The Chattanooga Red Wolves Soccer Club have retained the contract options of Chevone Marsh, Richard Rentería, Yahir Paez, Mayele Malango, Omar Gómez, and Ropapa Mensah.
"Since our inception, the Red Wolves have worked diligently to build a strong player foundation
each year with the hopes of advancing us to a title," said President and GM Sean McDaniel. "We
feel we have done just that by bringing back the players that Scott feels he can now create a
competing roster around. We have very high expectations in 2024 and the optioned players
show the club's commitment to winning."
Chevone Marsh led the Red Wolves’ offense in 2023, scoring 12 goals in ten matches with
consecutive braces against South Georgia Tormenta on July 15th and One Knoxville SC on July
22nd and ending the season as a top ten goal scorer. Marsh was named as the USL League One’s Player of the Month for his performance in the month of August having scored goals in four consecutive matches and a 90% pass completion rate. He also had three nominations to the
league’s Team of the Week honors in addition to numerous club recognitions for Man of the
Match.
Ropapa Mensah made up the second part of the Red Wolves first tandem of Chattanooga
players in the club’s five-year history to score more than ten goals, ending the season with 12
goals and three nominations for League One’s Goal of the Week. Mensah provided late match
heroics frequently for the club in 2023 with four goals in added time, three of which were the
sole tallies that helped the Red Wolves force draws and pick up points against Northern
Colorado Hailstorm, Central Valley Fuego, and South Georgia Tormenta.
A midseason signing, defender Omar Gómez joined the first team in June from the USL League
Two Park City Red Wolves and became an impactful part of the Chattanooga backline for the
remainder of the season. He provided a pivotal assist to Chevone Marsh in the Red Wolves’ final match against intrastate rival One Knoxville SC to help secure the series win and collected his
first goal for the team in the Red Wolves’ 5-1 win over Lexington SC in late September.
Mayele Malango made 12 starts across 25 appearances for the Red Wolves in 2023 and scored
three goals in that time, two of which coming in back to back matches on October 7th and
September 30th. He was nominated for League One’s Team of the Week in Week 29 and was
recently called up to the national team training camp for his home nation of Malawi.
Rentería, who signed with the Red Wolves just before the start of the 2023 season, finished the
year with 38 clearances, ten tackles won, and a 90.9% tackle success rate. The defender also
had one goal and ten starts across 914 minutes played. Prior to Chattanooga, he played for
Alianza Petrolera FC, a historic club in his home country of Colombia.
After becoming the second Red Wolves player to sign to the first team from the club’s academy,
Yahir Paez will return in 2024. A local native from Dalton, Georgia, the young midfielder helped
lead the Chattanooga Red Wolves USL Academy team to one of the best records in the nation
and a first place division finish. Paez scored his first professional goal in the 2023 preseason
against fellow League One club Lexington SC. During the regular season, he appeared four times for the Red Wolves.