The Chattanooga Red Wolves faced off against Greenville Triumph SC for the first time this season at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, SC on Wednesday night. Greenville picked up the win by a score of 5-1. The two teams will meet again in South Carolina on August 23rd before closing out the series in Chattanooga on October 7th.
Greenville opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a strike from Lyam MacKinnon off of a corner kick for an early 1-0 lead. Just two minutes later, Moe Espinoza forced an own goal from Nate Shultz for the equalizer; however, MacKinnon struck again in the 16th minute for his second of the match followed quickly by his third goal for the hat trick in the 21st minute. Chattanooga continued to press, collecting six shots in the first 45 minutes with 54% possession.
Chattanooga got ahead on shots early in the second half with four to Greenville’s two, fifteen minutes into the half. The Red Wolves drew what appears to be a penalty kick in the 59th minute, but the play was deemed to have occurred outside the box and they would have to settle for the free kick; while Espinoza was on target, the Triumph goalkeeper absorbed the shot to keep Chattanooga from pulling within one.
Despite the Red Wolves holding 72% possession for the majority of the second frame, Greenville managed to convert their opportunities, including MacKinnon’s fourth goal of the match in the 68th minute and a header from Leo Castro in the 76th. The Red Wolves had a handful of chances in the final minutes of the half, but were unable to find the back of the net a second time through the final whistle.
Chattanooga will face Charlotte Independence on Saturday, June 24th at CHI Memorial for Tacos & Tequila Night before heading on the road to go up against Richmond for the second of the three match series.