The Chattanooga Red Wolves played their second of three matches in one week against Greenville Triumph SC on Wednesday night in South Carolina. Greenville won the match by a score of 2-1, with all goals coming in the first half, including Chevone Marsh’s tenth of the season. The clubs will meet for a final time this season at CHI Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October for the final home match of the 2023 season for the Red Wolves.
Through the first 45 minutes, the Red Wolves played aggressively, with Pedro Hernández and Omar Gomez each picking up yellow cards in the 11th and 15th minutes, respectively.
Despite the Red Wolves claiming 69.0% possession through the first 15 minutes, Greenville got on the board first with a goal from Lucas Coutinho. Chevone Marsh grappled for his tenth goal with a breakaway shot in the 38th minute that was absorbed by the Greenville keeper, and Ropapa Mensah quickly followed up with a shot of his own. The Triumph got their second of the match in first half stoppage time with Jacob Labovitz grabbing a rebound off the crossbar to knock the ball past Carlos Avilez.
Due to a highly physical half and a considerable delay following a collision between Mekeil Williams and a Greenville player, eight minutes were added on to the half before the clubs could head to the locker rooms. Greenville got their second of the match shortly into stoppage time as Jacob Labovitz pushed a rebound past Avilez to take a 2-0 lead. As the clock wound down toward the break, Chevone Marsh found space outside of the box and lofted the ball over Rankenberg to cut the lead to 2-1 just before the half.
Greenville continued to test Avilez and the Chattanooga defense in the opening minutes of the second half. The Red Wolves continued to collect shots provided by Lomis, Gomez, and Cardona as they searched for the equalizing tally. Alex Tejera and Moe Espinoza entered the match in the 61st and 76th minutes for Marsh and Marios Lomis, respectively, for their first appearances after lengthy stints out due to injury. Ryley Kraft also came on for Pedro Hernández in the 76th minute to reignite the Red Wolves’ offense and found solid opportunities in the 88th and 90th minutes, but was denied on both chances. The Red Wolves pressed to tie the match into the three minutes of second half stoppage time, but were kept off the board as time expired.
The Red Wolves will refocus their efforts for their upcoming match at home on Saturday, August 26th against South Georgia Tormenta FC. The match will feature a pre-game happy hour with drink specials on domestic and import beer, specialty cocktails, and frozen margaritas from 6:00 p.m. until kickoff at 7:30 p.m.