Chattanooga Pulse

Over 3000 soccer fans poured into Finley Stadium Saturday night to watch Chattanooga FC take home their third victory of the season by a score of 4-0. The atmosphere was electric from the beginning with the ever-growing group of “Chattahooligans” singing and waving blue flags as they entered the stadium. A young group of Chattanooga FC supporters beat the drums while a little bit older crowd sang chants and “welcomed” the visiting team, Pumas FC from Birmingham.

The Chattanooga players were very impressed by the support of the community on this Fourth of July evening. “I cannot believe the support this town has shown for our team,” remarked Joshua Scott, a defender hailing from London. “The fans lift our spirits and help us push through when we need it.”

Coming into the match, Pumas FC (3-3-1), was tied for second place in the Southeastern Conference of the NPSL. From the first whistle, Chattanooga FC (3-3-1) showed they were not going to sit back and wait for the game to come to them. The Chattanooga forwards put a lot of early pressure on the Pumas defenders and keeper.

Fan favorite Omar Cooke found the net in the 7th minute, only to be questionably called offsides and the goal taken away. Consistent pressure on the Pumas goal led to a collision between Chattanooga midfielder Daniel Tackling and the Pumas goalkeeper. The goalie left the game in the 11th minute, not to return for the rest of the game.

Chattanooga continued to have good scoring chances the rest of the first half, only to be denied by their finishing touch. The first half ended with a score of 0-0.

One minute into the second half, the Pumas’ back-up goalie ran into Cooke and left the game with an injury. “Rarely do you ever see the need for a third string goalie in this sport,” remarked Chattanooga player and co-founder Sheldon Grizzle. “No team dresses three keepers for a match, and tonight was no exception- they had to put a field player in the goal the rest of the night.” This would prove to be a costly issue for the Pumas squad.

In the 61st minute, Omar Cooke got the scoring started when he tracked down a through-ball and reached it before the inexperienced Pumas keeper. Cooke calmly turned on a dime from a sharp angle on the right side of the field, and placed the ball perfectly into the net. “That goal was huge,” a Chattanooga fan