In a battle for a playoff position, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC and Toronto FC II played to a 2-2 draw on Saturday night at David Stanton Field.
In a game mostly dominated by the Red Wolves, Toronto used a five-minute stretch in the second half to score twice and take a 2-1 lead. However, in the 84th minute, Colin Falvey headed home a cross from Van Zguro off a corner to secure a point for Chattanooga.
Here are three takeaways from the match.
Success off set pieces as of late
Both goals scored by the Red Wolves in Saturday night’s game came from corner kicks sent in by Zguro.
Conor Doyle headed home the first goal off of a corner in the 38th minute, giving Chattanooga a 1-0 lead. Doyle was standing just in front of the goal on the near post and headed the ball back from an awkward position into the top left corner of the net.
Falvey’s goal was easier than Doyle’s as the Irish defender rose up above the Toronto defenders in the middle of the box and smashed the ball past the goalie to level the game up at two.
This marked Favley’s first goal of the season.
“It was a great ball from Van and luckily it went in,” Falvey said. “It’s always nice to score a goal, but I am quite happy not to score if we win 1-0 or whatever may be the case.”
The Red Wolves struggled early in the season with set pieces, failing to score off of one in the first eight matches of the season.
However, in Chattanooga’s last two matches, the Red Wolves have tallied all three of their goals from set pieces. In the match against Greenville on May 25, a corner in the fourth minute of extra time fell to Eamon Zayed who slotted it home for the game winner.
Still unbeaten at home
With the draw on Saturday night, the Red Wolves remain unbeaten at David Stanton Field with a 3-0-2 record. Chattanooga is one of four teams in League One that still hold an unbeaten record at home.
The Red Wolves have outscored their opponents 9-6 in matches at David Stanton Field and held Greenville and Forward Madison scoreless in trips Chattanooga.
This trend started right away as the Red Wolves won the first two matches of the season at home, defeating Forward Madison and South Georgia Tormenta FC. Tormenta currently sits in second place in the league and the loss to the Red Wolves stands as the team’s lone loss of the season.
However, while earning a total of five points, two draws and one win, in their last three matches at home, the Red Wolves are still not satisfied.
“It was disappointing not to get three points at home like we have gotten used to doing,” Falvey said after the teams draw on Saturday. “We have a good home record to begin the season, so we want to continue that.”
Pineda gets second start of the season
For the second straight match, Ami Pineda got the start for the Red Wolves. Pineda appeared in five of the first eight matches as a substitute before earning his starts against Greenville and Toronto.
Against Greenville, Pineda started and played 69 minutes before being subbed off. Pineda attempted 25 passes in the match and held a 92 percent passing accuracy. That passing accuracy percentage ranked second on the team for the match.
On Saturday against Toronto, Pineda played 60 minutes before being subbed off, attempting 39 passes and having an 86 percent success rate. Pineda also blocked a shot in the match and recorded one shot on target.
“For me, getting more starts and playing time has been good for me,” Pineda said. “Playing more, I feel more confident and it relieves some stress for me so that I am able to play the way I want to play and confidently. I feel like the coaches trust me, so it has been good.”
Up Next
The Red Wolves embark on a two-game road trip starting this Saturday as they take on South Georgia Tormenta FC. That game kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+. The Red Wolves conclude the team’s road run on Saturday, June 15 as they travel to Richmond to take on the Kickers.
