photo by Greg Davick
The women of Chattanooga FC put on a clinical performance with a 7-0 win on Saturday afternoon. Goals from Kedie Johnson, Summer Hernandez (3), Krysan St. Louis, Ava Vandoren, and Sage Sammeli kicked of the Chattanooga FC in style with a statement win.
After picking up a point with a dramatic comeback draw against Nashville last week, Chattanooga FC was hungry to put three points on the leaderboard.
Head coach Randy Douglas knew it was important for Chattanooga to control the game.
“We talked about the speed of play today, because we ended the match on such a high note last week and we had some good days of training this week… We have another home game, and we need to take advantage of it.”
Chattanooga FC wasted no time establishing the one-way momentum of the game.
It only took six minutes for the women in blue to open the scoring. After an inswinging corner evaded the defending Birmingham crowd, Kedie Johnson had her back post shot saved. The keeper was unable to hold onto the shot and a tenacious Johnson poked in the rebound of her own shot. Chattanooga led 1-0.
Less than four minutes later the advantage was doubled. The Birmingham defense struggled to clear out a dangerous cross, and Summer Hernandez was on hand to loop a cheeky header past a scrambling keeper into the bottom right corner.
Hernandez struck again in the 14th minute. A low swung corner to the near post was deftly redirected into the net with a first-time strike from Hernandez. Chattanooga had a 3-0 lead with less than fourteen minutes on the clock.
Birmingham regrouped, facing continuing bombardment from the women in blue but keeping the ball out of the net for a while. Chattanooga was quick to win possession and efficient in creating chance after chance.
Chattanooga FC created a beautiful chance in the 43rd minute. Clever interplay from the women in blue found Krysan St. Louis in the box. St. Louis did well to hit a low, hard shot past the keeper into the bottom left corner. Chattanooga took a 4-0 lead to the locker room.
Not much changed in the second half as Chattanooga continued to dominate, creating chance after chance.
Many players were on summer break, but Birmingham got no break from Summer Hernandez as she completed her perfect hat trick in the 50th minute. Hernandez rifled in a powerful shot from the right side that the keeper got hands to but had no chance of redirecting, and the ball nestled into the net for goal number five.
“As a forward, you always want the third,” Hernandez said after the game. When asked if she was thinking about getting the hat trick, Hernandez said “If it happens it happens. You’re happy with two too!”
Two minutes later, Ava VanDoren got on the scoresheet, sending a beautiful curling goal into the top right corner.
Chattanooga wrapped up the scoring in the 88th minute as Sage Sammeli dispatched a penalty kick into the top right corner. The final whistle blew just a few minutes later as the women in blue earned an impressive 7-0 victory.
Kedie Johnson talked about how special this group of players is after the game. “It’s a family environment and we push each other a lot… Having the ability to understand the game and play to the best of abilities is very important.” Indeed, the team demonstrated an incredible understanding of the game as they controlled the game throughout and earned a statement win.
The women in blue will look to keep the momentum going as they hit the road on Friday, June 2 to visit the 865 Alliance in Knoxville. They return home to Fort Finley on June 16th.