MATCH PREVIEW
The Chattanooga Red Wolves resume League One play this Saturday, April 13th against Central Valley Fuego FC in Fresno. The two clubs went 1-1-1 against each other in 2023 with each side taking a win at CHI Memorial Stadium (Chattanooga, 3-1 on September 30th; Central Valley, 1-0 on April 1st) and a draw in Fresno on August 5th. The next meeting between the sides will be in Chattanooga on August 3rd. Saturday’s match marks the first time that Chattanooga head coach Scott Mackenzie will be matching up against former USMNT staple Jermain Jones, head coach of CV Fuego.
This will mark the Red Wolves’ first League One match since March 15th against Lexington SC. Chattanooga dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the home side 15 to seven and ended the match with 57% possession; however, Lexington managed a late match shot past TJ Bush for a 1-0 final in their favor.
Chattanooga’s first half saw a quick collection of shots from Stefan Lukic, Jonny Filipe, and Ualefi, whose shot, with the help of Ropapa Mensah, was on target but saved by Lexington’s keeper to take a a nil-nil deadlock into halftime.
The second half became more physical as both sides pushed to find the back of the net. Chattanooga added on an additional 11 shots over the course of the final 45 minutes, but Yannick Yankam’s goal pulled Lexington ahead with ten minutes remaining in the match.
The Red Wolves continued to press as time waned. Ricky Ruiz leapt for a header that was snagged by the keeper while two back-to-back headers rang off the crossbar in the 94th minute from Chevone Marsh and Pedro Hernandez to maintain the home side’s lead for the 1-0 final.
Central Valley enters the match in the midst of a three-game losing streak, most recently to the Richmond Kickers on April 6th. Richmond opened the scoring in the 17th minute, tipping the ball past Fuego’s Carlos Avilez for an early 1-0 lead. Fuego took advantage of a turnover and a goalkeeper out of position in the 31st minute to even the score for 1-1 score going into halftime.
Fuego took the lead in the 58th minute as Zahir Vasquez cleaned up a cross from Omar Lemus for his first of the season and the club’s second of the night. The lead was short lived when, in the 61st minute, Richmond surged back to tie the match at 2-2 and eventually secured the lead in the 73rd minute for the 3-2 final.
RED WOLVES FIND EARLY SUCCESS IN 2024 LAMAR HUNT OPEN CUP
The Chattanooga Red Wolves are in the midst of their deepest US Open Cup run ever. Chattanooga has advanced to the third round of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup following a first round win over UPSL Brockton FC United and a second round victory over NPSL Apotheos FC. They will face USL Championship Birmingham Legion on Wednesday, April 17th in the Best of 32 round on Wednesday, April 17th.
The club opened the tournament with a win on March 21st against Brockton FC United in an exciting 4-2 win after extra time with two PK goals from Omar Hernandez and Chevone Marsh and a brace from Ropapa Mensah to secure the club’s first Open Cup win.
Stefan Cvetanovic and Lucas Countinho played their first minutes with the Red Wolves in this match with Cvetanovic creating chances early. In the 26th minute, he was cut down by the Brockton keeper in the box, resulting in a penalty kick taken by Omar Hernandez to give Chattanooga an early 1-0 lead. The two sides settled into the match for the remainder of the first half as the Red Wolves carried their lead into halftime.
The second half featured much more physicality and another penalty goal for the home side after Ropapa Mensah drew a foul in the box. Chevone Marsh tapped the ball past the opposing keeper to extend the lead to 2-0 in the 65th minute.
Leo Folla and Stefan Lukic each picked up a yellow card, but the aggressive play culminated in a 75th minute ejection of Omar Gomez, bringing the Red Wolves down to ten men to finish out the match. Brockton managed a late push with goals in the 89th and 95th minutes to equalize into stop- page time.
The two sides traded opportunities into the two 15-minute extra time periods, but neither side managed a goal as the first half of the extra time wound down. Ropapa Mensah broke the stalemate in the 26th minute of extra time with a feed from Lukic to give Chattanooga a 3-2 lead. He quickly followed up with his second of the match, taking advantage of the goal- keeper out of position for the final tally of the match. The Red Wolves held off Brockton through five minutes of stoppage time for the 4-2 final score and victory to advance to the second round.
The Red Wolves then traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to face Apotheos FC, who reached the second round following a forfeiture by Georgia Lions FC. Chattanooga dominated the first half with several chances from several players, including a goal from Ropapa Mensah that was immediately called off.
Stefan Lukic, who had several chances over the course of the match, finally broke through in the 51st minute for the only tally of the match. The Red Wolves were able to stave off an Apotheos goal with the home side’s best chance coming in stoppage time that leaked into an extra minute; however, their shot went just wide of the net and the whistle was finally blown to signal the end of the match and the Chattanooga win.
KEY PLAYERS OUT DUE TO INJURY
Defender Richard Renteria and midfielder Jonny Filipe will miss the remainder of the 2024 season due to lower body injuries. Additionally, Pedro Hernandez and Stefan Cvetanovic will miss this week’s match
2024 HOME OPENER ON SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH AT CHI MEMORIAL STADIUM
The Chattanooga Red Wolves will play their first home match at CHI Memorial Stadium on Saturday, April 20th against Northern Colorado following the rescheduling of the first two matches from March 30th and April 6th.
The match will take place on the newly laid natural grass playing surface and will feature the first $2 Beer Night of the season with special pricing on select beers and a Red Out t-shirt giveaway presented by Liberty Apparel for the first 500 fans.
As part of the newly announced partnership between CBS Sports and the USL, this match will also be broadcast nationally on the CBS Golazo network, available in the US on Pluto TV and the CBS Sports App, also available on Paramount+ and Roku Channels in addition to streaming on ESPN+.
The Red Wolves are back in action at home the following week, April 27th, against One Knoxville SC for the first USL Jägermeister Cup match of the season. Fans can enjoy a Pregame Happy Hour before the first kick and throwback vibes all night with 80s Night highlighted by an 80s cover band playing before the match on the Outlaw Stage at the Howl Bar.
Tickets for both matches are on sale now here and season tickets are available for purchase here.
