Undefeated Streak at Home Comes to an End
In a match full of plenty of action, the Red Wolves received their first loss of the season at the hands of Central Valley Fuego FC by a score of 1-0.
The first half was full of offensive chances for the Red Wolves with solid efforts from several Chattanooga players. Mayele Malango had a breakaway chance in the last minutes of the first half, but was denied by the post while Christian Enriquez had a handful of good looks including a shot in extra time that was stopped by the Fuego goalkeeper Mitch North.
Ricardo Jérez kept the opposition off the board with key saves of his own throughout the opening 45 minutes. Strong defense from the captain of the match, Ualefi, also contributed to the deadlocked score of 0-0 going into halftime.
The second half saw even more intensity as both clubs battled to get on the board first. A series of substitutions in the 57th minute saw Brady, Paoli, and Tejera enter the match in place of Cardona, Enriquez, and Malango, respectively, giving fresh legs to the Chattanooga offense. Central Valley got the sole goal of the match by Jérez in the 62nd minute off the foot of Fuego midfielder Ronaldo Alexis Cerritos Castañeda.
A bevy of yellow cards were issued against both squads as the clock ran toward the final minutes with three on Central Valley and one on Moe Espinoza in the 79th minute. Chattanooga’s offensive onslaught continued with two unsuccessful corner kicks and continuous attempts at penetrating the Fuego defense, who held firm until the final whistle.
There were many defense and offensive improvements from the home opening match, having limited Central Valley to eight shots total and two on target while increasing their shots to eight and spending significantly more time in the offensive zone.
“We were very good in the first half, unfortunate not to get the goal,” said Red Wolves coach Ziggy Korytoski. “When you have a team by the throat like that and you let them off the hook, it was not how we needed to start the second half. Obviously we gave up the goal, goals change games and we were not able to find the equalizer.
“When you get behind, it feels like those 45 minutes go by so [quickly],” he added. “And I think the guys lost a little bit of composure but we have a long way to go and there were a lot of positives in the first half; we created a ton of opportunities and had a number of good looks. We just need to capitalize on them and put the ball in the goal.”
Chattanooga’s focus shifts to the second round of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup as they welcome USL Championship side Birmingham Legion on Wednesday, April 5. They return to league action against One Knoxville SC later in the week on Saturday, April 8, featuring a pregame Easter egg hunt beginning at 6:00 p.m. and a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
