Chattanooga Football Club hopes for big crowd at national semifinal tonight

Chattanooga Football Club players and fans celebrate together in the stands after a victory during the playoffs last summer.
Chattanooga Football Club players and fans celebrate together in the stands after a victory during the playoffs last summer.

A season ago, a crowd of 8,878 filed into Finley Stadium to watch the Chattanooga Football Club play a National Premier Soccer League semifinal.

The club wants even more fans there this time around.

CFC (16-2-1) will host the Indiana Fire FC at 7:30 tonight with a second consecutive trip to the NPSL title match on the line for Chattanooga. The other semifinal, between the New York Cosmos and CD Aguiluchos USA at Hofstra University Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y., will also begin at 7:30 p.m.

CFC has taken to social media in hopes of drawing 10,000 in attendance tonight. Hashtags with #9999plusYOU have been seen all over Twitter as the team seeks to break its attendance record set in last season's 4-1 semifinal win over the Sacramento Gold FC.

Throughout this season, CFC players have stated they have the best fans in the league. Tonight will be their opportunity to show that support one more time.

"In playoff situations - especially in the game of soccer - any team can win on any given night," CFC general manager Sean McDaniel said earlier this week. "Any advantage helps, and for us, playing here at home in front of such great fans gives our team an edge. The crowd is truly a 12th man for us. We want to encourage all of Chattanooga to turn out to cheer the guys on to victory."

The Fire (9-2-3) appear to be peaking in the postseason. They had to win their final four matches just to qualify for the playoffs, and they followed that with a pair of victories to qualify for this evening's match.

Meanwhile, CFC capped off its second consecutive South Region title last weekend, scoring the first three goals of the match before holding off the host Myrtle Beach Mutiny 3-2 after the South Carolina club scored a pair of goals with about 10 minutes to play.

CFC would obviously like the chance to win the NPSL title after losing 3-1 to the New York Red Bulls U-23 in last year's championship match, and such an achievement would fit neatly with the Hank Steinbrecher Cup trophy - awarded to the top amateur club in the nation - that CFC won earlier this season.

The roster should be at full strength tonight, with leading scorer Luke Winter and top defender James Moore expected back from injuries that sidelined them the past two matches.

"The guys have worked very hard this year to get back to the national semifinal," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "Being able to play at home in Chattanooga is a huge advantage. Last year the fan turnout and support was absolutely astounding, and we would love to see it be even greater this year."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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