Chattanooga Red Wolves center back Leo Folla, right, played a key role in the team’s strong defensive performance in a 1-0 home win against Madison Forward FC last Saturday.Leo Folla’s first appearance for the Chattanooga Red Wolves Soccer Club came in the team’s second game of its inaugural season. It was the Red Wolves’ first at home, though – and it also resulted in their first victory.
Folla started at center back against Forward Madison (Wisconsin) FC last Saturday at Chattanooga Christian School’s David Stanton Field, and he helped key the historic 1-0 win in front of a near-sellout crowd of 3,527.
One key play occurred early in the first half when Folla and Andrew Moullin chased down streaking Madison forward Paulo Junior to deny a powerful shot from the right side several yards into the box. Folla went on to win several key duels late and make several strong clearances.
“We have the foundation down defensively,” said Folla, a 24-year-old native New Yorker. “I like to use my body and be physical. It was huge for us to bounce back like we did and post a shutout. The defensive side of the field is the most important, and we cleaned our game up a lot from our first match.”
The Red Wolves, who lost their season opener 3-2 at North Texas SC on March 30, will play their second road match Saturday night at 7 against Greenville Triumph SC (1-1) at Legacy Early College. The South Carolina team won its home opener last Saturday, 2-1 against Lansing (Michigan) Ignite FC.