Read more
Chattanooga FC wins 3-0, plays for NPSL title
So this is why they call soccer the beautiful game.
This: The Chattanooga Football Club's National Premier Soccer League semifinal with the Indiana Fire in its 69th minute Saturday night, no score on Finley Stadium's board, Jose "Zeca" Ferraz deftly finds teammate Chris Ochieng all alone on the left side of the goal.
If this had been a basketball game, such an assist would no doubt have produced a rim-rattling alley-oop dunk, which might have been fine with Ochieng, who's a big fan of LeBron James.
But soccer being soccer, no hands allowed, Ferraz kicked it to Ochieng, who swiftly, assuredly booted it in the goal for a 1-0 lead that became a 3-0 win after Ochieng's second goal less than 10 minutes later and an insurance score from Luis Trude.
"I left it right in front of the goal," said Ferraz, a big smile on his face. "Kind of a lucky goal."
Perhaps, but 3-0 wins in soccer aren't given to luck. They scream of superiority. Of justice. Of, well, domination.
"When you score the first one, there's always panic (from the other team)," offered Ochieng, who has played for CFC for six seasons. "Because now you know you have to score two goals to win."
And there was no way Indiana was going to score two goals on CFC goalie Greg Hartley even if the ex-Hoosier basketball star Isiah Thomas had been running the show for Bobby Knight. Not this night. Not with the Chattahooligans cheering section in full throat, not with 9,236 fans in the stands. Not with a second straight trip to the NPSL title game on the line.
No, it wasn't the hoped-for crowd of 10,000 or more, given the Twitter push of #9999plusYOU? Blame the relentless heat. Blame the calendar, because so many families are probably either going to or coming from a final week of summer vacation before school beckons. You could even blame the Lookouts, since it was "Used Car Night," and you know how the Scenic City loves its used cars.
That said, those who were there were loud and proud, determined to do all they could to get their heroes back to the title game in hopes that this year will bring home the championship they failed to win last season.
Or as University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive lineman Corey Levin tweeted: "Where's this crowd for UTC football????"
This is the magic of the Chattanooga Football Club, its proven ability to unite our community for something positive. Whether it be the Chattahooligans, the twentysomethings tightly gripping their valid IDs in beer lines or the little girl whining, "It's too hot and too hard," to her exasperated mom a few minutes before the gates opened, Finley Stadium was alive and electric, its energy fueled by every demographic group.
In fact, the second biggest moment of the night probably came when CFC presented the Community Foundation with a check for $12,200 from the sales of #NoogaStrong T-shirts, that money going to benefit the families of the victims of the July 16 terrorist attack that took the lives of four Marines and one Naval officer.
That awful moment in our city's history was a little more than 48 hours old the last time CFC played at Finley in one of the most emotional nights our city ever has experienced.
But if that was about healing, this was mostly about winning. And all the fans, "hooligans" and otherwise, had plenty to almost erupt over in the opening half. Time after time, CFC put itself in position to score, only to come up barely wide or high.
That's soccer, but it also certainly pushed the idea that CFC was the better team - and surely destined to reach the championship game six days from today against the New York Cosmos, the other semifinal victor.
Then came a trio of goals in those final 21 minutes, in rapid succession, one dagger after another.
And just like that, CFC is in its second straight final, with a slim chance the game might actually take place at Finley rather than in the Big Apple.
Maybe that game will be played at Finley and maybe it won't. CFC should know for certain no later than Monday morning and possibly as soon as today.
But no matter where the game's played, the Chattahooligans' last words were the first thing on the minds of all who were inside Finley late Saturday night. Chanted the 'Hooligans as the players did their "YaYa" dance on the field: "We want the Cup, got tohave the Cup! We want the Cup, got to have the Cup!"
And now they only need one more beautiful win to get it.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com