UPSL: Red Wolves II Defeat Scenic City
- Philip Farrell
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
East Ridge, Tn. — The Chattanooga Red Wolves II earned a 2-1 comeback win over Scenic City at Camp Jordan on Saturday night. 20-year-old Nathan Donoho was the key difference maker between the two teams as the winger reigned havoc on the Scenic City defense, creating both of his side’s goals.
Undoubtedly, though, the game turned on an injury to Scenic City’s Adin Castle just before half-time. After jumping up for a header, he landed awkwardly and had to be stretchered off the field. It was a terrible shame for the talented wing-back, who is now certain to miss the remainder of the season. Castle had done an expert job in containing the worst of Donoho’s effects, but after his injury the floodgates opened.
The game’s first half ended 0-0 as both sides played out a competitive contest that looked as though a draw would be the likely, and fair result. The best chance of the half came from some Donoho dribbling, a characteristic of the evening, that was cleared off the line by Scenic City’s Cristian Zaragoza. This was soon followed by the injury to Castle that silenced the crowd and cast a somber air over an otherwise perfect May evening.
The game’s opener came early in the second half. There was no active scoreboard or stadium clock accompanying the match so I am unable to pinpoint the exact timing of the score. The goal came from Scenic City left-back Ben Horchak who took a flying ball to the left-wing, controlled excellently, darting a run toward the hosts’ area before launching a stunning strike that lashed past keeper Austin Montoya. From my angle, I couldn’t tell if it was a shot or an attempted cross from Horchak, but his Head Coach Josh Luff assures me it was a shot.
A dribbling run from Donoho nearly resulted in an equalizer almost straight away, and a corner for the hosts ended in a shot that Scenic City substitute Brady Ervin cleared off the line, repeating Zaragoza’s trick from the first-half. But the Red Wolves didn’t need to wait long for their first goal.
Another spate of lovely dribbling from Donoho ended with a deft pass to Robert Lee. The latter had been marshalled so well by Scenic City’s Michael Clow all evening but was free now to take it to the left of goalkeeper Isai Romero and send a lovely shot to make it 1-1.
As had been anticipated since the competitive reverse fixture between the Red Wolves II and Scenic City a few weeks ago; this was a physical and at times testy affair. The referee, to his credit, tried to stem the tide by keeping his cards in his pocket for as long as possible, given we know that once the first card flies, the seal is broken. He eventually began to dish them out in the second half.
Finally, the winner came at about the 75th minute. A long, cross-field kick from center-back Sifiso Ngwenya found Donoho on the left. The young man found more space available to dribble into the Scenic City area and lay off a pass to substitute Mathias Cobb. Cobb only had to poke it in from close-range, and the Red Wolves had their winner.
To their credit, the visitors didn’t give up. Much of the last 10-15 minutes saw them press for an equalizer, with Clow moving up front at times. But their own forward talents, the Conrad brothers, were kept under a tight watch by Ngwenya and Ty Lake in the Red Wolves’ defense. Ultimately, the whistle went and hosts remained top of the table, with Scenic City settling for remaining in third, finishing there or a possible fourth come the season’s end.
Oddly enough, both sides play Birmingham FC in their last game of the regular season, with Scenic City playing them away next weekend and the Red Wolves’ hosting them the following week. Given Georgia Impact’s game-in-hand and easier run-in they are a strong bet to leapfrog Scenic City into third leaving the Chattanooga side in fourth. Should that happen, the Red Wolves II and Scenic City may well be meeting here at Camp Jordan again in the playoffs.
Coaches Corner:
After the game, Red Wolves’ coach Nathaniel Chmielowicz shared his thoughts with me on the contest. “The team showed great resilience to bounce back from going a goal behind. We did well to create several chances in the first half that we weren't able to take, so it showed a level of maturity from the players to concede first and still stick to the gameplan. The entire team, at every position, did their job to the highest level and got the result they deserved. Credit to Scenic City; they are a very good side, and there's a chance we'll play them again.”
Scenic City Head Coach Luff was honest when asked about his side’s loss. “They beat us! They beat us strongly. The scoreline was competitive, but that game could have been 4 or 5 to 1. We got beat on every facet of the game yesterday. I was looking forward to this one, and it didn’t go the way we had trained and worked on. They wanted the ball more and they took better positions. We talk about self-discipline, being hard-working and taking on those mindsets but they beat us in the hard-working mindset. I’m proud of my team’s integrity. I think the boys, despite being weaker on the hard-working side of it, in many other facets, showed well. Part of my team talk was about resiliency. From my perspective, our loss to LSA [a 3-2 loss on 15 March] was due to a small keeper mistake and two defenders pulling up with hamstring injuries that lead to the goals against us. Our second loss [1-0 loss to the Red Wolves on 29 April] was due to a call that shouldn't have been. This felt like our first real loss, we’d never really been beat. So, let's see how resilient they are. Growing as men, that’s something that will serve them well across their lives, even post-soccer.”
Given the resources available to the Red Wolves and the fact that this time a year ago Scenic City were a new First Division side, I asked Luff if he would be satisfied with their season (a third or fourth place finish in the Premier Division at the first time of asking). “Yeah, of course I am happy to see progress, but I try to not get too caught up. Even when we were in first place, I wasn’t resting on my laurels. I’m focused far more on what I’m getting out of the guys as humans and soccer players. Sometimes it's two steps forward, and one step back in life. I’ll judge our performance on how we’re doing with integrating and taking on new concepts. Satisfied? Yes, but pushing for more. I love these guys but we can always be better. Even when we win we need to think about what we could do better. That will set us up to be more successful whether bottom, top, or middle of the table.”
Box Score: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC II v Scenic City SC
UPSL Premier Division - Georgia North
Venue: Weldon Osborne Soccer Stadium | East Ridge, TN
Final Score: Red Wolves II 2-1 Scenic City
Scoring summary: 0-1’: B. Horchack (SCE) 1-1’: R. Lee (RW2) 2-1’: M. Cob (RW2)
Man of the Match: Nathan Donoho (RW2) - A real talent and a treat to watch. His skill levels and football intelligence really stand-out at this level. Always shows why he’s so highly regarded in East Ridge and why Red Wolves’ senior Head Coach Scott Mackenzie has included him in matchday squads this year in USL League One.
Next Games • Saturday 30th May, 19:00 (ET): FC Birmingham v Scenic City SC, Gardendale High School, Gardendale, AL (UPSL Premier) • Saturday 6th June, 18:00 (ET): Chattanooga Red Wolves SC II v Birmingham FC, Camp Jordan, East Ridge, TN (UPSL Premier)
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