Chattanooga FC advances to third round of the U.S. Open Cup via shootout

Chattanooga Football Club's John Davidson, left, and Juan Hernandez fight their way in as Reading United AC's Aguilar Calzada heads the ball Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga Football Club's John Davidson, left, and Juan Hernandez fight their way in as Reading United AC's Aguilar Calzada heads the ball Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at Finley Stadium.

Tom Halsall won the battle of wills.

In a staredown with Reading United Amateur Club's Nestor Aguilar Calzada during a shootout, the Chattanooga Football Club goalkeeper proceeded to jump around the keeper box, doing whatever he could to throw Calzada off his rhythm prior to his shot.

The tactic worked.

Calzada missed his attempt and Halsall blocked another, helping the Chattanooga club claim a 4-1 "kicks from the mark" victory in front of 3,641 at Finley Stadium to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. Chattanooga FC will host that match on June 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Prior to that, there is the home league opener Saturday night against Nashville FC at 7:30.

After the Calzada miss, Halsall - who started in place of an ill Greg Hartley - ranged to his right to block a shot by Bradley Fountain.

"If I can do silly things on the line to get in his head, all the better," Halsall said. "My college coach (Lee University's Paul Furey) told me to make sure to try to get in their heads, so hopefully I can make a save, or they'll miss a shot and we'll gain an advantage."

CFC had makes from Kieran Bywater, Jose Ferraz, Danny Reynolds and John Carrier, with Carrier's shot sealing the win.

CFC (2-0) had a number of quality chances throughout the match but was unable to connect on a goal. Coach Bill Elliott was able to use his considerable depth while not seeing a drop-off in the level of play. That allowed players such as veterans Luke Winter and Luis Trude to play less, while newer players such as former Northwest Whitfield standout David Perez, Reynolds and Juan Hernandez had more pivotal roles in the attack.

John Davidson was able to create a number of chances as well.

"We felt we had good penalty-kick takers," Elliott said. "We all know Greg is great on PKs, but we didn't know what Tom would do and we're super happy for him. He's waited on his opportunity, and we're glad he took it.

"I think having depth on the roster, which is something our general manager (Sean McDaniel) and the board have committed to have, allowed us to bring in a few extra players. We just played Saturday, and we have to turn around and play this Saturday, so we were able to see a lot of fresh faces or even guys that haven't played for a while for us.

"A little more quality inside the 18-yard box and we would have finished this in regulation."

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

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