Franklin County's Mariah Shull plays the ball in the open field during a game Thursday against Coffee County Central High School. Shull scored the lone goal of the day for the Rebelettes in the 2-1 loss.
Franklin County's Mariah Shull plays the ball in the open field during a game Thursday against Coffee County Central High School. Shull scored the lone goal of the day for the Rebelettes in the 2-1 loss.
The Franklin County Rebelettes lost to the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raiders 2-1 at home Thursday for their first loss of the season.
All three goals in the match were scored in the final 15 minutes as the Rebelettes fell behind late to seal the loss.
Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said that the game was a hard-fought contest which came down to a few bad bounces that went against his team.
“We missed a couple of opportunities that we needed to hit, and there were just a couple unfortunate little bounces that didn’t go our way,” Bean said.
The game was scoreless through the entire first half with the Rebelettes possessing the ball for most of the half.
The second half got off to a similarly slow start with neither team able to get much offense going. The Lady Raiders got the first goal on the board with 15 minutes remaining when a series of ricochets resulted in a goal.
The Rebelettes tied the game up less than three minutes later when they were awarded a penalty kick. Maria Shull buried the ball in the net to tie the contest at 1-1.
However, the tie would only last for a few minutes as the Lady Raiders scored with 9:29 remaining on the clock to retake the lead.
The Rebelettes nearly tied the game up again immediately after on a shot by Tara Shull, but the ball would bounce off the crossbar to keep the Rebelettes behind by one.
The Rebelettes were not able to rally back again as they took the loss.
With the loss, the Rebelettes moved to 1-1 on the season.
They will next play Saturday in the Smoky Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg. Their first game for the event is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. as they will face Cumberland County High School.
