The Chattanooga Red Wolves are scheduled to kick off against the league’s number one ranked Greenville Triumph this Saturday at 7:00pm EST in a battle that will have a ripple effect felt throughout the remainder of the season. Both teams are within the elite group of three teams that have maintained their undefeated status so far, but the stakes are high and odds are there will be one less undefeated team come late Saturday night. Both teams have a litany of talented players including the top forwards of 2020 so far and the two top goalkeepers of 2019. Greenville Triumph sits on top of the table with a 3-0-1 record and the Red Wolves with a 1-0-2 record while being one game behind.
Chattanooga is coming off a list of dramatic performances starting with a season opening 2-2 tie at Tormenta after fighting back from an early 1-0 deficit. The Red Wolves then returned home to play and win the first ever game in CHI Memorial Stadium in an 11 yellow card match against Tucson. Most recently The Red Wolves fought through a thriller against the reigning champions North Texas SC. After conceding a go-ahead goal in the 87th minute to North Texas, the Red Wolves attacked from the restart when Alexi Jaimes received a long ball from Josue Soto and headed to Greg Hurst on the top of the 18-yard box. While in traffic, Hurst found Marky Hernandez slipping into the box on the backside and set him up for the equalizing goal, splitting the points with the reigning champs and continuing the undefeated streak. Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match, it seems as if the drama will continue. Chattanooga’s offense has been electrifying, led by Greg Hurst who currently leads the league with 4 goals in 3 matches. While Greenville’s defense, led by keeper Dallas Jaye has been as strong as ever already raking in three shutouts and only giving up two goals.
Greenville is coming off a 1-0 victory against Tormenta FC that was scored in the 91st minute by JJ Donnelly who netted his first professional goal during crunch time for the Triumph. It will take effort by everyone on the pitch to guarantee the result both teams seek for. While Hurst has put on a clinic in his previous matches the attacking force is distributed among all levels of the field. Assists and key passes have come from the midfield as both Josue Soto and Connor Doyle demonstrate their veteran experience and newly minted outside back Ricky Ruiz continues his marauding runs on counter attacks. With Hurst causing as much commotion as he has, it’d be no surprise if the Greenville Triumph were to put the majority of their defensive focus on the young Scott, leaving the door open for another Red Wolves player to put one in the back of the net. The same goes for the Red Wolves in their defensive tactics. The Triumph have had a plethora of players make the team of the week since the season began which carry a roster with plenty of offensive threats if not properly shut down.
Both teams have done their due diligence and will enter into the match with a mindset that is prominent in top teams which is why both are placed where they are in the table. To view this game, ESPN+ will be streaming the game at 7:00pm and can be found at https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=94aa2946-2867-4a3c-ba16-beb40a9e2a04. Help root the team on to victory and capture what your watch party is and share it on social media and tag @chattredwolves.
