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Chattanooga Red Wolves SC

3 Points for the Weekend: Fort Lauderdale CF

September 3, 2020 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC News Release


The Chattanooga Red Wolves are hot off of a commanding 4-0 win at CHI Memorial Stadium last Saturday going into this weekend's matchup against Fort Lauderdale CF. This is the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, as the Chattanooga Red Wolves joined the league in 2019, while Fort Lauderdale CF is in their debut season. The Red Wolves (2-2-2) will enter the match with 8 pts ranked 6th in the USL League One standings with Fort Lauderdale (2-3-1) just behind them, trailing by a point. The Red Wolves picked up their second win of the season against New England Revolution II in a fast-paced offensive display last week and will be hoping to carry over that momentum into this week's match, while Fort Lauderdale CF enter the match having lost a tight game to the league leaders in Greenville Triumph on Saturday, with only one goal separating the two sides. Both teams need to pick up a win in order to make up ground and compete for the league title as the season progresses. The two sides each sit mid-table and as we enter week 8 of the season the pressure to win is beginning to build. The match is set to kickoff at 8:00 PM EST in Inter Miami CF Stadium, and the Red Wolves will be looking to do everything they can to win on the road.

In order to pick up the victory, the Red Wolves will have to account for Ricky Lopez-Espin. Lopez-Espin currently has 5 goals so far on the season and has proven to be deadly in front of the net. He is currently in a three-way tie with Greg Hurst of Chattanooga, and Emiliano Terzaghi of Richmond, for top goal scorer in the league. All three of these men are up for player of the month for the month of August as well. Lopez-Espin helped Fort Lauderdale to a successful month with four goals in four games, three chances created and an overall 47 of 63 passes completed. The Chattanooga backline did not let up last weekend, earning the clean sheet, and they will no doubt be determined to prevent Lopez-Espin from finding the back of the net. He is the only player on Fort Lauderdale with multiple goals and serves as the primary scoring outlet and threat for Fort Lauderdale. If the Red Wolves can shut him down, it will derail the game plan and force Fort Lauderdale to try to adapt and find other scoring options.

Second, the Red Wolves front three need to come out as they played last weekend. Collectively they had a hard time finishing chances early on in the season, but Chattanooga looked as if they had fixed the problem by converting 4 goals in a big win over New England on Saturday. The goals coming from Zacarias, Hernandez, and Beattie will hopefully give them confidence going into this weekend's game to bag a few more. From the midfield to the forwards, everyone stepped up in the attack, and the Red Wolves were threatening from all sides which proved to be difficult for their most recent opposition.

The third and final point is the need for the defense to do anything and everything in their power to have another clean sheet. Soccer is a game the relies heavily on momentum, and there's no better way to stop momentum than to disallow its inception. Mangels recently earned his second clean sheet of the season, but it really goes to show that it is a team effort. Mangles had to stop only a few shots, and it has become apparent that Coach Obleda's style of play is starting to sit well with the current talent the team possesses. Coach Obleda plays a high press defensive and with the current personnel, the coaching staff has been able to create a harmonious defensive system that is hard to penetrate.

This game will prove to be pivotal, as are most games during this abbreviated season. If the offense is clinical with its chances and the defense is synchronized in their efforts then the likelihood of the Red Wolves coming out victorious increases dramatically. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ at 8:00pm eastern time on Saturday 9/5. Click the link below on game day to be directed to the game's stream. The team will have one more away game on 9/9 against New England Revolution II before returning home on 9/12 to play the streaking Richmond Kickers.

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