US National team thanks the Chattanooga crowd for their support.
photo by Greg Davick
Neither rain, nor lightning, nor thunder, nor 83 minutes of delays would keep the great Chattanooga fans – all 20, 535 of them - from their appointed goal of cheering on their heroes – the U.S. Women’s Soccer players - to a 7-2 victory against Costa Rica Wednesday night on AstroTurf in a rain-soaked Finley Stadium.
The fans who comprised the largest soccer crowd ever for a match in Tennessee withstood lightening, plenty of rain throughout and the long delay early in the first half as close to 14,000 returned and stayed to the end and cheered and roared for their World Cup champions.
“The Chattanooga fans are amazing and we as players absolutely loved their enthusiasm,” said a smiling Heather O’Reilly who scored twice (assists from Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach) to give her 45 for a career.
Carli Lloyd who scored three goals in the World Cup championship match against Japan said, “the fans were crazy, enthusiastic and loud.”
Triple Crown of Soccer: It’s been a triple crown of soccer for the Scenic City soccer fans this summer as they supported Chattanooga FC in the league semifinals (9,000+) and the finals (18,000+) along with 20,000 tonight.
“The fans were fantastic and resilient and we applaud them for their enthusiasm,” said U.S. national team coach Jill Ellis.
Abby Wambach on the Trying Times in Chattanooga: “I am proud to be able to give something positive to the people of this city after all that they have gone through (death of five military personnel). We want to be a shining light to people.”
Stats – This and That
Victory Tour: USA Women vs Costa Rica
Wed. Aug. 19, 2015 - Finley Stadium - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Coin Toss: won by U.S.
Start Time: 7:12 p.m. … a sellout of 20,535 … the largest attendance for a U.S. women’s match in the southeastern U.S. in a stand-alone friendly match … previous record was 20,274 in Orlando
Set Plays are the Keys to Victory:
1-0 in 7th Minute: Carli Lloyd opened the scoring on a free kick from 31 yards out which hit the cross bar, bounced straight down and in the goal for a 1-0 lead
2-0 in 13th Minute: Heather O’Reilly scored on a rebound off the Costa Rica goalkeeper with an assist to Lloyd.
Another Scoring Set Play: Lloyd scored on another set play - corner kick from Megan Rapinoe – in the 20th minute for a 4-0 lead
Rain Delay: two minutes later was the 83 minute delay due to lightening followed by heavy rains at times. 7:27 p.m. to 8:50 p.m.
After The Rain Delay – U.S. scored three goals in five minutes – Wamach, Lloyd and O’Reilly for a 5-0 lead which turned into 6-0 on an own goal by Costa Rica’s Katherine Alvarado (31st minute).
Costa Rica scored twice – first time to score on U.S. in 12 previous matches – by Cristin Granados and Karla Villalobos
America’s Alex Morgan closed out the scoring in the 81st minute.
Loudest Cheers: The fans gave Abby Wambach the loudest and longest cheers of all the American players when she left the match in the 56th minute for Alex Morgan
Good Hands: kudos to Costa Rica Dinnia Diaz for her work in goal as she made several big saves off point blank shots.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net