For the second time in two months, an international soccer squad has visited the Scenic City. This time, the visitors came away the victors.
The South Korea women's under-17 national team was in Chattanooga on Tuesday to face a squad of current and former Tennessee Olympic Development Program players, including several area standouts now playing collegiately.
South Korea won the exhibition 2-1 in front of a crowd that peaked at about 300 at the Baylor School.
"We were just talking about how this was an experience we'll never have again," said midfielder Christin Moss, a Cleveland resident and Grace Academy graduate who now plays for Lander University. "Who else gets to say they played against Korea? It was a great experience and I'm glad we all got to do it."
Among the other participants were Alabama sophomore Josie Rix from GPS, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Kelly Downs from Soddy-Daisy High School and Sweetwater's Melissa Morris and Mandy Seiler, now at Carson-Newman and Maryville College, respectively.
Tom Condone, the director of coaching and player development for the Tennessee State Soccer Association, said the first time the Tennessee squad was assembled was before the game.
"We had no preparation," he said. "Basically I got a phone call three weeks ago ... and we got here two hours before game time and did some chalk talk. For no preparation and no summer game time, I thought the girls did quite well."
On May 29, the U-23 team from the men's pro club FC Atlas, of Guadalajara, Mexico, faced the Chattanooga Football Club at Finley Stadium. Chattanooga FC won 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 6,317.
Tuesday's game was much more hastily thrown together once South Korea put together its training schedule while in the Southeast as it prepares for the U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago this September.
South Korea will be the top seed in the World Cup and played like an organized unit that has been training together for years. The Koreans were organized, communicated well and had the ball deep in Tennessee territory most of the game.
Goalkeeper Julie Eckel from St. Benedict in Cordova, Tenn., who has committed to the University of Tennessee, stopped a barrage of short-range shots in the first half and the game was scoreless at the break.
About 90 seconds into the second half, a long shot from well outside the box passed just beyond her reach to put South Korea up 1-0. The score was 2-0 with just under 10 minutes left when Dana Schwartz, who plays at Vanderbilt, scored to give Tennessee a chance.
But the only scoring opportunities in the closing minutes belonged to South Korea.