The Chattanooga Red Wolves headed on the road for their eighth road match of the season to face the Richmond Kickers. The home side picked up the win by a final score of 2-0 with both goals coming off penalty kicks from Tehrzagi (48’) and Vinyals (68’). The final match between the two clubs will be held at CHI Memorial Stadium on August 12th.
Following an hour and a half weather delay at City Stadium, the match kicked off and the Red Wolves came out on the offensive with a strong press in the opening minutes, collecting five shots through the first 45 minutes. On the other side of the ball, the Chattanooga defense and goalkeeping from Carlos Avilez stifled the Kickers, despite equally fervent pressure from the home side. After an up tempo first 20 minutes with back and forth chances from both squads, the pace slowed as the clock wound down. For the first time in 2023 on the road, the Red Wolves prevented their opponent from carrying a lead into the half as both sides headed to the locker rooms with a nil-nil score.
The second half began in favor of Richmond with a penalty awarded in the 48th minute and Emiliano Tehrzagi scoring for the first goal of the match. Chattanooga responded with various attempts in the subsequent minutes to look for the equalizer, but were held off. The Kickers extended their lead to two goals in the 68th minute with a second goal resulting from a penalty kick, this one from Nil Vinyals.
The Red Wolves had a renewed push in the latter portion of the second half with Mayele Malango, Walter Varela, and Chevone Marsh, but the visitors couldn’t come up with a tally of their own leaving Richmond with the shutout and the 2-0 victory.
Chattanooga look to return to the win column at home against Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC on Saturday, July 8th and take on South Georgia Tormenta FC on the road on July 15th.