In his 131st appearance for the Chattanooga Football Club, defender Tate Robertson ignited a second-half assault on goal that secured the club’s first appearance in an MLS Next Pro conference final.
Robertson curled a 30-yard free kick perfectly inside the right post as the CT United FC keeper could not cover enough ground in time to prevent the first of what would be three goals for Chattanooga FC from the 61st to the 83rd minute during a 3-1 win in Sunday’s Eastern Conference semifinal in front of 3,051 at Finley Stadium.
“That moment right there is why you play the game,” Robertson said. “I just saw the goalie a little too far right. I think he was playing the cross. So I just shot it and let the chips fall where they may. I am lucky enough that it went in. Maybe that was the spark the team needed to see one go.
“We of course got two more, and the crowd was brilliant. They are brilliant all the time. We can’t do it without them. Just to give them that little extra oomph to get us over the line is very important to us.”
Second-seeded CFC (17-6-7) will host the fourth-seeded Columbus Crew II (16-9-5) at 5 p.m. next Sunday.