Chattanooga Red Wolves Face Nashville SC in Open Cup Action
The scrappy USL League One side faces its cross-state MLS counterpart for the first time
For the first time in the teams’ history, Nashville SC and Chattanooga Red Wolves will face off in US Open Cup action on Tuesday. Here’s a quick rundown on what to expect.
The winner of this tie will go on the road to face the winner of the tie between Orlando City SC and Tampa Bay Rowdies FC on either May 20th or 21st.
Match Details
Date: Tuesday, May 6th, 2025
Time: 7PM CST (local), 8PM EST (Chattanooga)
Location: GEODIS Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Head Coaches: Scott Mackenzie (CRW), B.J. Callaghan (NSH)
Nashville SC
This will be Nashville SC’s first US Open Cup game since 2023, after not participating last year. In 2023, Nashville defeated San Antonio FC and FC Dallas before falling to Inter Miami in the Round of 16.
The farthest Nashville has made it in the Open Cup was a quarterfinal appearance in 2022, with victories over Atlanta United and Louisville City leading the Boys in Gold into what would be a loss on penalties to eventual champion Orlando City.
When the club was still competing in what is now USL Championship, they reached the Round of 16 and the Third Round in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
That was Nashville SC 1.0, and a little bit of Nashville Pre-Release Beta.
This incarnation of the club, known internally as “Nashville SC 2.0”, is much different.
This Nashville is built entirely different, and has some shiny new pieces to go with it. Eddi Tagseth, Patrick Yazbek, Gastón Brugman, Bryan Acosta and Matthew Corcoran were brought in to completely restructure the midfield, while Andy Najar and Jeisson Palacios have been tasked with reinforcing the defense.
Up front, not much has changed, though Swedish winger Ahmed Qasem was signed on a U22 initiative contract, and has looked good in spurts this season.
Almost none of the players I just mentioned will feature on Tuesday night, with only a few exceptions. Head coach B.J. Callaghan said the side that drew Atlanta United just three days ago would be rotated, though would not feature any call ups from Huntsville City FC.
Tactically, this team typically defaults somewhere between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-4-2. In terms of players you are likely to see on Tuesday, the leading goalscorer is the aforementioned Qasem, who has two goals on the season so far. Neither Sam Surridge (six goals) or Hany Mukhtar (four) are expected to play, unless something goes terribly wrong.
The starting lineup will likely look something like this, if we had to guess. This changes Nashville’s tactics slightly, as Teal Bunbury profiles different than his first XI counterpart in Surridge, but the overall gameplan shouldn’t change.
Bunbury is excellent at hold up play, even at 34 years old, and his two wingers, in this case Qasem and Jonathan Pérez, should play nicely off of that. Both of these players are also very technical wingers, and can create on their own for others. The midfield three of Brugman, Acosta and Corcoran should be able to act as artillery pieces spraying passes all over the field.
Both fullbacks, Washington and Bauer in this case, are incredibly important to this system as well. Just look at their first XI counterparts, Dan Lovitz (5 G+A) and Andy Najar (4 G+A) who have combined to be responsible for just under half of Nashville’s goals this season.
Their support to the third-man-runs, and tendency to overlap is what makes this system tick.
The two centerbacks, probably Wyatt Meyer and 17-year-old Chris Applewhite, need to make lots of line breaking passes while also recycling possession quickly.
Chattanooga Red Wolves
Chattanooga got here after surviving three scrappy wins in the first three rounds of the tournament, all of which were decided in penalty kicks. First was NJ Alliance, an infamous match in which goalkeeper Jason Smith entered the match as a striker, and took and converted a penalty kick. Chattanooga overcame an early season struggle with injuries and moved on to the next round.
There, they faced cross-town MLS NextPro club Chattanooga FC for the first time ever, in one of the largest attended early round matches in cup history. It was an instant classic, with dozens of storylines about the clubs’ rivalries, with even the mayor of the city taking sides (with Chattanooga FC). The shootout win sent the Red Wolves onto round three, in which USL Championship sides entered.
Again on the road, Chattanooga took down Las Vegas Lights in penalties. Zahir Vasquez provided an open play goal, while Pedro Hernandez converted a penalty to put Chattanooga in the lead before conceding an equalizer. In penalties, Chattanooga converted four, with goalkeeper Ricardo Jérez saving Las Vegas’ final attempt for the win.
In this tournament, Chattanooga relies on a scrappy style of play, both committing and drawing a lot of fouls. If there is a weakness in discipline in its opponent, they will find and exploit it.
Matt Bentley leads the team in goals across all competitions this season, providing three in the regular season and two in the Cup - a brace against NJ Alliance. While he’s not exactly been known as a prolific goal-scorer during his stints with Richmond and now Chattanooga, he does have the ability to be there and take shots. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through.
Bentley is supported by a rotating, relatively young cast that appears to be coming into its own. This includes Johnny Filipe, Joshua Ramos, Omar Hernandez, Zahir Vasquez and Pedro Hernandez.
Defensively, they’re led by Eric Kinzner and Declan Watters, with outside support from Owen Green and sometimes Ramos. Look for a 3-4-2-1 setup, anchored by Kinzner, with Ualefi and Brandon Knapp in defensive and central midfield.
Veteran keeper Jérez has been getting the nod in the tournament, something likely to continue against Nashville. While Smith has also shown strong play in net, head coach Scott MacKenzie will likely go with the experience of Jérez, who has nearly 20 years of professional time in the books, including 63 appearances with the Guatemalan National Team.
Predictions
Alex: While Chattanooga has been a fun side to cheer on as league underdogs, the party will likely end here against a Nashville side looking to prevent an embarrassing upset in the midst of an already inconsistent season. 3-0 Nashville win.
Ronan: Even in a comically rotated side, you would expect Nashville to simply be able to out-talent Chattanooga at basically every spot on the field. I’m not calling for anything like the 7-2 drubbing of Chicago Fire that the Boys in Gold put together, but a comfortable 3-0 or 4-0 win should be on the cards for sure.