Lady Eagles Win 2-1 Over Cleveland; Drop District Championship 1-0 At Walker Valley

Cleveland, Tennessee -- On Thursday, October 16, 2025, Rhea traveled to Walker Valley for District Championship Game after winning semi-final matchup with Cleveland 2-1 on October 14th in Evensville. With the loss to Walker Valley the Lady Eagles will be matched up with Ooltewah on Monday night, October 20th at Ooltewah with 7 pm start time.

Rhea 2 Cleveland 1

Rhea hosted Cleveland in semifinal game on October 14th and Kloe Reeves scored early to give Eagles the 1-0 lead that lasted until 9:53 when Cleveland tied the game 1-1. Second half was a battle with Lady Eagles getting several shots, but couldn't get the ball into the net until with 11:37 Emerson White made the nice lead pass to Molly Hughes who pushed the ball past the Cleveland goal keep for the go-a-head goal. The Lady Eagle defense held strong for the remainder of the game for the win to earn championship game vs Walker Valley, a team the Lady Eagles have faced a lot in the playoffs in recent years.

After the game, RCHS coach Mary Kanipes said, "We kept putting the pressure on and we got the results we were wanting. Team played a great game."

Walker Valley 1 Rhea 0

On Thursday, October 18, the Lady Eagles traveled to Walker Valley against a team they had played twice in 2025 with 1-1 tie and 2-0 loss in those two games, but the team knew they were fully capable of winning the championship.

The game lived up to championship standards with both teams playing well. There were lots of bodies on the ground as effort was off the charts by both teams At 35:10, Walker got the first shot on goal in the game. Lady Eagles had a shot on goal at the 32:47 mark that bounced high over goal.

Rhea got the ball to the front of the net several times in the first half and had several shots on goal, 29-minute mark. , the 27-minute mark and again at the 26:49, 26:04 and 24:55 mark. Jetta got a lot of work around the 21-minute mark as the Lady Mustangs had 3 different shots on goal within a couple of minutes. Around the 14:40 mark, Lady Eagles has nice breakaway pass, but Walker's defense recovered to take away a nice opportunity for goal shot and corner kick was defended well a minute later. Walker came town shortly after and had goal opportunity that was kicked out by Lady Eagle defender. Around the 11 minute mark, Eagles had a couple of shots at goal.

Lady Eagles won a lot of one-on-one battles and had several nice kicks to keep the ball in Walker end of the field. With 6:15 left in half, Lady Eagles had another kick that just sailed wide left and shortly after that a corner kick was deflected by the goal keep. It was Walker with a late(10 seconds left in half) scoring on penalty kick from the 20 on a ball that just grazed the right pole for the point. Walker took the 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

The second half was about defense with not as many shots on goal. Lady Eagles broke through for close one at the 17:26 mark but bounced off the goal frame. In the end, the one goal was enough for the win for Walker Valley. Rhea distinguished themselves very well and just an inch or two on a couple of shots could have given the Lady Eagles the win. They are hoping for another shot at Walker Valley, but know they must take care of business on the road at Ooltewah, a team they beat earlier this year 5-1, but that was in late August and teams change over the season. Ooltewah lost to East Hamilton in District Tournament 5-2. They bring a 12-6-1 record into the game and Rhea County brings a 10-3-3 record into the game. Game in Monday night, 10/20/25 at 7 pm.