US OPEN CUP: Chattanooga Navigate Past Tennessee Tempo, Set Up MLS Clash
- Philip Farrell
- 6 hours ago
- 7 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
Chattanooga, TN — As half-time creeped up at Finley Stadium on Wednesday evening, Chattanooga Football Club were being held to a 0-0 draw by Tennessee Tempo Football Club. Nerves were high. With a Third Round berth (against MLS opposition - Atlanta United as it turned out) on the line, fans could be forgiven for harking back to the 2024 tie with Miami United when Chattanooga lost 1-0 at home to UPSL opposition and ended their cup dream for a year.
Up stepped big Nathan Koehler. The 23-year-old is no stranger to ‘Cup Magic’. As a veteran of US Open Cup and English FA Cup campaigns, few on the field could better appreciate the importance of knock-out-game goals. His teammate Chattanooga Daniel Mangarov swung in a delightful corner and the 6-3 Koehler was there to pound a header home, lifting the evening, the team, and the crowd. Cheers were followed by sighs of relief as CFC scored just on the cusp of the half, the goldilocks zone of goals.
“Those are my favorite kind of goals to score” said Koehler after the game. “They’re not the prettiest, I don’t take on 15 people and stick it in the top corner. Danny’s played a perfect ball right in that corridor of uncertainty between where the goalkeeper wants to come out but maybe stay on his line. I saw him take a half-go and I got the run on my man, it made it a really simple header for me.”
It might have been the only simple thing for CFC on the evening. Tempo put up a brilliant and stubborn wall of opposition, executing a similar game plan to the one that downed USL League One’s Red Wolves two weeks earlier. Engineered by a central midfield pairing of seasoned ex-pros Kwadwo Poku and Dominic Oduro, and with some excellent play at the back, they produced a performance that meant Chattanooga could never be comfortable through the 90 minutes.
It was a blissfully hot spring evening as both teams took the field. With temperatures hitting 79 degrees at kick off, it felt like the middle of summer. The mood in the ground was one of summer, with the promise of that mouthwatering Round Three match-up against an MLS side on offer for the winners.
Chattanooga lined up with a sort-of 4-2-4 with Mangarov playing a central 10 role in front of the two-man midfield of Isaiah Jones and Tate Robertson and behind striker Alex Krehl. Krehl was flanked by Anthony García and Keegan Ancelin. It was Ancelin’s first start of the season, after his heroics in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Columbus Crew 2. In defense Koehler was brought in, in-place of Mattias Hanchard while Griffin Huff replaced Eldin Jakupović in goal. Jakupović and captain Alex McGrath were rested.
Tempo lined up with what I discerned to be a 3-5-2 with a diamond-shaped midfield. The defense of Alidou Mwamay, Nathaniel Bedai, and Moussa Gueye sat behind that diamond of Oduro, Poku, Horace Avila, Mario Rodriguez, and Goffin Oyirwoth (scorer against the Red Wolves). Chijoke Otuonye and Harrison Watts were a front-two dagger at the top of the diamond.
The game started frantically with a close CFC chance within two minutes that saw Mangarov shoot just wide. I don’t know how many shots Mangarov had on the night, but it was a large proportion of the 22 CFC fired off. His second chance on 17 minutes, forced an excellent save from TTFC goalie François Djiba. This would be one of the defining characteristics of the game. The Senegal youth international gave a man-of-the-match performance in Tempo’s defeat of the Red Wolves in Round One and was superb here too, almost perfect. He made a string of excellent saves on the night, mainly from Mangarov, but also denied Krehl, García, and Ancelin. His double-save just after Koehler’s goal and right before half-time is worthy of rewatching.
But Djiba wasn’t able to prevent Koehler’s header. As described above, he arguably came out too early and too far and was in no-man's-land when the defender’s head met the ball. It was unfortunate for the 25-year-old goalkeeper who was so good all evening.
TTFC did enjoy their own forays into Chattanooga's half and occasionally their box. Oyirwoth, playing out wide, was able to make more of an impression in the second-half playing a little more centrally. Watts put in a workhorse effort up front but was unable to break-down a defense of Koehler and Farid Sar-Sar, captaining CFC. Koehler and Sar-Sar’s performance was such that Tempo only got off one shot on target, late in the second-half and easily gathered by Huff.
CFC’s best chance to make it 2-0 came on 79 minutes when Ancelin smashed a shot against the bar. Krehl seemed furious Ancelin didn’t pass to him, open in the box. In the melee, substitute Darwin Ortiz had a shot blocked and Luke Husakiwsky’s follow-up flew over the bar.
Huff finally had something to do on 85 minutes when he saved that one shot on goal from Tempo, courtesy of Poku after a great cross from substitute Stanley Grand Pierre. Things got a little messy in the last three or so minutes as Tempo frantically went in search of an equalizer, and CFC desperately tried to maintain their lead. I doubt any player on the field had forgotten what was at stake. And so, it ended 1-0 to Chattanooga. A stern, solid performance by Tempo and their goalie but CFC got the job done. They face Atlanta United at home now on the week of April 13, and Koehler’s magic cup run continues.
Match Takeaways:
Fans at Finley were delighted for Nathan Koehler, and there was a general, all-round good feeling with his goal. He’s a popular figure at CFC and has had to patiently wait for opportunities beyond the substitutes bench so far in 2026. It was nice to see him play so assuredly alongside Sar-Sar, who also had an excellent game. After the match, I asked him how it felt to be playing MLS opposition next. “It is so exciting, to be able to challenge yourself against what is the top level in the US. I never got the chance to play a Premier League team, but to get a team like that, whoever it turns out to be, is a huge deal for us as players. As a club, it's a massive deal. Really proud to represent our club against an MLS team.” Deserving of his goal and my man-of-the-match.
Tennessee Tempo can be immensely proud of their efforts. Never completely outplayed, they performed solidly for a UPSL side facing a fully professional opponent. While they do have some ex-pros in their ranks and were certainly outgunned by Chattanooga in terms of shots, they were always capable of nabbing a goal and Chattanooga were never fully comfortable. The likes of Djiba and Alidou Mwamay played very well. Tempo is a great example of the quality to be found in UPSL. (Note to reader: go to more UPSL games).
Last season, Jakupović played every single competitive minute in goal for CFC. While the veteran Swiss international is deserving of an automatic spot, given his talent and experience, there were simply no opportunities for the likes of Michael Barrueta or JP Philpott. It's good to see Dixon put faith in Griffin Huff in the Cup games so far. And while he didn’t have a huge amount to do on Wednesday night, he was solid and this provides important assurance for the team, with more depth in all areas. I asked Dixon about the importance of goalkeeping depth after the game: “I think we have three top goalkeepers who can step in at any time and do the job. Cup games are the best opportunities that we’ll have. Obviously when guys prove themselves, then you start to give them more minutes and opportunities in the league. With Michael [Barrueta] and Griffin being where they are, the goal for us is to get those guys more minutes. Because you never know when something might happen with Eldin and we want to make sure those guys are ready whenever it's time to step in. And he’s [Huff] done well in the two games he’s played.”
2,857 fans filed into Finley on Wednesday night. That’s an impressive attendance for a Wednesday evening against non-league opposition. It testament to how much affection this community holds for its team, regardless of who they’re playing. They now look forward to a home Cup tie against Atlanta United in what will be a huge event for the club and the city.
Box Score:
Chattanooga FC v Tennessee Tempo FC
US Open Cup
Venue: Finley Stadium | Chattanooga, TN
Attendance: 2,857
Final Score: Chattanooga 1-0 Tempo
Referee: Kyle Johnstone
Scoring summary: 44’: N. Koehler (CFC) D. Mangarov asst.
Discipline: 24’: N. Bedai (TNT) - yellow card 92’: A. Gordon (CFC) - yellow card
Man of the Match: Nathan Koehler (CFC) - Back in the starting XI, he ultimately settled the tie and guaranteed Third Round soccer for CFC with his goal and a steady performance at the back. Honorable mention to François Djiba who was also excellent, but should have done better for CFC’s goal.
Line-ups: Chattanooga FC (4-2-4): Griffin Huff; Anthony Sorenson, Nathan Koehler (Mattias Hancard 74’), Farid Sar-Sar (C), Yves Tcheuyap; Tate Robertson (Luke Hisakiwsky 72’), Isaiah Jones; Daniel Mangarov (Darwin Ortiz 72’), Anthony García (Ashton Gordon 45’), Keegan Ancelin (Ameziane Sid Mohand 87’), Alex Krehl
Substitutes not used: Michael Barrueta, Steeve Louis Jean
Head Coach: Richard Dixon
Tennessee Tempo FC (3-5-2): François Djiba; Alidou Mwamay, Nathaniel Bedai (C), Moussa Gueye; Horace Avila Jr (Stanley Grand Pierre 75’), Kwadwo Poku, Dominic Oduro, Mario Rodriguez (Soueymane Balde 76’), Goffin Oyirwoth (Justin Ventura 84’); Chijoke Otuonye (Raquan Bryant 75’), Harrison Watts (Jermaine Muirhead 56’)
Substitutes not used: Diego Camargo, Juan Corral
Head Coach: Gift Ndam
Next Games:
Saturday 11th April, 19:00 (ET): Chattanooga FC v Orlando City B, Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN (MLS Next Pro)
Saturday 4th April, 15:00 (ET): Real Henderson v Tennessee Tempo FC, Deaconess Henderson Sportsplex, Henderson, KY (UPSL)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREMIER MEDIA GROUP / NATIONAL SOCCER NETWORK /
NATIONAL SOCCER NETWORK ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561215500230
— All Rights Reserved, Premier Media Group / National Soccer Network
Comments