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Wiedmer: Soccer may finally be here to stay
The Chattanooga Football Club just keeps on winning.
And due to some good luck, CFC will keep hosting, too.
Chattanooga scored once in each half of the Southeast Conference championship against the Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves, claiming its third consecutive title with a 3-0 win Saturday in front of 3,358 fans at Finley Stadium.
The win advances CFC (14-2-2) to the South Regional playoffs in the National Premier Soccer League postseason, and because of a loss in another conference bracket, Chattanooga will host a match at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday.
Luke Winter, Leo De Smedt and Samuel Goni scored, while the defense posted its second consecutive shutout and got revenge for a 2-1 home loss to the Reserves during the regular season.
"I think the best team won tonight," De Smedt said. "We really wanted to win and fought from the first minute to the last. Everybody was motivated; we were frustrated when they beat us at home, and nobody beats us at home. Everybody was down, so we didn't want to experience that feeling again."
Winter put Chattanooga FC on the board in the 11th minute, taking a nice feed from Luis Trude and chipping the ball over the Reserves' goalkeeper. That goal held up as the defense limited the opportunities of a frantic Atlanta attack throughout the rest of the first half and until the second half in the 72nd minute, when De Smedt converted a penalty kick after being fouled in the box.
Goni added a goal late in the match - his second consecutive night doing so. CFC beat Nashville Football Club 5-1 in Friday's semifinal at Finley.
"We got the early goal, and Atlanta had to chase the game and take a few chances, which leaves us open to create chances ourselves," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "In knockout rounds, the team behind starts to take risks, which leaves the team exposed to counter-attacking opportunities, and we did a good job taking advantage of it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.