Danny Reynolds hit the perfect shot at the perfect time.
And with his left-footed strike that bent perfectly over the goalkeeper's outstretched hands, an anemic Chattanooga Football Club offense may have found its way.
The offense had been struggling until the 90th minute of last Saturday's match against Inter Nashville FC. Through seven matches - six against National Premier Soccer League Southeast Conference West Division competition - CFC had scored six goals. There had been numerous opportunities created by the attack, but there had been just as many issues finishing.
Many around the club felt that with so many new, young players on the attacking end, seeing one shot go in could create an avalanche.
That shot came in the final moments of the Nashville match, when Reynolds' free kick pierced the nets and was the difference in a 2-1 win. After the match, CFC coach Bill Elliott called the shot "the turning point of our season."
The team followed that up with a stout 5-0 win over Birmingham on Tuesday, lending further credence to Elliott's statement. That improved CFC to 3-0-4 in conference play and helped it draw even with New Orleans heading into tonight's 7:30 match against FC Carolinas at Finley Stadium.
Inclement weather would move tonight's match to Sunday.
"It was very pleasing and gave us all a lot of confidence," Reynolds said Tuesday of his winning shot three nights earlier. "Obviously it was good to get the goal, but if I hadn't scored and somebody else would have, I think it would have been the same result tonight. It gave us confidence, and we came out here tonight confident, knowing that we needed to put some away to get to the top of the table.
"We didn't just want to win; we wanted to make a statement. I think we did that tonight."
That offense finally erupted Tuesday, with four goals in the final 69 minutes of the match. It was the continuation of a May 20 match that was slowed by weather.
"There's no maybe about it. That (goal) was definitely what we needed," said forward Danny Whitehall, who scored his first goal of the season Tuesday. "If it had ended 1-1, it would have been another draw at home, but at 2-1 this could be the turning point of our season.
"Obviously we came out tonight and put four past."
Reynolds said the Nashville win gave the Chattanooga players a feeling that they "got what we deserved."
"It was frustrating that we weren't finishing, but we know we're the best team in the NPSL," Reynolds said. "We knew our talent would shine through. We didn't know when, just that we had to keep working hard at it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.