The Chattanooga Red Wolves returned to CHI Memorial Stadium for the third round of the USL Jägermeister Cup on Saturday, May 25th against Lexington SC. The visiting side managed a stoppage time comeback for a 4-3 final score.
Mayele Malango and Chevone Marsh scored their first goals of the season with a brace from Malango while academy product Gharett Morris made his debut as a second half substitute. Lexington will host the next Cup meeting on August 31st and will return to Chattanooga on October 26th for the last regular season meeting.
In another match with the continued absence of several key players such as Ropapa Mensah and Lucas Coutinho, the Red Wolves looked for a strong start and found one with a goal in just the seventh minute from Mayele Malango to give the home side a 1-0 lead early in the contest.
The tempo slowed down through the remainder of the first half as Lexington worked to find their feet following the quick deficit.
A straight on shot in the 22nd minute was pushed away by TJ Bush while the Lexington goalkeeper blocked a shot from Malango in the 30th minute.
Lexington managed a goal in the 35th minute to even the score, but Chattanooga would not allow the tie to last long; Chevone Marsh barreled down into the box completing a pass from Malango for a 2-1 score. The sides traded opportunities for the remainder of the half, and Chattanooga would carry a one goal lead into the locker room.
The second half began with goal scoring as Lexington evened the match at two apiece in the 55th minute; however, Malango found himself unguarded inches away from the goalkeeper and blasted a shot by to reclaim the lead, 3-2.
An intense and physical second half saw the Red Wolves go down to ten men in the 75th minute following a match ejection to Omar Hernandez. Lexington worked to make the most of the man advantage and did so two minutes into stoppage time to tie the match 3-3. They then grabbed a go-ahead goal four minutes later for the 4-3 final.
“Going forward, we are dangerous, [we] scored three goals at home,” said head coach Scott Mackenzie. “We want to be one of the more dangerous teams in the league…we’ve got to manage the game better.”
The Red Wolves will head on the road for their next match on Sunday, June 2nd to take on Greenville Triumph SC before returning to CHI Memorial Stadium for a doubleheader week with matches on Wednesday, June 5th against Union Omaha and Saturday, June 8th against Forward Madison. Tickets for both matches are on sale now.