Greenville, SC – The Greenville Triumph rallied to a 1-1 draw on the road against the second-place Chattanooga Red Wolves after going down 1-0 midway through the first half. Marios Lomis added one more to his 2021 goal tally, as he netted his league-leading 12th on the year with an assist from Aaron Walker.
Set pieces proved to be problematic for Greenville again this match with Chattanooga netting a first-half goal on a free kick steps outside of the 18-yard box. Red Wolves captain, Carrera-Garcia was on the ball and caught a deflection that sent his right-footed strike passed the shaded Dallas Jaye and into the back of the net.
The first half did see quite a few Greenville giveaways and some questionable fouls in dangerous parts of the field, something head coach John Harkes has commented on several times this season regarding his team’s performances. Despite the shakiness, the Triumph continued to hang on and drive the game forward while playing from behind.
Greenville was able to get one back in the 59th minute to draw level. It was Alex Morrell’s left-footed service that jetted out to captain Aaron Walker on the right side. Walker served a deft cross in that found the clinical Lomis at the top of the box. A class finish always, Lomis netted his 12th goal on the season and evened the match at one.
“What a quality service from Aaron Walker,” said head coach John Harkes. “Walker drives our game, as did Andrew Booth tonight especially in the second half. And then a brilliant finish from Marios. He made a difficult finish look very easy,” said Harkes.
“That was a fight,” said Harkes. “A solid point in a tough environment. We went after them in the second half. The tactical change we made really allowed us to free up some space, but we should not concede that free kick. We should not concede that goal. But I’m proud of our team for responding in the way that they did,” he continued. “Yes, we gave away a silly free kick, but tactically we controlled the game and the team worked so hard tonight. So, I love to see the sacrifice and the resilience. It shows how quality of a team we are.”
Don Smart put in a good shift on the night before coming off with an injury midway through the second half. Smart’s exit returned a rested Max Hemmings to the field, who missed his first match of the 2021 season last weekend on injury. Lachlan McLean also saw his return from injury after several matches as the 2020 leading goal scorer replaced Alex Morrell with under 10 minutes to play and the match tied at one. The 4-3-3 formation shift was enough to give Greenville some momentum through the remaining minutes, but the Triumph would settle for a point on the night against a very tough Chattanooga side.
Triumph SC remains on the road next week as they head north of the border to face Toronto FC II for the first time since the 2019 season on Friday, July 30 before returning home on August 7 for another look at South Georgia Tormenta FC.
