Red Wolves Edging Toward The Top As North Texas Comes Calling

  • Friday, August 16, 2019
  • Joseph Dycus

The Chattanooga Red Wolves’ (8-5-7) season has mirrored the Scenic City weather over these last few weeks. Following a stagnant couple of weeks, seemingly stuck in the humidity during a five-match winless streak, the Red Wolves have apparently found their groove. They followed up a win against North Texas with another three-point victory over Tormenta.

And now sitting at third in the table and only four points under North Texas, Chattanooga has an opportunity to claw their way ever closer to the top of the standings. In many ways, Chattanooga has been the opposite of North Texas. While Chattanooga has been on the upswing, the formerly dominant Texas squad has floundered in recent weeks.

After a torrid start, where North Texas was putting up three goals a match at-will, their ability to score has dried up in the oppressive summer heat. Missing the talented Ronaldo Dumas up front, North Texas has scored only two goals in the last four matches, despite still having a glut of talented players, such as the phenomenal 16- year-old, Ricardo Pepi.

“I think in the beginning, teams were pressing high against them, and they were scoring because teams would get opened up with their quickness and technical ability,” said Coach Tim Hanksinson on North Texas’ scoring malaise, “I think teams are starting to sit back a bit and compact the space. Therefore, they have to figure out how to break it down, and if you can’t figure it out, then you’re not going to get as many scoring chances as you did before.”

However, Texas’ slump should not give anyone the impression that the team is a sorry one. Despite their current poor form, North Texas is still a dangerous team, a fact Sito Seoane is aware of.

“They’re always true to what they are and their style of play,” said the Chattanooga forward, “Because they’ve done that for many, many months now, they’re used to this style. So that makes them a good team.”

While Chattanooga is on a roll at the moment, winning against North Texas will be a difficult proposition without their high-scoring captain. Steven Beattie, who has contributed to 10 goals on the season. He will be absent from the midfield while serving his suspension for yellow-card accumulation. The Red Wolves will rely on Vangjel Zguro to provide the same pinpoint passing he has all season. Coach Hankinson moved the Albanian defender to the midfield, a move that will hopefully put Zguro into an attacking position more often.

“He’s very good at crossing the ball, and as you can see, it leads to assists. So as a left back, he doesn’t get to get forward as often as a left midfielder,” said Coach Hankinson, who then explained one reason the move didn’t occur sooner, saying, “Also, some of the types of players in this league, such as the wingers that like to go one-on-one, is something kind of new that you don’t see quite as much in Albania. Whereas, Johnny Caparelli has grown up with that, and so we feel like some of the matchups are better for Johnny, but we still like to get those crosses and assists from Van.”

The match will kick off at 7 p.m., and the weather will most-likely be in the low-90s at the outset. If Chattanooga can secure a win, they will stay at third in the standings, and will be only two points behind league-leading Lansing.

“Hopefully we get three points tomorrow,” said Seoane, who is looking to score his first goal at home,” We’re ready for it.”

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