The most impressive shots in soccer are usually the errant ones—misfires from great distances that often sail wide in a particular direction. But every so often, one of those long-range comets streaks across the sky in a perfect arc, one not too strong but also not lacking in velocity. Sito Seoane struck one of those golden shots early in the Chattanooga Red Wolves’ 1-1 draw at Orlando City B.
His Chattanooga teammate initiated this amazing sequence by propelling an accurate bullet halfway across the pitch. Moving the ball from the first third of the field to the final third in a matter of seconds didn’t catch all of the Orlando defenders off guard though. Despite being able to reach the ball, Seoane still faced several dilemmas. He was set up on the outside of the box, isolated from his teammates and with two defenders on Seoane’s island.
The Chattanooga forward bounced the pass of his chest, using his body to control the ball. Immediately after doing so, Seoane turned over his left shoulder as and began his shooting motion while the ball was still bouncing off of the turf. Next came a rocket of a shot, where the twirling striker boomed it past the keeper for the first score of the match.
For the majority of the match, that 13th minute goal looked like everything Chattanooga would need to secure a sweet Floridian road win. After Orlando was forced to play down a man for the second half, the lead looked to be secure with only a few moments remaining in the match.
However, stoppage time exists for a reason. It gives teams a few extra minutes to mount a comeback, which is exactly what Orlando City did in the 90th minute. After a collection of quick passes, Orlando City was able to slip the ball to a streaking Tresor Mbuyu right outside of the box.
Starting on the lefthand side of the field, he began a diagonal run toward the goal, careening right while somehow avoiding what seemed to be the entire Chattanooga back line. The last obstacle was the always-stout Alex Mangels. But even the great goalkeeper was unable to prevent the late score, as Mbuyu popped the ball back to the left whilst fading right.
This back-breaking goal forced Chattanooga to settle for what can only be considered a bitter tie against Orlando City B. Chattanooga (6-4-4) travel north to Wisconsin for next week’s match against Madison. The match can be viewed on ESPN+.