Lilah Sullivan deftly controlling a ball to a teammate in Rhea County’s win against Cleveland.
Photo Credit: Clint Sullivan.

Lady Eagles Host Opening Round of Playoffs on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 5:30 pm.

9/26/22

Cleveland, TN -- In a program first, the Rhea Middle School girls' soccer team finished the regular season
undefeated with a record of 10-0. The Eagles finished in first place in the district which is also
a first for the program. The Eagles did this by scoring a total of 69 goals this season while
only allowing 3.
The week started with a contentious home match on Tuesday against Lake Forest with the
Eagles struggling to find the net early. About twelve minutes in, Avery Dyer finally laced one
into the corner off an assist from Kiera Graham. Three minutes later Lilah Sullivan drove up the
right side and hit a strong cross to the far side of the goal where Mercy Ferguson timed her run
to bury it away from the keeper. Annalee Willis got tripped hard in the box as she was moving
to shoot. Emerson White stroked the penalty kick into the back corner. First half scoring
ended with Jetta Sharp turning sharply on a pass from Kiera Graham and striking it home.
In the second half Molly Hughes got rolling with an assist from Jetta Sharp and quickly got a
second goal with an assist from Stephanie Eakins. Lilah Sullivan, who had been working hard
all game to feed other players, finally put one in over the keeper with an assist from Lidia Butt.
The final goal of the game came from Molly Hughes who won a ball and struck a long driven
shot from twenty yards out. Final score 8-0.
In the last game of the regular season, the Eagles traveled to rival Cleveland for a tough back
and forth match. Cleveland moved the ball quickly and at about the six-minute mark found the
back of the net off a well-placed cross. Goalie Liberty Raymer dove and got a hand on the
shot but couldn’t keep it from rolling in. As time wore on in the first half the Eagles stepped it
up and Molly Hughes won a ball drove into the box and finished a low driven shot.
The second half was much like the first with both teams batting to control the ball and advance
to goal. Cleveland sent a long cross to the back of Rhea’s goal where a Cleveland player found
herself open to put it in. With five minutes remaining Emerson White played a well-placed
throw-in to Madison Smith who cut to goal, beating two defenders and struck it in the back of
the net leaving the score 2-2 in regulation. Per conference rules, teams moved immediately to
penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks were scored by Avery Dyer, Molly Hughes and Madison Smith to seal the win as
Cleveland only made one of their penalty kicks in four attempts for a final score of 5-3.
After the game goalie Liberty Raymer said “I was so happy we pulled through. I knew we could
do it.” Raymer has allowed the least number of goals in program history with only three in ten
games.
Coach Palmer said after the game “I have been coaching for almost thirty five years and have
never been so proud of a team.”
Following the varsity game, the Rhea and Cleveland JV teams squared off for their third meeting
with Rhea getting off to a slow start by giving up two goals early. The Eagles’ Annalee Willis
drove a ball to goal that was miss-kicked for an “own goal” and Rhea’s first score. Cleveland
scored again bringing the halftime score to 3-1 in their favor. In the second half Rhea stepped
up and score two more goals, one from Blakeli Graham and the other from Annalee Willis to
end the game with a 3-3 tie.

The Eagles get a bye for the first round of the conference playoffs and will play the winner of
Athens - Lake Forest on Tuesday at home at 5:30. If they win, they will host the championship
at home on Thursday at 5:30.

Article by Mark Palmer