Chattanooga FC Women returned home for their final game at Finley Stadium in the 2024 WPSL season against Decatur FC and lost 4-1.
Decatur started quickly, with a long ball by Emma Chapman played to Ellie McIntrye, and a quick finish and score for the 1-0 lead.
The Sky Blues looked to respond quickly. Annalisa Vincent hit the crossbar on an acrobatic attempt from a corner from Ciara Casamento in the 26th minute.
Defensively Chattanooga held strong in the first half.
In stoppage time, Hannah Opie slid to block a shot attempt inside the box, and they were able to clear.
CFC's Eleonora Franco suffered a serious injury towards the end of the half and had to be stretchered off the field. Kaitlyn Gauze took the resulting penalty kick and had her effort saved.
However in first half stoppage time, Vincent recorded her first goal for the club with a sliding volley past Decatur FC goalkeeper Kaitlin Sinkler. This sent both sides into the half tied 1-1.
Decatur FC came out quickly once again to start the second half, this time with two goals for May El-Shami and Carrie Consolino in the 48th and 49th minutes respectively.
CFC defended well to keep the game in reach. In the 59th minute, Lily Kate Varino stepped out to save a one-on-one. Moments later, Varino pushed a shot from distance over the bar while fighting the sun.
In the 85th minute, Decatur put one more away, with Sarah Greiner firing a shot in the bottom right corner past substitute Brooke Alvarez.
Vincent nearly had a second of the match in the final minute of stoppage time when she struck the crossbar with a fiercely-hit shot from 25 yards out.
"I'm heartbroken," said Halsall after the match. "The girls worked so, so hard. They care and they want it. Some things are not clicking. We created more chances today. We changed the formation to a 3-5-2, which definitely helped us going forward. When it rains, it storms sometimes. There are a lot of positive to take. It's hard when it's been week after week of just negative results. We'll dust ourselves down, and we've still got two more games and that's what I keep relaying to the players. We're going to keep on going, one foot in front of the other."
Chattanooga FC Women will be away for the rest of the season, with their next game away at FC Nashville Wolves on Saturday, June 29 at 6:00 p.m. ET.