Chattanooga FC opened league play on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 home victory over Gold Star FC Detroit at Finley Stadium beneath a clear sky that matched the color of the home team’s jerseys. Friday night’s severe thunderstorms left behind hefty wind gusts that left the gentleman charged with holding steady the massive two-tone blue Chattanooga FC flag with perhaps the toughest job in the entire stadium.
Gold Star FC Detroit is the National Independent Soccer Association’s newest team, Saturday’s league play kickoff being the squad’s inaugural match. Though Gold Star lacked some continuity and chemistry in their debut, facing a team in their first-ever match presented Chattanooga FC with a unique challenge.
“It’s concerning,” said Chattanooga FC 2022 head coach of the year Rod Underwood. “Video is really important for us and data is really important for us. It helps in our preparation. Not having anything makes it a little bit nervy, but we do what we do to make the other team change,” said Underwood.
Chattanooga begins its 2023 campaign with 11 new faces on the roster including 2022 Golden Glove winner Jean Antoine manning the net. Antoine lived up to the hype in his Chattanooga FC league play debut, barricading the front of the net and deflecting or catching every shot sent his way.
“I haven’t felt nervous in a number of years,” said Antoine. “To be honest, I was actually nervous. New city, new team… but it was amazing. Clean sheet–the boys made it easy for me so I didn’t have too much to do today,” said Antoine.
Even with the clean sheet, Antoine’s flawless performance was outshined by fellow newcomer Mutaya Mwape whose two goals were enough to earn him Man of the Match honors.
“It just felt great scoring two,” said Mwape. “I don’t think I’ve ever scored two goals in my professional career so it was just amazing,” said Mwape.
Mwape’s first goal came in the 26th minute when forward Taylor Gray strode down the left side of the field at breakneck speed abandoning chasing defenders and sending an accurate cross into the box which Mwape deflected into the back of the net to put Chattanooga on the board first.
On more than one occasion through the remainder of the first half, Chattanooga came inches from adding to its lead. Just three minutes after the first goal, midfielder Alex McGrath launched a missile of a shot from just inside of midfield that glanced off of the top bar and left the home crowd astonished by what was nearly a miraculous goal. In stoppage time of the first half, striker Markus Naglestad took a set piece from just outside the corner of the box, clanging this one off of the crossbar and nearly taking the white paint right off of the post as it careened wildly out of harm’s way. After failing to add to the lead by the slimmest of margins, Underwood and company took a 1-0 lead into the half.
Eight minutes into the second 45, the Gray and Mwape combination was back up to its hijinks, this time in the form of a masterful give-and-go starting and ending with Mwape who took Gray’s return feed and nestled it into the far corner of the net just beyond the diving goalkeeper.
“At the end of the day, players make plays,” said Underwood. “Taylor (Gray) made plays and things happened. That’s just my motto,” added Underwood.
Mwape’s pair of goals serve as proof that he has fit in right away with his new squad, and his on-field relationship with Gray may be one that blossoms into something dynamic for Chattanooga and dangerous for opponents.
“I feel like it just comes from training,” said Mwape. “We tell each other where we want the ball and how we want to combine, so it just starts from training and working together to build that chemistry. I feel like it’s going to keep on getting stronger and stronger,” said Mwape.
With 30 minutes to play, Chattanooga had a chance to put the game away. Markus Naglestad, searching for the goal that had narrowly eluded him most of the game, tried a diving header in hopes of putting away yet another well-placed cross from Taylor Gray. The header never made it through the Gold Star defense, but Naglestad got the next best thing. The referee’s whistle shrieked a shrill, echoing note through the stadium, and the Gold Star defense was assessed a handball, giving Naglestad a penalty kick.
The talented striker hesitated as he approached the ball, and ripped a shot that surged past the diving goalkeeper and met the back of the net with a thump, putting the home team at a 3-0 advantage that they sustained until the final whistle.
Chants from the crowd led by megaphone-wielding superfans and enthused percussionists spewed out onto the playing field and flooded over the sides of the Finley Stadium into surrounding blocks of downtown Chattanooga where nearby shoppers, runners, and diners could surely keep track of the score simply by waiting to hear another eruption coming from Reggie White boulevard.
“It wasn’t at the level that we wanted, but it was the idea that we wanted,” said Underwood of his team’s convincing opening win.
“It was amazing to see how many people were in the stadium already when I walked out,” said Antoine. The brand-new goalie seemed to relish the opportunity to play in front of the passionate Chattanooga FC fan base. “We don’t win a championship in March. Today was a step in the right direction, but there are little things we’ve got to work on and get better… it’s a good start, but now we have to focus on Wednesday,” he added.
Chattanooga FC will head to Des Moines Iowa on Wednesday to take on the Des Moines Menace as they look to continue gaining continuity and confidence.
SUMMARY
GOLD STAR FC DETROIT 0 0 - 0
CHATTANOOGA FC 1 2 - 3
Goal Scorers: Chattanooga FC (3) - Mutaya Mwape 2, Markus Naglestad.