Chattanooga FC’s Gabriel Torres runs to the crowd to celebrate his first-half goal Saturday night at Finley Stadium. CFC defeated Asheville City SC 4-1 for the NPSL Southeast Conference championship.Finley Stadium continues to be home to one of the National Premier Soccer League giants.
With four goal scorers chipping in for Saturday night’s 4-1 victory over Asheville City SC, the Chattanooga Football Club won its eighth Southeast Conference championship with dominance.
The return to full health for Joao Costa boosted an already stout attack as the “magic man” linked up with captain Juan Hernandez on a steal and score and dished an unselfish assist to Zeca Ferraz to pull away in the second half.
“This group is amazing,” Costa said soon after running with the championship cup and celebrating with CFC fans, who accounted for more than 6,000 in attendance the past two nights. “Every single guy on the roster is a great player, and we are on a mission. This team is special, and we are going to be ready to face Miami FC next.”
CFC (9-2-1) is just one of 16 NPSL teams left standing and faces another quick turnaround in playing Tuesday at Miami FC (9-1) in a region semifinal against a fellow Founders Cup team. Miami has a 48-5 goal differential.