After falling behind 0-2, the Chattanooga Red Wolves battled back to draw, 2-2, with the first place Richmond Kickers.
Before the end of a tightly contested first half, Richmond was awarded a penalty kick within the 43rd minute. The Kickers’ Emiliano Terzaghi faced off against Red Wolves’ goalkeeper Carlos Avilez in the box. This time, Terzaghi got the best out of Avilez as the goalkeeper dived far left, but the kick went to the right side of the net.
With the goal, Richmond headed into halftime with the newly captured lead.
Coming out of the half, the Kickers kept the same pace. Richmond’s Ethan Vanacore-Decker pushed the pace as he moved up the far sideline, approaching Chattanooga’s penalty area. Vanacore-Decker would pass to his right side to Nil Vinyals, just outside of the arc. Vinyals opened his hips to take a shot but decided to pass it out wide to Owayne Gordon. Gordon accepted the pass and ripped a shot, traveling from right to left side of the field, past the outreached arms of Avilez, and into the net.
It was looking bleak for the Red Wolves.
But Chattanooga kept fighting. José Carrera-García moved the ball quickly up the field as the Richmond defense backpedaled. Following Carrera-García’s pass, Chattanooga sent a cross into the box for striker Juan Galindrez. Galindrez opted out of the shot and chipped it to the open Moe Espinoza, who struck into the top, right side of the net for a goal.
The deficit was cut in half, 2-1 in favor of Richmond with 22 minutes left to play.
Capturing the momentum, Chattanooga began to apply more pressure to the Kickers’ lead. Despite losing Aaron Lombardi to a red card in the 74th minute, the Red Wolves pressed on while shorthanded.
Awarded a corner in the 77th minute, Chattanooga crossed the ball into the back post. There, two Red Wolves headed the ball back to the center of the box, the danger zone. Timmy Mehl met the pass with a header of his own, but the shot was unsuccessful. Mehl, quick on his feet, struck the ball again, this time with his foot, and blasted it into the center of the net. The shot was so quick that it left no time for anyone to react. Mehl, though, celebrated accordingly with his fist up in the air as his team corralled around him.
It was even and it would stay that way. The two teams battled out the remaining 13 minutes, and five minutes of added time, but no goals would result from the battle. The two teams had a physical bout, as they totaled seven yellow cards on the night.
With the tie, the Kickers remain in first place ahead of Union Omaha. The Red Wolves (10-7-9) are ahead of Tormenta FC in fourth place and will take on the last place FC Tucson on Saturday, Sept. 24. Following that, Chattanooga will be back in CHI Memorial Stadium to take on the Charlotte Independence on Oct. 1. The matchup presents potential standing shakeups depending on the outcome, as Independence looks to move ahead of the Red Wolves.
Game Summary
RICHMOND 1 1 — 2
CHATTANOOGA 0 2 — 2
Goal Scorers: Richmond (2) Emiliano Terzaghi, Owayne Golden; Chattanooga (2) Moe Espinoza, Timmy Mehl