Chattanooga FC drew 2-2 with Orlando City B and won the resulting shootout for the extra point (4-2) to secure two crucial points after a wild and chaotic evening in Florida.
Defender Nathan Koehler scored both goals in a match that burst into life in the second half after a goalless opening half.
Koehler uncorked a long-distance shot just 23 seconds into the second half to give the Blues the lead and notch his second league goal of the season.
Orlando City B were then reduced to ten men in the 58th minute when midfielder Bernardo Rhein received his second yellow card.
However it would be the visitors who struck next as forward Thalles equalized with a short-distance header in the 77th minute.
Orlando forward Shak Mohammed scored his ninth league goal of the season in the second minute of stoppage time as the hosts thought they scored the winner.
However, Koehler had other ideas as, after intricate and cohesive team build-up play, the former Prescot Cables center-back reacted quickest and struck home an equalizer in the seventh minute of stoppage time to send the match to a shootout for the extra point.
Chattanooga FC came out on top in the shootout for the extra point (4-2) to tally another crucial point in the Eastern Conference standings.
Robertson scored 1-0
Ellis missed 1-0
Rimpel scored 2-0
Caraballo scored 2-1
Garvanian scored 3-1
Platts missed 3-1
Watson missed 3-1
Mohammed scored 3-2
Sar-Sar scored 4-2
"Personally it was great to score a brace—I didn't expect that going into it," said Koehler. "It is a bit disappointing not getting the full three points. There's definitely positives to take from it. Hopefully I can keep that scoring form going! We've got to sort out the final ten minutes of matches, but we'll figure it out. You saw the resilience today at the end, so that's a step forward."
"There's mixed emotions," said Head Coach Chris Nugent. "Overall, the two points is huge. To come on the road against a difficult opponent—we almost came away with nothing—so to turn around and be resilient is a huge positive. Two points is big as we need to pick up as many points as we can to separate ourselves and push us in the playoff fight, so overall it's pleasing."
The team will travel to High Point, North Carolina to face fellow independent club Carolina Core FC on Saturday, August 16 with kick-off set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Orlando City B (7W-10L-4D, 27 pts.) - Chattanooga FC (8W-6L-7D, 35 pts.)
Osceola Heritage Park | Kissimmee, Fla.
Final score:
ORL: 2
CFC: 2
CFC wins shootout for extra point 4-2
Scoring summary:
46': Koehler - CFC
77': Thalles - ORL
90'+2': Mohammed - ORL
90'+7': Koehler - CFC