The Chattanooga Red Wolves played Greenville Triumph SC on Saturday, October 7th at CHI Memorial Stadium in the 2023 season home finale ending in a 2-2 draw with goals from Jonny Filipe and Ropapa Mensah. The Triumph took the first two meetings of the season, both played in Greenville by scores of 2-1 on August 23rd and 5-1 on June 21st.
The first 45 minutes was action-packed as the Red Wolves took a 2-0 lead heading to the locker room. Jonny Filipe scored the first goal of the match in the 10th minute with an assist from Ryley Kraft.
The first yellow card of the match was given to Filipe in the 13th minute for dissent. Chevone Marsh had a great run into the box moments later but was stopped by the Greenville keeper. The Red Wolves made it 2-0 in the 27th minute of the match after Kraft crossed it into the box and found Ropapa Mensah to finish it off for Mensah’s 11th goal and Kraft’s sixth assist of the season.
“The kid is talented. My role is to unlock it, and fill him with confidence and the belief that he can go and do the things he can do,” said Mackenzie of Filipe’s performance. “Get on the ball; dribble; finish from distance; play people in. I think what we’ve got is a young kid that’s full of confidence and knows I believe in him and his teammates believe in him. He’s had five good performances in a row, so I am very very proud of him.”
Greenville received a free kick in the 33rd minute of the match but was cleared away by the Red Wolves back line. Chevone Marsh later earned a free kick in the 34th minute that he hit just over the crossbar. Greenville’s closest chance came in the 38th minute but was cleared off the line from Red Wolves defender Nico Cardona. Greenville player Tevin Shaw received a yellow card in the 44th minute after fouling Red Wolves defender Pedro Hernandez. The official added four minutes of stoppage time, and the Red Wolves finished out the half up by two goals and leading in shots with 10 to Greenville’s six.
After a scoreless first half for the visitors, Greenville found their footing offensively and got on the board in the 53rd minute with a goal from Jacob Labovitz. They would pick up their second goal to even the score in the 61st minute with a goal from Leo Castro. The Red Wolves brought on several key pieces in substitutions with Marios Lomis, Moe Espinoza, and Alex Tejera entering the match for Mensah, Marsh, and Omar Gomez, respectively.
Both sides continued to press aggressively in search of a go-ahead goal to take three points with Chattanooga holding 68.4% possession between the 75th and 90th minutes; however, the match would end in a 2-2 draw with both sides splitting points.
“I think we did really well on the counter attack, I think we were pushing forward, pushing them back a little bit.,” said Filipe of the team’s performance. “They were on their toes and in the second half, we started defending a little bit more and I think that kind of messed with our flow a little bit.”
“The first half was electric…the guys really came out of the gates flying. Unfortunately in the second half, they gave us a good battle, good match, so best of luck to Greenville in the rest of the season,” said Pedro Hernandez.
The Red Wolves will conclude their 2023 season on the road as they take on Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC on Saturday, October 14th in Windsor, Colorado.