Chattanooga Football Club beats Nashville, will host first round of playoffs

Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press 
Chattanooga Football Club fans cheer after their team scored the first goal of the game as they host Nashville at Finley Stadium on Saturday, July 4, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press Chattanooga Football Club fans cheer after their team scored the first goal of the game as they host Nashville at Finley Stadium on Saturday, July 4, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
photo Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press Chattanooga's Leo De Smedt drives past a defender as the Chattanooga Football Club hosts Nashville at Finley Stadium on Saturday, July 4, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

It wasn't pretty. But it didn't have to be, because it was very effective.

The Chattanooga Football Club secured the top seed in next week's Southeast Division playoffs with a 2-0 win over Nashville FC in front of a season-high crowd of 4,196 fans Saturday at Finley Stadium.

CFC (12-2-1, 8-1-1) entered the day with a one-point lead over the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves in the points race for the top seed. The Reserves (8-2) beat the New Orleans Jesters 2-0 earlier in the day, so CFC had to defeat Nashville for a chance to host next week.

"We knew that Atlanta had won, so the pressure was on us because we want to host next weekend," midfielder Leo De Smedt said. "We have the best crowd in the nation - they're really amazing - and they help us a lot.

"We really wanted to win to host the playoffs and give ourselves the opportunity to play in front of this great crowd again."

To get that win, CFC had to be creative in its attack. It faced yet another solid, organized defense in Nashville that limited scoring chances early, and although the visitors didn't have many opportunities throughout the match, their defense didn't allow many chances for the hosts, either.

CFC didn't score until the 27th minute, and it was an unheralded player, Matt Aldred, who notched his first goal of the season, heading in a cross from fellow midfielder Luis Trude.

That gave the home team a small amount of breathing room, but that lead wasn't comfortable until a goal from the left side by defender Jack Hopkins in the 86th minute, which all but sealed the win.

Greg Hartley was in goal for the shutout.

"We worked on being patient offensively in Friday's practice," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "We had the idea of being more patient and using our width more. I thought we did a good job of that - particularly in the first half but really in both. It was the right formula this week, and hopefully we can find the right formula next week."

Chattanooga will be the top seed in the playoffs, followed by the Reserves. The Georgia Revolution will be the third seed, followed by Nashville, which means CFC could face Nashville for a third time this season.

"They're tough," Elliott said. "They caused us problems. We've figured out how to beat them twice, but I'm not sure how we're going to do it a third time."

If CFC does face Nashville again, it would likely be at Finley.

"It's important for this city to host, and we've accomplished that," Elliott said. "Now we're on to the playoff environment, where we take it one game at a time."

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

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