Our very first match the against NPSL newcomer Georgia Revolution in Conyers last Saturday did not end in the desired result. The 1-1 draw was a better outcome than an outright loss would’ve been, but it still leaves the door open for other teams in the Southeast to have hopes winning the region over Chattanooga FC.
A quick game recap:
Chattanooga FC started off slow, allowing the Revs’ top scorer a wide open shot at the top of the box in the third minute of play — resulting in a goal and a blemish on Thomas Hunter‘s outstanding reputation (3 goals allowed in 8 NPSL games). The home team — bolstered by this fortuitous turn of events — grew in confidence and pushed hard for a second goal for the next 10 minutes. After that, CFC seemed to find our feet and started to make opportunities in the attacking third of the field — Chris Ochieng had two great chances (ones where we cannot believe he did not score!) before finally making his most difficult prospect into a goal (chesting the ball to his feet between two defenders at the top of the box and coolly slotting it home around the 33rd minute). For the last 15 minutes the play opened up and there was a good bit of back and forth.
The 1-1 scoreline remained intact as the teams headed into the break.
CFC looked sharper and more organized coming out of halftime. The Revolution created a few dangerous plays, but Thomas Hunter rose to the occasion on two great saves (one a header and another a fantastic free kick), and the good old post came to the rescue on a final attempt in the waning minutes of the game. Meanwhile on the other end, CFC had at least 5 great opportunities to score, but came up empty on all of them. Substitutes came on en masse: Luke Winter had two notable chances as did Julian Algeier, but alas, nothing came to fruition. A draw was all we could muster.
Worth noting:
The exact same woman referee from the Silverbacks game in Atlanta (the very one who allowed the goal after the ball was headed out of Thomas Hunter’s hands!) completely ignored a blatant shove in the back in the box: Julian Algeier got past all the defenders and was heading to the 6 when he was shouldered directly in the back, knocking him to the ground. The defender was not shoulder-to-shoulder, nor did he have any fair play on the ball, yet somehow she deemed Julian was flopping. Mighty poor officiating and very good homecooking.
But if that’s what you need to get a tie (not even a win) Georgia, then you are in for a world of hurt when you come up to Chatty this Satty. We will beat you. Because last Saturday we were missing some starters: notably forward Mark Sherrod and defender Nickson Odeny. Oh, and you’ll have 2,000-plus screaming fans cheering against you!
Oh, and our Man-of-the-Match is Chris Ochieng for the equalizer goal.
What this means to our Region Title hunt:
CFC rests on 17 points, still 5 ahead of the Georgia Revolution. If the Revs beat us and win their last game, they would have 18, so we would still need to win one more to beat them and win the region. If we tie or beat them, they can’t reach us.
The Atlanta Silverbacks Reserves won against Rocket City 1-0 on a PK, so they have 14 with two games left. It is unlikely that they will win down in Jacksonville, but in theory they could still get to 20 points if they win out, so CFC needs one more win to seal the deal, since our tie and win over them in head-to-head would give us the league title with 20 points. And if JUFC beats Atlanta, the best they could hope for is to tie our current 17 points and still lose on head-to-head.
Then there’s the outside chance that Jacksonville could get to 18 by winning both of their last games, in which case CFC would need at least a tie out of our last two games — but that’s cutting it close as we would win by total goal differential or by a +1 goal differential in our head-to-head competition.
And with all of this we are not mentioning that our last game of the season is at the struggling Knoxville Force (1 win, 1 draw and 6 losses) — a likely (but not certain) 3 points. So it is possible for CFC to lose this Saturday and still win the region. But we would rather have that game not matter by winning this Saturday!
Chattahooligans: let’s turn out the fans for the biggest attendance yet this Saturday and cheer Chattanooga FC to victory and another trip to the NPSL National Semifinal!
I don’t think head-to-head is the first tie-breaker. I think goal differentials is used instead. So, if we win just once more, and Atlanta wins out with a combined net margin of 4 more goals than we gain, Atlanta would steal the division. Unlikely, but considering they’re coming up against the two teams they’ve previously netted the most points against, it could happen.
Good point El Conductor — we should find out exactly how the NPSL would determine a tie-break first before making too many guesses at scenarios… A conversation with coaches led us to believe it was head-to-head first.
Even on Goal Differential: CFC currently has a +7 margin to Atlanta’s +4…
Our source at the NPSL says they decide by head-to-head competition first… That\’s if they follow the guide book!
If they really wanted to be fair, they’d determine tie-breakers by which teams’ coaches HAVEN’T been tossed from games/ escorted off-field by police.