Chattanooga Football Club’s Luke Winter and his teammates are hosting the NASL Atlanta Silverbacks in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup tonight at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga FC’s John Carrier stops the ball ahead of Atlanta’s Mike Randolph during their U.S. Open Cup match against the Silverbacks on Wednesday at Finley Stadium.Speed kills. So does talent.
When both were combined on the pitch Wednesday night, it was too much for the Chattanooga Football Club to overcome.
The Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League strung together a pretty workmanlike 5-0 victory over the hosts in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup in front of 4,058 fans at Finley Stadium. With the win, the Silverbacks advance to the next round, where they will host Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.
Chattanooga returns to the pitch Saturday when they travel to face the Knoxville Force.
CFC (3-2-1) had become the first amateur team to win an Open Cup match on May 14 when they defeated the Wilmington Hammerheads of the United States Professional League. The Silverbacks — coached by international soccer legend Eric Wynalda — posed a much more potent challenge with their speed and technical skill at all levels of the field. If the hosts made a mistake, the visitors capitalized on it. Meanwhile, the chances created by CFC were few and far between.