Red Wolves go top
Supersub Vazquez nabs three points over stubborn Madison
The Chattanooga Red Wolves moved up to first place in USL League One last night after a hard-fought 2-1 win against a competitive Forward Madison. Goals from Omar Hernández and the man who replaced him, Zahir Vazquez, either side of a record-breaking strike by Madison’s Derek Gebhard sealed all three wins for the Red Wolves and another masterclass from Head Coach Scott Mackenzie.
Fresh from being announced as USL League One Coach of the Month for July, Mackenzie put out a team tonight that again were happy to sacrifice possession, shore up pressure and hit on the break. Chattanooga had only 27% possession across the 90 minutes yet managed to roughly match their visitors in chances created.
The first 45 minutes saw the hosts test the Forward Madison defense relentlessly. Multiple goal attempts from Matt Bentley and Omar Hernández in particular threatened but failed to beat Wallis Lapsley in the away goal. Ghanian full-back Jordan Ayimbilla was lively, attempting a number of charges up the left-wing that created a little chaos for Michael Chilaka and co in the Mingos defense.
At the other end, former Red Wolf Juan Galindrez had a number of opportunities but was largely ineffective. He was taken off after an hour. A moment of farce hit the game on 41 minutes when Madison Head Coach Matt Glaeser was shown a straight red card by referee Alejo Calume, seemingly for throwing the ball away after he’d caught it going out for a throw. Glaeser pleaded his innocence, often theatrically for the benefit of and directly to the jumbotron before he was finally removed.
Despite the back-and-forth action, the teams remained deadlocked, heading into the locker room with the score tied 0-0.
After the second half began it was Forward Madison who looked livelier, holding possession and creating chances. Ferrety Sousa and Garrett McLaughlin both went close but it was the Red Wolves who ended up breaking the deadlock.
A long forward pass from captain Ualefi on 54 minutes cut through the Madison backline, finding Bentley running into the box. Under pressure from an outrushing Lapsley he delivered a pass back across the box toward a charging Omar Hernández, who got to the ball ahead of Madison midfielder John Murphy and with one touch, struck the ball sweetly to give the Red Wolves a 1-0 lead.
Both sides began emptying the benches across the following twenty minutes and fresh legs brought fresh chances. Bentley went close several times and was unlucky not to have a goal last night. Madison began piling on pressure as chances fell to Murphy, Damià Viader, Lucca Dourado, Jake Crull, and Timmy Mehl. But it was captain Derek Gebhard, who came on as a substitute after an hour who tied the game. After a succession of corners and throw-ins in the Red Wolves’ half, a magnificent long throw from Chilaka on 78 minutes found the head of McLaughlin who fed it to the back post where both Gebhard and Viader were criminally unmarked. Gebhard slotted home with a left-footed half-volley. Mackenzie will have been furious with how McLaughlin’s header seemingly frazzled his defenders leaving two men unmarked in the box.
Forward Madison nearly took the lead a number of times in the final twelve minutes and looked more likely to find a winner. However, after Owen Green hit the bar with a late header, the Red Wolves seemingly found a second-wind. A late late counter-attack saw substitutes Joshua Ramos and Aaron Lombardi work the ball up the field through a sequence of excellent one-touch passing down the right wing. This weaving play eventually found fellow substitute Pedro Hernández in the box. He rounded Lapsley and fed the ball back where an unmarked Zahir Vazquez slammed it into an empty net. A wonderful team goal, with all of Chattanooga’s substitutes involved. Perfection.
The Red Wolves now leapfrog Spokane Velocity into first place and look a strong bet for a title tilt in 2025. The team to watch!
Match takeaways
Although on the losing side, it was a momentous night for Forward Madison club captain Derek Gebhard. The 29-year-old out of Blue Hill, Maine was already the club’s record appearance holder (140 games, now 141) and record goal assist (12) coming into tonight’s game. After his 78th minute strike tonight he becomes Madison’s top goalscorer of all time, surpassing Christian Chaney’s 23 goals and onto 24. A great night for the attacker in his fifth season with the Mingos.
What a performance from Scott Mackenzie. This team’s ability to win games with the bare minimum of possession is really impressive and they continue to sting sides that hold onto the ball. Nobody seems to have figured out how to beat them. Not only were the Red Wolves expertly set-up last night, but the substitutes he made were genius. All four of them (Joshua Ramos, Aaron Lombardi, Pedro Hernández, and Zahir Vazquez) combined to provide Chattanooga’s winning goal. He’s on his way to Coach of the Season.
My thanks to Jason Jensen for the images in this story. You can see more of Jason’s work on his Instagram.
Box Score
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC - Forward Madison FC
USL League One
Venue: CHI Memorial Stadium | East Ridge, TN
Attendance: 2,025
Final Score: Chattanooga 2-1 Madison
Referee: Alejo Calume
Scoring summary:
54’: O. Hernández (CRW)
78’: D. Gebhard (MAD)
90+4’: Z. Vazquez (CRW)
Discipline:
9’: D. Boyce (MAD) - foul, yellow
41’: M. Glaeser (MAD) - poor sportsmanship, red
45+1’: D. Watters (CRW) - foul, yellow
52’: O. Green (CRW) - foul, yellow
67’: D. Viader (MAD) - foul, yellow
73’: M. Bentley (CRW) - foul, yellow
90’: W. Wessels (CRW) - foul, yellow
Man of the Match: Omar Hernández (CRW) - was a constant threat to Madison in thre first half and took his goal brilliantly.
Line-ups:
Chattanooga Red Wolves (5-4-1): Jason Smith; Jordan Ayimbila, Owen Green, Declan Watters, Eric Kinzner, Kimball Jackson (Joshua Ramos 65’); Ualefi (C), Wynand Wessels, Matt Bentley (Aaron Lombardi 77’), Omar Hernández (Zahir Vazquez 77’); Greyson Mercer (Pedro Hernández 65’)
Substitutes not used: Ricardo Jérez, Anthony Jin, Tobi Jnohope, Yanis Lelin, Alhassan Alhassan
Head Coach: Scott Mackenzie
Forward Madison (3-4-2-1): Wallis Lapsley; Jake Crull, Timmy Mehl, Michael Chilaka; Damià Viader, Isaac Angking (Aiden Mesias 61’), John Murphy, Ferrety Sousa (C) (Nico Brown 74’); Garrett McLaughlin (Chris Garcia 87’), Devin Boyce (Derek Gebhard 62’); Juan Galindrez (Lucca Dourado 61’)
Substitutes not used: Bernd Schipmann, Jason Ramos
Head Coach: Matt Glaeser
Next Games
• August 9th, 19:00 (ET): Union Omaha v Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Werner Park, Omaha, NE (USL League One)
• August 9th, 20:00 (ET): Forward Madison FC v One Knoxville SC, Breese Stevens Field, Madison, WI (USL League One)