Greenville, SC – From weather to scoring outbursts, the Triumph played their most exciting match, but were unable to stop the Chattanooga Red Wolves and captain Steven Beattie as Greenville fell 3-2 at Chattanooga’s David Stanton Field in the third and final regular season meeting between the two teams.
The Triumph struggled to settle in to the flow of the game in the first half, as the action started before the first whistle with Cameron Saul replacing Max Hemmings in the starting lineup due to an injury suffered in warmups. Greenville created early chances but couldn’t get their attack in sync as they were called for offsides 5 times in the first half.
Chattanooga grabbed an early lead in the 19th minute as captain Steven Beattie headed in an Amirgy Pineda corner that froze the Triumph defense and gave the home side a 1-0 league. Beattie struck again shortly after, as Greenville’s Dominic Boland failed to clear a ball and opened a lane for the veteran to net his second, giving the Red Wolves a 2-0 advantage.
After two goals by Chattanooga, Mother Nature tallied the next strike as storms in the area caused a lightning delay at David Stanton Field that lasted just under two hours. Play resumed just after 9:30 and match stayed 2-0 in favor of the Red Wolves at the half.
The matched seemed lopsided until the 52nd minute, with Greenville breaking through as forward Jake Keegan was able to take advantage of a second opportunity following an Omar Mohamed volley that temporarily displaced Chattanooga keeper Alex Mangels. Keegan came back again moments later in the 62rd minute to clean up a crisp sequence of passes resulting in Cameron Saul serving an easy cross to Keegan in front of the net to help give him his fifth goal of the season and first multi-goal game.
The match didn’t remain on level terms for long, as Beattie came through again for Chattanooga in the 77th minute to break the 2-2 tie with an acrobatic rebound of a Dallas Jaye save to net his third goal on the night, giving him his first hat trick of the season. Greenville was unable to pull level in the final few minutes despite a rush of opportunities, as the Red Wolves hung on to remain undefeated at home.
“I thought we battled back well after the weather delay,” said Head Coach John Harkes. “What concerns me is the work we’re putting in during the week at practice isn’t translating to the first 20-30 minutes of the match and that has to change as we look to next week. Our guys need to step up.”
The Triumph (3-5-4) continue their road trip Friday, June 28 against Orlando City B at 7:00pm. The club will to host a watch party at Local Cue in Greenville starting at 6:30pm. The Triumph will return to Greenville Saturday, July 13th, to take on Orlando City B at 7:00pm at Legacy Early College Field. The Pregame Fan Fest begins at 5:00 pm, gates open at 6:00 pm and kickoff is at 7:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
STATS
Shots:
Greenville – 21, Chattanooga – 8
Possession:
Greenville: 47.1%
Chattanooga: 52.9%
Corners:
Greenville – 5, Chattanooga – 4
Scoring Summary:
CHT: Beattie – 19′, 38′, 77′
GVL: Keegan – 52′, 62′
Misconduct Summary:
CHT: Caparelli (caution) – 59’
GVL: Boland (caution) – 64′, Polak (caution) – 73′, Bermudez (caution) – 88′
Ejection Summary:
N/A
