Greenville overcomes Chattanooga 1-0
A late penalty kick from co-captain Aaron Walker carried the Greenville Triumph Soccer Club to a 1-0 win against the Chattanooga Red Wolves on Saturday night at Legacy Early College. The victory was the first league win on the young season for Triumph SC, who pushed its’ record to 1-2-1.
The home side struggled to convert opportunities in the first 25 minutes, but was able to find its’ chemistry after settling in. Greenville led the match in possession, as they kept driving at Chattanooga’s goal in the first half without success. Fouls erupted on both sides early, creating frustration among the players in a physical match. After having numerous opportunities in the box, Greenville walked away scoreless against Chattanooga after the first 45 minutes.
Determined to pressure Chattanooga, Greenville increased their speed of play and pressed high on the defense in the second half. As the fouls continued. Greenville found its’ opportunity in the 79th minute when Evan Lee was taken down in the box by a Chattanooga player and the referee issued a penalty kick. Veteran Aaron Walker lined up to the spot and sunk the goal to put Greenville in the lead. In the final ten minutes, Chattanooga threw everything at Greenville, attempting shot after shot to earn a last-minute goal to equalize. A Greenville squad hungry for a win held strong, though, as keeper Paul Christensen punched the ball away in the waning seconds to secure the win for Greenville.
Greenville will travel to Central Valley Fuego next Saturday, May 7th, then return home to play Forward Madison, May 13th in another Friday 7:00 pm match.
Quotes:
Evan Lee, defender: “I think we came out with a good attitude today to start off the game. I mean, we struggled a little bit in the final third to get some shots on target but to get that penalty for Aaron – I mean he’s gonna make It, he’s money – and then to close it out and earn a shut out at home to back on track is huge. It’s what we needed, and they’re a team that’s known for scoring late goals but I don’t think we approach extra time any different than we do the rest of the game. We’ve been talking a lot about finishing that last 1% in training…we’re very close in every single game and we just have to finish that 1% and when we do that we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Aaron Walker, midfielder: “I think the whole game we were kind of knocking on the door, but we didn’t really have a lot to show for it and to be able to get an opportunity like [the penalty] is big. Tough breaks so far this year and I feel like we finally got one, and credit to my teammates for believing in me and letting me step up and be able to put it away. We had a lot of dangerous moments tonight. I think we’re getting there in the final third, we’re starting to turn the corner defensively. We were so solid as well shout out to the back line.”
John Harkes, head coach: “Credit to Chattanooga, I mean they’re always a difficult side and even though I thought we ran the game in the beginning part stages of it. To be honest with you, the focus was there throughout the whole game and I love that part and it was even good to give opportunities to other players to come in and show what they can do as well, so you always you think about getting the result number one but you also want to get some other players on the field so they have the experience and then to continue that on throughout the season.”
