The Chattanooga Football Club’s quest for an elusive first National Premier Soccer League title is going to have to continue for one more year.
Yet CFC’s journey to this season’s national semifinals was another step in the team’s growth.
It was a year that featured 13 wins and two ties that resulted in advancement due to shootout victories, as well as a No. 1 ranking in the country that aided in the program’s fourth consecutive Southeast Conference championship and third straight South region title.
The average attendance at matches this summer was 4,819, with the total of 12,251 at Saturday’s match against the Sonoma County Sol – which CFC lost 2-1 – the second-largest turnout in team history.
“It was a really good year,” CFC head coach Bill Elliott said Saturday. “We achieved a lot. We weren’t quite as prolific scoring goals as in the past, but it was a great summer. The team really bonded, and all the players had an incredible experience here in Chattanooga this summer and the fans seemed to enjoy the entertainment value of the tickets, so all in all, there were a lot of positives.”
CFC played Saturday’s match without leading scorer Luke Winter, who had 10 goals this season. Winter was stuck in Washington, D.C., after a storm canceled his flight Saturday morning.
The team scored 42 goals in 2016, which included 10 matches in which it either scored one goal or was held scoreless. That was down from 2015’s seven matches with one goal (without ever being shut out) and 53 total goals scored.
That put a lot more pressure on defensive players this season. They were up to the challenge for much of the schedule, posting nine shutouts and even chipping in with seven of the team’s goals, but CFC’s overall inability to finish in key spots finally came to a head late Saturday night when it couldn’t hang on to a one-goal lead it had held for nearly 75 minutes of match time.
Elliott said that while everybody wants to return to the team in 2017, that “you never really know with young men this age” about final decisions, which won’t be made until January or February.
“Some will get offered jobs or pro contracts,” Elliott said.
“We’ll keep going, working in the offseason and charging towards that ever-elusive national title.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@ timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.
