Wednesday night marked the third US Open Cup appearance for the Chattanooga Football Club. After losing in overtime and penalty kicks in their last two appearances, the Chattanooga team finally earned the win, beating USL professional team Wilmington Hammerheads 3-1.
The Chattanooga team improved to 2-0 on the season and will advance to the third round of the nations longest running national soccer tournament. They will host the Atlanta Silverbacks on May 28.
Meanwhile the team will continue league play this Saturday as they host Nashville FC at 7:30 p.m.
In Wednesday's game, Luke Winter opened the scoring after a long pass that beat the Hammerhead defenders. Winter found himself one on one with Hammerhead keeper Quillan Roberts. Winter slotted the ball past Roberts to give Chattanooga a 1-0 lead.
Wilmington would score before the end of the first half but also received a red card giving the CFC team a man advantage for the rest of the game.
Luke Winter gave the Chattanooga team a 2-1 lead 17 minutes into the second half on a diving header.
Chris Ochieng scored the final goal minutes before the final whistle.
The announced crowd was 1,502 despite the rain.