April 1, 2023 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Chattanooga Red Wolves SC News Release
In a match full of plenty of action, the Red Wolves received their first loss of the season at the hands of Central Valley Fuego FC by a score of 1-0. This match was Central Valley’s first against a USL opponent in the 2023 season. The two clubs last met on August 3rd, 2022 in a 1-0 win for Chattanooga with an overall record of 2-0-1 favoring the Red Wolves. Goalkeeper Ricardo Jérez made his Red Wolves debut after an international duty call up to the Guatemalan national team for the Concacaf Nations League.
The first half was full of offensive chances for the Red Wolves with solid efforts from several Chattanooga players. Mayele Malango had a breakaway chance in the last minutes of the first half, but was denied by the post while Christian Enriquez had a handful of good looks including a shot in extra time that was stopped by the Fuego goalkeeper Mitch North.
Ricardo Jérez kept the opposition off the board with key saves of his own throughout the opening 45 minutes. Strong defense from the captain of the match, Ualefi, also contributed to the deadlocked score of 0-0 going into halftime.
The second half saw even more intensity as both clubs battled to get on the board first. A series of substitutions in the 57th minute saw Brady, Paoli, and Tejera enter the match in place of Cardona, Enriquez, and Malango, respectively, giving fresh legs to the Chattanooga offense. Central Valley got the sole goal of the match by Jérez in the 62nd minute off the foot of Fuego midfielder Ronaldo Alexis Cerritos Castañeda.
A bevy of yellow cards were issued against both squads as the clock ran toward the final minutes with three on Central Valley and one on Moe Espinoza in the 79th minute. Chattanooga’s offensive onslaught continued with two unsuccessful corner kicks and continuous attempts at penetrating the Fuego defense, who held firm until the final whistle.
There were many defense and offensive improvements from the home opening match, having limited Central Valley to eight shots total and two on target while increasing their shots to eight and spending significantly more time in the offensive zone.
“We were very good in the first half, unfortunate not to get the goal. When you have a team by the throat like that and you let them off the hook, it was not how we needed to start the second half. Obviously, we gave up the goal, goals change games and we were not able to find the…