April 12, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC News Release
The Chattanooga Red Wolves resume League One play this Saturday, April 13th against Central Valley Fuego FC in Fresno. The two clubs went 1-1-1 against each other in 2023 with each side taking a win at CHI Memorial Stadium (Chattanooga, 3-1 on September 30th; Central Valley, 1-0 on April 1st) and a draw in Fresno on August 5th. The next meeting between the sides will be in Chattanooga on August 3rd. Saturday’s match marks the first time that Chattanooga head coach Scott Mackenzie will be matching up against former USMNT staple Jermain Jones, head coach of CV Fuego.
This will mark the Red Wolves’ first League One match since March 15th against Lexington SC. Chattanooga dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the home side 15 to seven and ended the match with 57% possession; however, Lexington managed a late match shot past TJ Bush for a 1-0 final in their favor.
Chattanooga’s first half saw a quick collection of shots from Stefan Lukic, Jonny Filipe, and Ualefi, whose shot, with the help of Ropapa Mensah, was on target but saved by Lexington’s keeper to take a a nil-nil deadlock into halftime.
The second half became more physical as both sides pushed to find the back of the net. Chattanooga added on an additional 11 shots over the course of the final 45 minutes, but Yannick Yankam’s goal pulled Lexington ahead with ten minutes remaining in the match.
The Red Wolves continued to press as time waned. Ricky Ruiz leapt for a header that was snagged by the keeper while two back-to-back headers rang off the crossbar in the 94th minute from Chevone Marsh and Pedro Hernandez to maintain the home side’s lead for the 1-0 final.
Central Valley enters the match in the midst of a three-game losing streak, most recently to the Richmond Kickers on April 6th. Richmond opened the scoring in the 17th minute, tipping the ball past Fuego’s Carlos Avilez for an early 1-0 lead. Fuego took advantage of a turnover and a goalkeeper out of position in the 31st minute to even the score for 1-1 score going into halftime.
Fuego took the lead in the 58th minute as Zahir Vasquez cleaned up a cross from Omar Lemus for his first of the season and the club’s second of the night. The lead was short lived when, in the 61st minute, Richmond surged back to tie the match at 2-2 and eventually secured the lead in the 73rd minute for the 3-2 final.
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