Chattanooga Football Club ties Nashville 0-0

photo Chattanooga midfielder Wil Linder kicks the ball down the field during the Chattanooga Football Club versus Nashville Football Club soccer game on Saturday, May 17, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Maybe a slight bit of fatigue had set in for the Chattanooga Football Club on Saturday evening in its National Premier Soccer League match against Nashville FC, but it wasn't enough to severely hurt the home team.

The teams battled to a scoreless draw Saturday in front of 1,836 fans at Finley Stadium, with both earning a point in the NPSL standings. Each now has four points after wins in the first weekend.

CFC (2-0-1) has played three matches in eight days, and the sharpness that was evident during most of Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup match against the Wimington Hammerheads of the United Soccer Professional League Division wasn't there Saturday.

"Wednesday was fantastic for everybody," defender Chris Lavie said. "Tonight we didn't play as good as we did Wednesday, but we didn't lose.

"We're tired, but when you can't win a game, it's important not to lose, so we don't get the three points but we get a point and can relax and come back stronger against New Orleans."

Chattanooga visits the New Orleans Jesters on Saturday before a quick turnaround match against Pensacola City on Sunday afternoon.

The hosts outshot Nashville 5-4 and led in dangerous play for most of the match. Huge opportunities came from Jose Ferraz, who pushed a shot just wide of the goal in the first half; Leo De Smedt, who had a similar result to an opportunity in the second half; and Luke Winter, who hit the crossbar on a shot in the second half as well.

"We've now played as many games as we've had training sessions," CFC coach Bill Elliott joked afterward. "In this league, you don't have a two-month preseason to prepare, and we just had a tough match against Wilmington. I thought we had a couple of near misses, but after playing three games in eight days, you just grab the league point, move on and live to fight another day.

"It's not the worst thing that could happen."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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