Chattanooga FC coach Brian Crossman

In the third game of its inaugural season, the Chattanooga Football Club picked up its first win Sunday. Elliott Anderson scored early and Omar Cooke scored late in a 2-0 victory over the Saturn Futbol Club at Finley Stadium.

Chattanooga FC, which plays in the National Premier Soccer League, debuted at home on May 16 before a crowd of 1,600. On Sunday, with clear skies and comfortable temperatures, an announced crowd of 1,307 took in the team's second home game.

“We knew we needed to get a ‘W’ so we played with a sense of urgency tonight,” coach Brian Crossman said. “We’re maturing as a team. Our guys have been together six to seven weeks and they’re still really learning to play together.”

Chattanooga (1-2) started quickly and was on the attack early. In the 15th minute, Cooke broke free down the middle. He beat the trailing fullback and slipped a pass by charging goalkeeper Brian Johnson. Anderson ran onto the ball without breaking stride and casually drove the ball into the empty net.

Cooke nearly scored on a header a few minutes later — one of several good chances for Cooke and Chattanooga — and the 1-0 lead held well past halftime. Moises Drummond, the boys and girls coach at Soddy-Daisy High School, nearly scored in the 57th minute, but his shot deflected off the goalkeeper.

Drummond tried a bicycle kick in the 71st minute, but wasn’t able to pull off the acrobatic shot.

“That was an attempted bicycle kick — I don’t know that I would call it anything beyond that,” Drummond joked afterward. “It hung in the air longer than I wanted it to and I got shin guard on it, not foot.”

Saturn (2-3), based out of Marietta, Ga., began pressing forward in the final 15 minutes, trying to get the tying goal, but that offensive push led to some defensive lapses, which allowed Cooke to get behind the defense and flip the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Both Drummond and Fynn Glover had good scoring chances in the final minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Chattanooga plays at Atlanta FC on Saturday.