Match Preview: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC vs. Forward Madison FC
Hosts look to win fourth game in-a-row
Match: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Forward Madison FC
Date: Wednesday, August 6th, 2025. 19:00 (Eastern)
Venue: CHI Memorial Stadium, East Ridge, TN. Capacity: 2,500
How to watch: ESPN+
Tickets: Red Wolves Website
Forward Madison FC travels south to take on the Chattanooga Red Wolves at CHI Memorial Stadium tonight at 7pm (Eastern). A tough assignment for 10th place Madison as they look to score points against one of the league’s most in-form sides, with 2nd place Chattanooga on a six-game unbeaten run.
The Red Wolves (W8 D6 L2 in the league) are on fire. Thanks to goals from Pedro Hernández and Matt Bentley (six each) they’re piling the pressure on first-place Spokane Velocity (who they beat recently) and will leapfrog them with a win tonight in what is a game in-hand. They’ll be confident of overcoming a stuttering Madison outfit, especially at home.
Forward Madison (W3 D8 L5 in the league) are on much patchier form with two wins, a draw, and a loss in their last five. They’re hovering two rungs off the playoff spots, three points off eighth but also only three points off last place (14th) although they have some games in-hand over sides around them. A win over a strong Red Wolves pack tonight would give them an ideal springboard to a playoff charge especially as they head into a four-game homestand.
The History
Chattanooga: P:18 W:4 D:7 L:7
Madison: P:18 W:7 D:7 L:4
Sunday's match will be the nineteenth all-time meeting between the two sides with Madison enjoying the better record with seven wins. These teams last met in late May this year in the Jägermeister Cup at CHI Memorial Stadium. Matt Bentley put the hosts ahead early from a Pedro Hernández cross before a second-half Devin Boyce penalty tied things up after an Owen Green handball in the box. As it was a Cup game, it went to penalties and Joshua Ramos scored the deciding spot-kick for the Red Wolves to win 4-2.
The two sides will meet again this season when the Red Wolves travel to Wisconsin for an October 11th away trip.
Report cards and lineups
Chattanooga
The 2025 season has been one of the Red Wolves' most promising campaigns in club history. The Southeast Soccer Report’s very own Alex Ashton wrote up an excellent piece covering the team’s strong form, which is well worth a read. With an 8-2-6 record and 30 points through the first half of the season, Chattanooga has set a club record for most points through their first 16 league matches of a season. Earlier this week, the Red Wolves announced that Technical Director and Head Coach Scott Mackenzie had extended his contract through the 2026 USL League One season, due reward for such excellent form. The club is coming into Wednesday’s game off a three-game winning bounce after home wins over Spokane (3-0) and Knoxville (1-0) and an away win over Westchester (3-1) last Friday.
I expect Mackenzie to opt for his usual 5-4-1 setup, incorporating three center backs, two fullbacks and a pair of defensive midfielders. He will be happy to let Madison have the ball and soak up attacks with this daunting back-line. For reference, in their recent three wins, the Red Wolves only had 36% possession against Spokane, 27% against Knoxville, and 24% against Westchester. This makes life easier for talented goalkeeper Jason Smith, whose performances have allowed the Red Wolves to boast the most clean sheets in the league (six).
There’s real menace in that Red Wolves’ attack too. When given chances they are adept at taking them as they’ve demonstrated recently by scoring 10 in their last five games. As well as Bentley and Pedro Hernández, there’s goals to be found from Zahir Vazquez and Omar Hernández.
The most consistent performer is center-back Declan Watters. The Irishman has played and started more games (16) and played more minutes (1,440) than anyone else in the side. He appears to be the heart of Chattanooga’s defense-led surge this season.
Madison
Head Coach Matt Glaeser has been very consistent in his squad selections of recent. The Mingos typically put out a 3-4-2-1 formation as they did in their last three games against Tormenta (1-0 win), Birmingham Legion (2-1 loss) and AV Alta (0-0 draw). That tie against Antelope Valley was an impressive display as they held only 37% possession but dominated in shots (9-6), shots on target (3-1), and big chances (1-0). It was a performance similar to what the Red Wolves often offer, which should make tonight’s game interesting.
In goal, Bernd Schipmann was the only keeper to sustain multiple clean sheets across weeks 21 and 22 of league play, helping Madison shut out Tormenta and AV Alta. The former Philippines international tallied 18 recoveries, 13 completed long passes, four saves, three clearances, and led all goalkeepers in goals conceded below expected (-1.44). Yesterday, he was named in the USL League One Team of the Week for week 21/22.
Captain Derek Gebhard leads his side in league goals scored. The Maine-native has five goals this season, as well as one assist. Colombian attacker Juan Galindrez has taken 15 shots this season, in 16 games, but has just one goal to his name. He’s a former Red Wolf, having spent 2021 and 2022 in the Scenic City.
Austrian defender Jake Krull is the Declan Watters of Madison. The 27-year-old has played and started 15 games and played 1,350 minutes this season. He’s a key part of a defense that has only conceded 17 goals in 16 games in 2025 in USL League One. Only three sides (Spokane, Chattanooga, and Knoxville) have conceded less.
Analysis and Predictions
It’s really hard to look beyond Chattanooga in terms of predicting an outcome for this match. They’re the home side, are better on paper, have a better overall record and a better home record (3-3-2) than Madison’s away record (1-3-3), and are on a blistering run at present.
Having said that, it’s no guarantee. Madison are, similar to Chattanooga, tightly bound at the back. If they can keep it tight tonight, there’s a chance they could score a tie.
Nonetheless, I’m going for a home win, 2-0.
Madison has also added some depth on the back line recently. The brought Ereku in on loan, and he's had a couple of nice starts, and then they just brought back Ramos, who's a bruiser back there.