Huntsville City FC banished its regular season demons by finally putting to the sword a Chattanooga FC side that had become something of a bogey team in 2025. After three losses in three games to their rivals from Tennessee, Huntsville would finally win when it mattered, posting a convincing 2-0 win away from home on Sunday night to march on to the MLS Next Pro Eastern Conference Semi-Final.
Goals from Philip Mayaka and Christian Koffi in each half capped off a dominant performance in which Huntsville possessed more of the ball (62%-38%) and outgunned their hosts in shots (13-8) and shots on target (5-2). Chattanooga, for all their hard work, always looked second-best and struggled to take a grip of the game.
A huge crowd of 4,732 including an impressively large and loud gaggle of fans from Huntsville witnessed an entertaining Sunday evening game that will serve as another installment in a growing rivalry between these two cities.
Chattanooga Lineup
Head Coach Chris Nugent went with his best XI (injury permitting) as he looked to extend Chattanooga’s run into the playoffs. The only surprise in the squad was the return of Algerian attacker Ameziane Sid Mohand. Coming from Columbus Crew 2 and signed to a one-year contract with a club option for a further year, the 21-year-old has barely featured this season due to injury. Otherwise, it was a largely ‘as you were’ team-sheet.
Huntsville Lineup
Well, I’m gonna pat myself on the back here. I correctly predicted ten of the 11 starters for Huntsville here.
The one I got wrong was in goal, as Chris O’Neal rolled out US Open Cup Champion Brian Schwake. He started behind a back four of Tyshawn Rose, Zach Barrett, Chris Applewhite and Jordan Knight.
In midfield, as always, it was Philip Mayaka paired with Pep Casas, supporting a front four of Maximus Ekk, Damien Barker John, Alan Carleton and Christian Koffi.
Ethan O’Brien and Gio Miglietti were the only two names called upon from the bench.
Between The Whistles
As stated above, it was Huntsville that controlled most of the attacking play throughout the game. Chattanooga was limited to rarer forays into attack and only managed three shots on target, all easily dealt with by Brian Schwake.
Not that CFC didn’t have their chances, and one in particular on 20 minutes would provide the game’s only controversial point. A superb long throw into Huntsville’s box by Callum Watson was met by the head of Nathan Koehler who fed it right into the middle of the box, a yard in front of the goal-line. It bounced close to CFC’s Milo Garvanian and Yuval Cohen before bumbling out to Luke Husakiwsky who smashed it into the net. The home crowd were elated but referee Elvis Osmanovic, from his vantage point outside the box, deemed it a handball by either Cohen or Garvanian. It’s hard to see that on the replay with only one camera. But it is notable that the assistant referee didn’t appear to signal anything, nor does it seem like the ball’s movement was changed by any hand ball. In fact, Cohen might be aggrieved that he was fouled by a Huntsville defender when the alleged handball took place. Whatever the truth of the matter, the goal was disallowed, and that may have changed the game.
Huntsville made their dominance count in the 42nd minute when Christian Koffi, in the Chattanooga box and despite being pressed by four CFC players, found Philip Mayaka with a tidy little pass. Mayaka was completely unmarked and allowed two touches to put a shot past Eldin Jakupović. 1-0 to Huntsville and just before half-time. The goal was probably coming, but the defensive effort from CFC should have been better.
Chattanooga was still in the game, albeit less industrious in attack than their visitors, for much of the tie. That was until Koffi got a goal of his own on 76 minutes. Collecting the ball on the left wing, he dribbled into the box, wrong footing Farid Sar-Sar and got off a wicked shot into Jakupović’s near post that the Swiss international didn’t expect. An excellent goal to cap off an excellent performance for Koffi, and his 11th goal of the season.
CFC were beaten. Huntsville were triumphant, deservedly. They march on.
The Numbers
Chattanooga FC
Shots: 8
Shots on goal: 3
Possession: 38%
Corners: 6
Huntsville City FC
Shots: 13
Shots on goal: 6
Possession: 62%
Corners: 10
Analysis
Philip Farrell: I think Chattanooga’s luck, when it comes against Huntsville, ran out on Sunday. They’d frustrated their opponents in the previous three games, coming away with some unlikely, and closely fought wins, against the run-of-play. You felt on Sunday that doing so a fourth time would be tough, and that CFC would need to find a way to outplay Huntsville.
That didn’t happen, and the team from Alabama demonstrated that although they’d finished a place below Chattanooga in the regular season table, they’re likely the better side. Even Chattanooga’s set pieces, often so devastating from Tate Robertson and Daniel Mangarov were blunt and its excellent defensive wall of Jakupović, Sar-Sar, and Koehler was finally toppled.
Huntsville deserved their win, they deserve to go to the Semi-Finals, and I think a lot of fans in Chattanooga will wish them well, even root for them against northern opposition.
For Chattanooga, it’s the end of a season of three parts. Spring was their high-point and for a while they looked like the best team in the league. Summer was their low point, where wins looked impossible. At that time, them even making the playoffs, let alone hosting seemed unlikely. Autumn came, and with it a tough resiliency that saw them battle to wins. But one felt that those performances might not be enough in knock-out soccer.
Ronan Briscoe: I may have correctly predicted the lineup (mostly), but I could not have been more wrong about the game script. Don’t get me wrong, Huntsville still dominated the ball and had most of the best chances of the game, but this game was different.
We talked about how in the first three matchups, both teams played sort of strength-on-strength. Chattanooga wants to play without the ball, Huntsville wants to play with it. That game script in theory favored both teams, and it was easy for both teams to fall into.
Huntsville forced Chattanooga to play a bit more straight up in this one, giving the hosts their highest share of the ball in any of the four matchups these teams played this season.
I think that broke up the defensive rhythm and structure for Chattanooga just enough to generate a couple of great chances, and then also Huntsville benefitted from a really great solo goal from Christian Koffi.
I really don’t know if Chattanooga’s opener was a handball, we don’t have a good enough camera angle, but that’s a really brave call to make in a playoff game to me, and it didn’t result in a goal until after the whistle anyway.
Box Score
Chattanooga FC v Huntsville City FC
MLS Next Pro
Venue: Finley Stadium | Chattanooga, TN
Final Score: Chattanooga 0-2 Huntsville
Attendance: 4,732
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Scoring summary:
42’: P. Mayaka (HNT)
76’: C. Koffi (HNT)
Discipline:
22’: A. García (CFC) - foul, yellow card
38’: A. Carleton (HNT) - foul, yellow card
54’: D. Barker John (HNT) - foul, yellow card
66’: F. Sar-Sar (CFC) - foul, yellow card
78’: P. Casas (HNT) - foul, yellow card
Line-ups:
Chattanooga FC (4-3-3): Eldin Jakupović; Milo Garvanian, Farid Sar-Sar (C), Nathan Koehler, Tate Robertson; Luke Husakiwsky (Steeve Louis Jean 74’), Gavin Turner, Callum Watson; Daniel Mangarov (Ameziane Sid Mohand 74’), Anthony García (Keegan Ancelin 62’), Yuval Cohen
Substitutes not used: Michael Barrueta, Logan Brown, Ethan Dudley, Nick Mendonca, Markus Naglestad, Xavier Rimpel
Huntsville City FC (4-2-3-1): Brian Schwake; Tyshawn Rose, Christian Applewhite, Zach Barrett (C), Jordan Knight; Pep Casas, Philip Mayaka; Christian Koffi, Alan Carleton, Damien Barker John (Ethan O’Brien 69’); Maximus Ekk (Gio Miglietti 78’)
Substitutes not used: Erik Lauta, Blake Bowen, Kevin Carmichael, Gabriel Alonso, Moisés Véliz, Real Gill, Gunnar Studenhofft
Head Coach: Chris O’Neal