As the 2020 regular season comes to a close after being anything but a “regular” season, the Chattanooga Red Wolves will be facing the Richmond Kickers on the road to play their second match against them this season. The match is anything but irrelevant and has a series of implications that could trigger various alternate realities for other teams in the league. Richmond, Omaha and North Texas are all in contention for the final spot, and depending on if the Red Wolves are able to win or not will be a huge factor in who advances into the final playoff slot. The Richmond Kickers and Union Omaha sit at 26 points for the season and is a must-win for both teams. Union Omaha will play Fort Lauderdale at home with the kick-off starting thirty minutes after the Chattanooga versus Richmond game. North Texas who sits behind both teams with 24 points will be playing Tormenta FC at 9:30 eastern time, and will need to secure three points to advance in addition to hoping for losses by both Omaha and Richmond. As the Red Wolves enter the weekend, they will be focused on only one thing and that is winning. All of the extraneous plot thickeners provide an additional degree of entertainment, but the boys will use this as an opportunity to grow as players and as teammates. In order to sour the Kickers’ weekend, these are the three points CRW will need to win.
Make the most of every opportunity. The team has done a great job at advancing the ball into the final third whether it be through a fast break or through tactical possession, but once in front of goal, they will need to put them away. The Kickers’ keeper Fitzgerald is tied in 3rd place for having the most saves but the team sits in 4th in the league for most goals allowed. In our last matchup, Steven Beattie came on in the 83rd minute and scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to make the final box score read 2-1 at the final whistle. CRW will most likely need to score two or three goals to ensure victory this weekend. An additional narrative that will be happening during the game is the race for the Golden Boot. Terzaghi of Richmond sits at the top with 10 goals for the season. Greg Hurst currently has 7 goals despite being two games behind. Wolf Pack, don’t be surprised when Hurst dominates the stat sheet and is the one to score the necessary goals mentioned above. With a front three consisting of Hurst, Marky, and Ronaldo Pineda there are bound to be several goals.
The second point is to play well through the middle. At the beginning of the season, the tactical strategy was primarily built around playing through either Ami Pineda or Ualefi, and while both are out with injuries the team will need to play through Conor Doyle, Josue Soto, and Tanner Dieterich. All three players possess MLS experience and will run the game well, but the game could swing based off of their percentages in areas like turnovers, passing accuracy, and duels won.
The last point is to minimize goals and to aim for a clean sheet. The injury bug has been prevalent in the Red Wolves squad, but luckily the backline appears to be set for this last match with, going left to right, Ruiz, Folla, Ramos, and Ricketts all expected to make their final appearance of 2020. Alex Mangels has had a great season and has only allowed three other teams to concede fewer goals. The record for the season doesn’t lend itself to various aspects such as the strength of schedule or how close the games were, but Mangels has performed well and will close out the season on a high note. The Kickers will be coming down the field hot given the motivation they have to win, but Mangels will have the final say.
