With Chattanooga Football Club goalkeeper Phil D'Amico flying through the air to come up with key stops and Jordan Dunstan and Everson Lima playing well on the back line, Finley Stadium has not been kind to visitors of late.
For the second time in five days, CFC was able to make breakaway runs and dangerous attacks almost nonexistent for its National Premier Soccer League opposition, beating Atlanta SC 3-0 in front of 1,638 on Wednesday night.
"We know when people come here they are going to treat it like their World Cup," D'Amico said. "So every day we go in to practice and work hard and come out here and give it our all. If we play our 100%, we know no team in our league can beat us at home."
Since losing 3-2 to Georgia Revolution FC on June 1 at Finley, CFC has responded with back-to-back NPSL wins at home. Wednesday's victory followed a 4-0 victory against Inter Nashville FC on Saturday.
Chattanooga Football Club's Gabriel Torres, left, fights for the ball against an Atlanta SC player during Wednesday night's NPSL match at Finley Stadium. CFC won 3-0."We got punched in the mouth, and our guys rolled up their sleeves," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "We have had a blue-collar mentality the last two games, and that has made a huge difference. We have scored seven goals, but I truly believe we still haven't clicked the way we can offensively."
With standout playmaker Joao Costa out because of injury, Felipe Oliveira picked up right where he left off in Saturday's match. Oliveira slipped in behind the defense and finished off a one-on-one opportunity in the ninth minute.
Juan Hernandez headed out a dangerous cross in the 16th minute, and D'Amico also came up in the box to high-point a dangerous kick a couple minutes later.
CFC (2-1-1) also kept its cool against Atlanta (1-3-1), which was carded twice in the first half.
The home team's chemistry showed in the second half. Cameron Woodfin, a native of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, assisted in the 60th minute as Jose "Zeca" Ferraz scored his third goal in the past two games. Woodfin then scored off an assist from Caleb Cole in the 71st minute.
"I know how Zeca moves, and he is a very creative attacker," Woodfin said. "I picked my head up and cut it back to him. Then a few minutes later, Caleb heard me say something. He gave me a nice feed, and I cut it back with pace and had an easy finish. It's really important how you interact with each other."
Spending time together off the field and practicing even harder lately has helped CFC players begin to realize the potential they believe the team has this season.
"When the guys first got here, they saw all the talent and maybe thought the wins would come easy," Elliott said. "That's not how competitive sports work. We have responded, and our defense looks pretty tough right now. If we get the offense clicking to where we know we can, we could have a lot of fun this summer."
CFC's next game is a road rematch with the Georgia Revolution at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in McDonough.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.