The Chattanooga Football Club gritted out a 3-1 win over National Premier Soccer League Southeast Division opponent New Orleans last Saturday night. It was a tough match, full of physical play, yellow cards and red cards, but ended with the Chattanooga side improving to 5-0 for the season.
And chances are, it will be the easiest match Chattanooga FC has for a week.
CFC will face the Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League tonight at 7:30 at Finley Stadium in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup, the nation's longest-running national-level soccer tournament.
"They play teams at their level every day. We play teams at our level every day. There's no doubt that the Silverbacks will play fast and with incredible precision," CFC coach Bill Elliott said in a release. "But we're not in round three of this tournament by accident, and our players can make this a game to remember."
His team will follow up tonight's match by hosting the Maryland Bays of the United States Adult Soccer Association at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the Steinbrecher Cup, which pits four teams from different leagues to determine the "best amateur team in the United States."
Staff photo by Doug Strickland
CFC's Samuel Goni, right, heads the ball against Ocala's Paco Craig during Chattanooga FC's home-opener soccer match against the Stampede on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.The first semifinal, also at Finley, pits NY Greek American of the US Amateur against the Michigan Bucks of the Premier Development League at 5 p.m. Friday's winners face off Saturday.
Last year CFC defeated the Wilmington (N.C.) Hammerheads of the U.S. Pro League to earn a date with the same Silverbacks team it will face tonight. The Silverbacks won 5-0. This season, CFC used wins over the Ocala Stampede of the Premier Development League and the Hammerheads to get to this match.
"Their budget is 20 times what ours is, so the deck is stacked against us," Elliott said after Saturday's win. "We're going to come out, try to play and do the best that we can."
Chris Baker stepped in to replace starting CFC goalkeeper Greg Hartley, who was out of town and had to miss the Wilmington and New Orleans victories. He allowed two goals but came up big in the shootout victory over the Hammerheads and had a number of big saves against the Jesters.
He stressed that while a good result against the Silverbacks would be nice, it has little bearing on NPSL competition, which is the title Chattanooga is truly aiming for.
"At the end of the day, the franchise wants to win the league," Baker said. "We'll take each game as it comes, but every game in my eyes is just as important."
Elliott said Saturday that tonight will be a good opportunity to experiment with different lineups, giving rest to certain players while getting extended looks at younger ones the club hopes will help down the road as CFC competes for a NPSL championship. Veteran forward Luke Winter, who has a team-high four goals this season, said this week will be good for the younger players who are hoping to make names for themselves in the professional realm.
"We have a lot of players that want to be at that level of competition," Winter said. "If we can hang with them [Atlanta], that means that they can."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.