Chattanooga Football Club seeks two more victories

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Chattanooga Football Club coach Bill Elliott

The to-do list is simple for the Chattanooga Football Club: win its final two games and claim the National Premier Soccer League Southeast Division title, earning a spot in the South Conference's four-team playoff.

Anything less than two wins, and the six total points they would bring, and the matter is partly out of CFC's hands.

"As a coach, what you hope for is to go into the last couple of games of your season with something to play for, and we certainly have that," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "To this point in the season it's been a success. We're in first place in our division and we definitely have something to play for going into these last two games."

Chattanooga FC (5-1-2) leads the Southeast with 17 points, one more than the Gulf Coast Texans. The two teams each earned a point last Saturday in their 0-0 draw at Finley Stadium -- a hotly contested game in which CFC had to play more than 30 minutes with 10 men.

Both CFC and the Texans (5-2-1) wrap up their regular seasons this week with games tonight and Saturday. CFC visits Rocket City United tonight and hosts the New Orleans Jesters on Saturday, while the Texans visit New Orleans tonight and host Rocket City on Saturday.

CFC already has wins against Rocket City and New Orleans, including a season-opening 5-0 thumping of Rocket City -- it was a tight game for more than a half before the rout began. But RCU was one of the hottest teams in the league for the last month, with four wins and a tie, before losing to the Jesters 2-1 last Friday.

"I'm sure from a pride standpoint they want to show that they're better than that [first meeting]," Elliott said.

Rocket City (4-2-1) is lurking in third place with 13 points and could take the title with wins in its final three games and some help.

CFC will be without defender Nate Hodges, who has to sit out a game following his red card last Saturday, as well as reserve midfielder Mohamed Aden.

Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MocsBeat.