Chattanooga Football Club out of playoffs with 2-1 loss to Inter Nashville [photos]

Chattanooga FC forward Felipe Oliveira (20) reacts on the bench after falling to Inter Nashville FC 2-1 in a play-in match for the NPSL Southeast Conference semifinals at Finley Stadium on Tuesday, July 11, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chattanooga FC forward Felipe Oliveira (20) reacts on the bench after falling to Inter Nashville FC 2-1 in a play-in match for the NPSL Southeast Conference semifinals at Finley Stadium on Tuesday, July 11, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Three times this National Premier Soccer League season, Chattanooga Football Club and Inter Nashville FC faced off, and each time the final score was 2-1. Inter Nashville won the last two, including Tuesday night at Finley Stadium in a Southeast Conference playoff match.

"Nashville is good, we knew that," Chattanooga FC coach Bill Elliott said after his team gave up two goals in the final 20 minutes. "They've got some of the maturity and composure and resilience that we have had in the past."

CFC netted the first goal of the night in the last minute before halftime, on a penalty kick from Leo De Smedt.

But Nashville showed its resilience. As CFC held the 1-0 lead past the midpoint of the second half, the visitors found a crack in the armor in the 70th minute as Jose Alberto Castellanos Cordova pulled CFC goalkeeper Paulo Pito out to allow an opening for the tying goal.

And according to Elliott, that was the beginning of the end for CFC, saying this moment gave Nashville a lifeline and took the wind from CFC.

"We made a mistake in the back and gave them new life again," Elliott said. "Their first goal was a mistake we shouldn't have made, and when you give a mature, resilient team like Nashville a lifeline, they are going to take advantage of it."

And in the 76th minute, Nashville scored the goal that CFC didn't come back from.

Following the loss Elliott pointed out that a big part of the competition in the NPSL Southeast can be attributed to CFC's deep playoff runs in recent years.

"There is a lot of parity in the league. Everybody around the league, due to our success, has had to raise the bar and raise their level, and I think that has happened this year," Elliott said. "You see it with Nashville, Memphis and many of the other teams, and I think that is due to the success in what we have done. Teams have gotten better, so it is a very competitive league with a lot of parity right now."

Even though CFC's 2017 playoff run is over with a 5-2-5 season record, the team will be back at Finley Stadium next Wednesday to host Asheville City SC. That, Elliott said, is an opportunity to go out well as the season comes to an official close.

"That is a chance for Chattanooga to maybe say goodbye to a couple of the aging players," Elliott said. "Then, a chance for us to continue to groom some of the young guys to pick back up for us next May."

Contact Tori McElhaney at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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