With his team outshot 20-9 without captain Steven Beattie on the pitch, 40-year coaching veteran Tim Hankinson was straight to the point after the Chattanooga Red Wolves' home unbeaten streak ended at 10 matches.
Saturday at Chattanooga Christian School, the youthful North Texas Soccer Club controlled the tone and possession and won 2-0 to continue its season-long command of first place in USL League One.
"We were outplayed tonight," said Hankinson, who has worked in the MLS and USL Championship. "We were never going tight to the man to disrupt or tackle. When you don't do that against teams like this who are quick and can possess really well, you are going to be chasing all night. We were beat by a team that wanted it more."
Ronaldo Damus put the finishing touches on the revenge win for North Texas (11-4-5) as he scored his league-leading 10th goal in the 87th minute.
The 19-year-old Haitian standout provided comfort after Callum Montgomery cleaned up a deflection by Red Wolves goalkeeper Alex Mangels right in front of the net.
Chattanooga (8-6-7) had only one shot on target and allowed seven.
With a chance to pull within a point or two of first place, the Red Wolves fell to fourth in the standings but did not drop out of the playoff picture thanks to Greenville Triumph and Forward Madison playing to a scoreless draw.
Having a role in more than a third of the team's scores this season, Beattie clearly was missed. He could only helplessly watch in street clothes as he sat out due to yellow-card accumulation.
"Steven is our gutsiest player and is our guy who has the most feel and grit to his game," Hankinson said. "That resonates amongst the players. We didn't have that tonight. He will be back Wednesday, but we have lost Conor (Doyle) for the next game. Other players have to step up and do the job, and we didn't do that tonight."
The Red Wolves had plenty of opportunities off set pieces, which included eight corner kicks and two free kicks from just beyond both sides of the box in the first half.
Left back Vangjel Zguro threatened with crosses that North Texas keeper Carlos Avilez had to make leaping grabs to stop, and Sito Seoane flashed down the sideline on a first-half run denied by Avilez as well.
Defender Nicholas Amponsah's shot off the crossbar in the 70th minute was the only attempt on target for the home team, which will have to make a quick rebound.
With four straight road games ahead, Chattanooga can aid its playoff aspirations with points away from home. That begins Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Statesboro, where the Red Wolves will try to beat South Georgia Tormenta on the road for the second time in 11 days.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.