USL1: Hat-Trick Hero Bentley Savages Paradise
- Philip Farrell
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
EAST RIDGE, Tn. — Englishman Matt Bentley nabbed a brilliant hattrick on Saturday afternoon as the Chattanooga Red Wolves stormed to a thrilling 4-1 win over Sarasota Paradise. It was the Red Wolves’ first home win of 2026 and Bentley’s first goals of the campaign.
The performance and the three points will allow many to breathe a sigh of relief in East Ridge, as the hosts came into the game off the back of a three-match losing bounce and without any wins or draws at home so far.
Fears were dispelled early when Bentley scored his first of the night. After the excellent Jordan Aymbilla raced down the left wing in the fourth minute, he delivered a darting, low cross into the box where Bentley was there to issue a delicious flick that dumbfounded Sarasota goalkeeper Alex Sutton and give the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
Sutton would be kept busy all night and while he conceded four, he prevented the Red Wolves from scoring more. An example came in the fourteenth minute when winger Pedro Hernández, captaining the side in-place of the injured Ualefi, smashed a shot toward goal that ping-ponged between Sutton’s body and the post, but managed to stay out. Sutton got an initial hand to it, performing an excellent save.
As good as their recruitment had looked on paper, Sarasota are yet to click, in both attack and defense this year. And while the defending on Saturday night left much to be desired, they were weak going forward too. In fact, their only real chance of the first half somehow ended in a goal. This time it was the Red Wolves defense that struggled and failed to offer goalkeeper Jason Smith his first clean sheet of the year. In the 38th minute, they failed to deal with a Paradise attack in the box that resulted in an unmarked Matt Cence tapping the ball into the goal. A frustrating one to give up and there may have been a few mild worries around CHI Memorial.
These would have been quelled somewhat on the cusp of halftime when Ayimbilla and Bentley swapped places, this time with the latter providing an excellent assist to the former who poked a shot into the net. The go-ahead goal and at the best possible time in the game.
Perhaps smelling a weakness in their visitors, Red Wolves Head Coach Scott Mackenzie brought on new signing Angelo Kelly-Rosales at half-time and the Red Wolves really clicked into gear.
Nine minutes later, Bentley had his second of the night and of the season. Using his positioning and free role to his strength, he collected a loose ball in an advanced area and ran into the box toward the outrushing Sutton. Bentley only needed one or two deft touches to control it on the right before sending in a stunner of a finish that the Sarasota keeper could do nothing about. The strike smashed the back of the net and likely smashed any lingering doubts in the crowd that the Red Wolves would finally get their home win.
And Bentley’s hattrick would be complete another eleven minutes later when he sent in a looping header after resilient and tenacious wing play from Ayimbilla and Pedro Hernández. It was a fine finish, worthy of the man and his hattrick but serious questions need to be asked of Declan Watters and his defenders. For Bentley’s first and third, and Ayimbilla’s goal, the marking was non-existent and I’m not sure how Bentley had so much space to collect and run with the ball with no defenders on him for his second. Bentley is a very good forward, but there’s several others in the league as good as and better than him. Mika Elovaara really needs to work on the naivety of his defense if Sarasota are to have any chance this season.
Credit to Sutton. I don’t think he was to blame for all the goals and continued to make some important saves. Late in the game, he prevented a goal from Grayson Mercer to make it 5-1. Sarasota finally started getting some shots on target inside the final 10 minutes that all failed to trouble Jason Smith, but it was all too little and too late.
A great win for the Red Wolves. In many ways it was reminiscent of their best wins in 2025 where they gave up possession, did very little passing, and relied on blistering counterattacking to deliver shock and awe. Importantly for Mackenzie’s boys, they also scored first (a first for 2026) and didn’t concede an early goal. Perhaps a corner has been turned. They climb to 11th with as much as three games-in-hand on their nearby rivals. Sarasota meanwhile drops to 14th, while everyone around them has at least one game-in-hand on them. This may be a difficult season.
Box Score: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Sarasota Paradise
Venue: CHI Memorial Stadium | East Ridge, TN
Attendance: 1,010
Final Score: Red Wolves 4-1 Paradise
Referee: Luis Arroyo
Scoring summary: 4’: M. Bentley (CRW) 37’: M. Cence (SRP) 45+3’: T. Adewole (CRW) 54’: M. Bentley (CRW) 65’: M. Bentley (CRW)
Discipline: 57’: O. Gómez (CRW) - yellow card, foul
Man of the Match: Matt Bentley (CRW) - Worthy of his excellent hattrick and also provided an assist for Ayimbilla’s goal. A devastating performance and while the Sarasota defense wasn’t up to standard, Bentley still had to work hard to be in the right places at the right times. His three finishes were also superb, something that only he can control. A crowd favorite at CHI for a reason.
Line-ups: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (4-2-2): Jason Smith; Jordan Ayimbila (Yanis Lelin 76’), Eric Kinzner, Tobi Adewole, James Vaughan (Angelo Kelly-Rosales 45’); Omar Hernández (Jesse Maldonado 66’), Matthew Acosta, Omar Gómez (Matt Bentley 83’), Joshua Ramos; Matt Bentley, Pedro Hernández (C) (Ropapa Mensah 76’)
Substitutes not used: Ricardo Jérez, Nathan Donoho
Head Coach: Scott Mackenzie
Sarasota Paradise (4-2-3-1): Alex Sutton; Anderson Rosa (Aaron Walker 63’), Amadeus Sögaard, Declan Watters (C), Roberto Burlew (Reid Valentine 63’); Andres Rodriguez, Jørgen Pettersen; Jonathan Bolanos, Sander Røed (Ethan Bryant 73’), Maximus Tainio (Garrett McLaughlin 63’); Matt Cence (Matt Bolduc 70’)
Substitutes not used: Rockson Amedeka, Jordan Bender
Head Coach: Mika Elovaara
Next Games • Saturday 16 May 19:00 (ET): Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Birmingham Legion FC, CHI Memorial Stadium, East Ridge, TN (USL Cup) • Wednesday 13 May, 19:30 (ET): Sporting Club Jacksonville v Sarasota Paradise, Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch, Lakewood Ranch, FL (USL Cup)
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