CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Rhea County approached its Region 3-AAA soccer semifinal against Cleveland on Tuesday evening as the biggest game in program history.
Tuesday night the Eagles were celebrating the biggest soccer win in school history.
Playing in their first-ever region tournament match, the Eagles got an overtime goal from District 6 most valuable player Christian Newport for a 1-0 overtime victory over Cleveland to advance to Thursday's region championship match.
The Eagles (17-4) will face district rival Cookeville, which defeated McMinn County 5-0 in the other semifinal.
Cleveland controlled possession for much of the first half, outshooting Rhea 4-2 with some early chances: a shot by Casey Beck and one by Daniel Collins that went off the side post.
The visitors became the aggressors in the second half, with four shots of their own. None were more dangerous than Newport's diving header off a Justin Price cross late in the half that bounced over the crossbar.
It wasn't until about four minutes remained in the second overtime period that the Eagles had about four opportunities on a corner kick, with Newport finally punching the shot through the net.
"I think it came down to, 'Who's going to work the hardest to get to this ball first?'" Rhea coach Justin Smith said. "I'm super proud of the way the guys handled that, and I'm super pumped that Christian finished that goal. I really wanted him to score on that header real bad, and I know he did, too, so it's awesome he was able to score the game-winner."
Cleveland coach John Brose's Blue Raiders advanced to the state quarterfinals a season ago. They finished this season with an 11-6-4 record but lose only five seniors after graduating 13 a year ago. Even with those losses, they earned the District 5-AAA championship with a pair of overtime victories last week.
"It's one of those things where last week the ball bounced our way, this week it didn't," Brose said. "Soccer can be a cruel sport, but I'm super proud of the way our guys fought through adversity throughout the season.
"The bottom line is we couldn't generate enough offense. That's just the way it goes sometimes."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.