CLEVELAND, Tenn.-There has been nothing easy for new Lee women’s soccer coach Lee Hughes. His Lady Flames opened the 2024 season against a pair of Florida Sunshine State Conference teams and then came back on Thursday evening to challenge a Lenoir-Rhyne University club that reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII national tournament last year and battled the Lady Flames to a 1-1 draw in 2023.
The Lady Flames tallied their first goal in a rematch against Lenoir-Rhyne on Thursday as they opened their home season at the Ray Conn Sports Complex. Grace Berry scored an unassisted goal at the 56:44 mark in the second half to give Lee a 1-0 advantage.
A stout Lady Flames defense and excellent goal tending by Abby Whitcomb kept Lee on top and close to their first victory of the year until the Bears got a goal from Ava Hartman in the 82nd minute to deadlock the contest at one. The final 7:15 ticked away and led to a second draw in three starts for Coach Hughes and his Lady Flames.
Lee will face another challenge on Saturday when they hit the road again and travel to Greenwood, SC and test Lander University. They will return to the Ray Conn Sports Complex on Sept. 20 and will open GSC play against West Alabama.
The Bears opened the contest with two quick shots in the first five minutes of the contest and outshot the Lady Flames 7-4 in the first half and 17-6 for the game. The visitors put nine shots on target to only three for the Lady Flames.
Lee’s Jordan Blair put a shot on target at the 14:46 mark in the opening half but it was saved by Lenoir-Rhyne keeper Riley Miller, who finished with two saves for the game and gave up one goal. After Berry put Lee on top early in the second half, Nora Burton tried to give Lee a 2-0 advantage, but Miller blocked the attempt with 68:35 remaining.
Both teams battled back and forth until the Bears threatened to tie the game in the 81st minute on Kara Gavaghan’s shot that was saved by Whitcomb. However, just under two minutes later Hartman tied the game with her goal. Whitcomb finished with eight saves to keep the Lady Flames in the battle as Lenoir-Rhyne took eight corner kicks and Lee had just two. The Bears were whistled for eight fouls and Lee 14. Each team was called for two yellow cards.
Coach Hughes’ Thoughts:
“I think we dominated the first half. We had the ball more but didn’t really create anything. Our defnesive shape was really good. The girls did what we asked in the first half. What we did well in the first half we didn’t do well in the second half. It got us pinned back and was a learning curve. But the effort of the is the most important thing and that was top notch.
