The Chattanooga Red Wolves closed out their series with Central Valley Fuego FC on Saturday, September 30th at CHI Memorial Stadium with a 3-1 win to tie the 2023 series. The last meeting between these two teams ended in a 1-1 draw on August 5th, 2023 in Fresno, California while Fuego picked up a 1-0 win on April 4th in Chattanooga.
The Red Wolves held 50.3% possession vs Central Valley Fuego’s 49.7% in the first half and outshot Fuego in shots on goal of 10 to four. In the first 20 minutes, the Red Wolves had a few early shots on target from Mayele Malango, Ropapa Mensah, and Jonny Filipe that went just wide of the post.
Central Valley Fuego FC’s closest chance came in the 19th minute of the match but was cleared out of danger from Red Wolves defender Ryley Kraft.
Midfielder Omar Gomez came close to finding the back of the net for the Red Wolves in the 24th minute but was cleared away after a controversial high kick from Central Valley Fuego’s backline. Central Valley Fuego was forced to make the first substitution of the match after an injury to Francois Dulysse. Goalkeeper Carlos Avilez came up with a big save for the Red Wolves to keep it level at zero in the 30th minute of the match. The Red Wolves gave up a penalty kick in the 39th minute and José Carrera-García made it 1-0 after Madrid committed the foul. After five minutes of stoppage time, the Red Wolves were unable to equalize in the first 45 minutes.
The Red Wolves came out in fighting spirit and got the lead in the opening minutes of the second half; Kraft crossed it into the box and Marios Lomis finished it off to tie the game at one apiece. Moments later, Malango made it 2-1 for the Red Wolves after turning on his defender and finishing off by nutmegging the Central Valley Fuego FC keeper. The Red Wolves made their first sub of the night in the 60th minute with Ropapa Mensah exiting the match and Chevone Marsh making his return to play after missing the last three matches due to injury.
In Marsh Madness fashion, he collected his 12th goal of the season in the 73rd minute of the match after a mistake from the Central Valley Fuego backline and was able to slot it just past the keeper to bring the score to 3-1. Andrew Paoli, Moe Espinoza, and Yahir Paez entered the match for the Red Wolves in the final ten minutes to finish out the game.
Chattanooga returns to CHI Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 7th for the final time this season to take on Greenville Triumph featuring a post-match fireworks show.