The Chattanooga Red Wolves were back in action on Saturday, Aug. 29, in a thrilling 4-0 rout of New England Revolution II at CHI Memorial Stadium.
The game was a must win for Chattanooga to get back on track in USL League One play, and they were up to the challenge, putting on a show for their home crowd against New England.
From the opening whistle, Chattanooga wasted no time putting the Revolution on their back foot, pressing very high on defense forcing turnovers, and bombarding the goal offensively. Following last week’s loss to Tormenta, Coach Obleda said that his team had the talent to score, but were not putting away chances. He said that his team was not playing a full 90 minutes and were losing focus, and that that finishing would be a focal point in training this past week. That was made extremely evident, as Chattanooga was an entirely different team from what we saw last week, tucking away nearly every chance that came their way and staying focused, not conceding any goals in the match.
Red Wolves forward Ricardo Zacarias opened the scoring off of the corner kick in only the 12th minute of play, burying the cross from Ricky Ruiz past the outstretched New England keeper. This goal was Zacarias’s first of the season and first for the club, and it fueled the fire, as the Red Wolves were able to keep pushing the ball forward creating many chances.
Zacarias proved to be a handful for the New England defense, getting himself into many threatening positions and taking multiple shots early on. The Red Wolves were able to use their width to counter attack from every angle, as players like Hurst, Ricketts, and Ualefi had threatening chances to keep the Revolution on their heels.
In the 30th minute, the Red Wolves struck again, making it 2-0. The league’s leading scorer, Greg Hurst, received the ball and turned a defender, before taking two more head on, slicing the ball across the box to Marky Hernandez who finished the pass into an open net. The play picked apart the Revolution defense, and gave the Red Wolves a sense of confidence to keep pushing forward.
The Red Wolves were not satisfied with a two goal lead however, and they kept their foot on the gas resulting in another fantastic goal before the halftime whistle blew. In the 38th minute, Zacarias received the ball in the middle of the field, taking his space in the counter attack before playing a cutting through ball to Marky Hernandez in the middle of the field, who collected the ball with plenty of space and only the keeper to beat. Hernandez dribbled the keeper with a move and again passed the ball into an open net, showing flash and composure to increase the Red Wolves lead to 3.
The goal secured the brace for Marky Hernandez, who now has three goals on the season. The Red Wolves then began to sit back, closing out the half with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
New England Revolution II was not allowed much time to regroup however, as the Red Wolves came out attacking again in the second half. Almost immediately as the half began, Jonothan Ricketts once again was testing the Revolution, as he was barely denied a goal by the Revolution keeper. Tanner Dietrech of the Red Wolves, on loan from Nashville FC, was an extremely important piece, dictating the run of play, and organizing his team, especially in the second half.
The Chattanooga back line held strong in the second half, quelling any attack that the Revolution could muster up. Steven Beattie made his appearance in the 66th minute, subbing on for Man of the Match, Marky Hernandez. Beatties presence and leadership on the field was immediately made known with some key passes going forward.
As the game progressed, things began to get chippy as a frustrated New England side began to commit late tackles on the Red Wolves, but Chattanooga was able to put the nail in the coffin in the dying moments of the game, scored by none other than Steven Beattie. The goal came in the 87th minute off of an assist from Ronaldo Pineda, who was able to take on multiple defenders before crossing the ball across the box to Beattie who buried it home.
The final whistle blew, securing three vital points and a clean sheet for Chattanooga Red Wolves. Chattanooga was able to dominate nearly every aspect of the game, putting on an incredible offensive and defensive showing to finish off a great day at CHI Memorial Stadium.
The win brings the Red Wolves to 2-2-2 on the season, and provides confidence for them going forward. Coach Obleda was thrilled with the result, saying after the game, “Hats off to the guys today. Last week hit us hard and humbled us a little bit, and we had to go back to the grassroots of what we needed to do better. We knew we needed to defend better and score goals and we did that… It was a great step going forward and we showed great attitude and showed that ruthlessness we were looking for and we hope to take that into Ft. Lauderdale next week.”
Man of the Match, Marky Hernandez was also thrilled, saying, “It felt alleviating because I’ve been knockin’ at the door and they haven’t gone in but today they finally went in and it felt good.”
The Chattanooga Red Wolves are set to play Ft. Lauderdale away on Saturday at 8:00 PM EST. Don’t miss out on the action and make sure to tune in to ESPN+ to watch the match.
_ Jake Major
