county would drive down for a shot but then the Raiders would come roaring back.
Play was dominated by midfielders Lidia Butt and Lyla Roddy with support from Addi Hughes
and Blakeli Graham. Midfielder Millie Darnell, who was often dealing with players a foot taller
than her, never backed down and had several drives down the outside that ended in a shot.
The half ended with the score 0-0.
The second half was much more even with both teams coming close to scoring. Midway
through the Eagles won a corner kick that was taken by Lidia Butt. Lidia hit the ball long and
right in front of the goal where Lyla Roddy buried it with a single touch in the back of the net.
As the half progressed, the Raiders really stepped up with multiple drives, however these were
shutdown with strong play from Blakeli Graham, Lidia Butt and Meredith Goggans. The Rhea
midfield held strong and played several balls up to forwards Mercy Ferguson and Annalee
Willis. With great moves they were able to move the ball behind the Raider defense and drive
to goal. Although they did not find the back of the net, they came very close and used up time
on the clock.
Time ran out and the whole Eagles team cleared the benches in celebration. With a final score
of 1-0, Rhea county advances to the finals which will be played in Athens this Friday starting at
5pm. After the game winning goal scorer, Lyla Roddy had this to say:
“I feel like we did amazing! We played our hearts out. We really wanted to beat Cleveland.
Now we are excited to move onto the championship. We all did great, and I think that’s really
important.

by RMS Head Coach Mark Palmer