Brilliant flashes of what the Chattanooga Red Wolves Soccer Club could be appeared early and in just enough force Saturday night for a 3-2 home victory over Tormenta FC from Statesboro, Georgia.
Landing a trifecta on the net in the first 16 minutes were a pair of Dublin, Ireland, natives: attacking midfielder Steven Beattie and Eamon Zayed.
The Red Wolves survived a late scare as they conceded two scores in the final 20 minutes but hung on in front of 2,113 fans at Chattanooga Christian School's David Stanton Field.
"I told the boys we had to come out firing tonight," said Beattie, who leads the team with three goals this season after scoring in the eighth and 16th minutes against Tormenta. "We have to start quick, especially at home. We cruised for the first 70-plus minutes. The final 20-plus minutes were disappointing, but we hung on."
In the first half Chattanooga worked its way down the sidelines with strength and put together great connections.
Beattie raced several yards ahead of all defenders, timing his run perfectly to finish off a booming assist from versatile left back Vangjel Zguro. The long pass took a major bounce over the keeper, who stepped out from the box to let up an easy first score.
Jonathan Caparelli played a pivotal role early on the right wing for the Red Wolves (2-2). In the 11th minute he broke into the box and flicked a perfect cross to a charging Zayed for a 2-0 lead.
In the blink of an eye, previously unbeaten Tormenta (2-1-2), which came in atop USL League One's website power rankings was in a deep hole.
Making it 3-0, Josue Soto patiently waited and drilled a pass from nearly 30 yards out from the right sideline through two defenders to find Beattie on the back left side. Beattie sent in a bouncing ball just under the diving keeper's arm.
"We were out there flying around the first 45 minutes and scored three great goals," Zayed said. "We caught them by surprise. It was great to see Steven finish off some great passes, too. We are very close on and off the pitch and look to continue a strong connection."
On a chilly night the home attack nearly had chances to score two more times, which included a powerful shot from Conor Doyle to the far right that took a full-out diving stop to prevent.
Beattie was taken out in the 71st minute to a strong ovation but sat nervously on the bench after being pulled for "precautionary" reasons, he said.
Red Wolves keeper Alex Mangels made a stout sliding stop to deny a dangerous through ball in the 83rd minute. Tormenta scored in the 74th and 88th minutes.
In stoppage time, Doyle and Sito Seoane had strong runs downfield to help prevent chances of a draw for an important three points.
"We should not have put ourselves in that position late," Chattanooga coach Tim Hankinson said. "Sometimes you just need to clear the ball out. But to get this win is big. It's important for our guys to thank the fans after every game. Building a strong bond together is key."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.