Almost 1,500 soccer fans poured into Finley Stadium Sunday night to watch Chattanooga FC take home their first victory in the club’s history. Coming into the match, Saturn FC (2-3), from Atlanta, was in second place in the Southeastern Conference of the NPSL. It was evident from the beginning that the visitors would have their hands full when Chattanooga sent wave after wave of pressure.

“I was proud of our guys tonight,” said Assistant Coach Jimmy Weekley. “We played great team defense all night and we attacked well, too. We missed some key opportunities to put the game away early, but didn’t convert our chances.” Two chances were all they needed as Chattanooga won by a score of 2-0.

Chattanooga FC got off to a solid start by putting some early pressure on Saturn FC defense. Josh Carter, a co-owner of St John’s Restaurant remarked, “I was impressed by how much our home side kept the ball in Saturn’s half. We really took it to them.” Despite the early pressure, Chattanooga could not find the back of the net.

At the 15 minute mark, forward Omar Cooke received the ball at the half line, beat one defender, split two more and touched it on to a streaking Elliot Anderson who put the first goal of the match away in the net. “It was a great goal,” said Weekley. “We really needed that one to break the ice for us. We had been playing so well up to that point with nothing to show for it. It really helped us to settle in and play well.”

After a couple more squandered opportunities from Chattanooga, including a near miss on a beautiful header by Cooke, Saturn found a little breathing room of their own and almost put a couple in the net. “We got lucky a couple times and Richard [Masters] saved a couple of good opportunities to keep the score at 1-0,” said Chattanooga midfielder Fynn Glover.

Omar re-emerged in the 83rd minute for another superb goal, to make it 2-0. Amidst chants for “Omar, Omar” from youth players, Cooke ran onto a ball played over the top, ran through a defender and then flicked the ball perfectly over Saturn FC’s keeper’s head. After his goal, Cooke ran toward the fans kissing the Chattanooga FC crest on his jersey.

“What a night for soccer in Chattanooga!” said Chris Cooper, Chattanooga FC Twitter reporter. “The crowd was amazing…they announced 1300 in attendance, but there were certainly many more people than that here tonight.” Glover agreed, “The fans were the 12th man out there for us tonight. It’s so encouraging as a team to see so many people out here rooting us on. I heard many guys tonight say that this was the most fans they’ve ever played in front of, and some of these guys have played all over the US and world.”

Chattanooga Football Club’s next home match is at Finley Stadium on Saturday, June 20, at 7 p.m.

For more information about Chattanooga FC, visit www.chattanoogafc.com.