Chattanooga Football Club fell 4-1 to Crown Legacy FC in a Southeast Division match in MLS NEXT Pro at the Mecklenburg Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina on Wednesday night.
Crown Legacy scored all four goals in the first half, but the Boys in Blue put in a strong showing in the second half and found a goal through substitute Jalen James late on after superb work down the right channel from Taylor Gray.
The result is only CFC's second defeat of the season, and the Boys in Blue will remain top of the Southeast Division regardless of the remaining results in Matchweek 10.
Chattanooga FC will now look to remain unbeaten at home when it faces Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, May 25th at 7:00 p.m. ET at Finley Stadium. Tickets are on sale now. The match will be part of a double-header as Chattanooga FC Women will have its home opener the day before on May 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Finley Stadium. Tickets are on sale here.
Notes
- Rod Underwood selected an unchanged line-up from the 2-1 win at Inter Miami II
- Taylor Gray now leads the league in assists (6)
- Jalen James scored his fourth goal of the season, bringing him level with team-mates Jesus Ibarra and Alex McGrath on the season
Coach's Corner
Sporting Director and Head Coach Rod Underwood gave his reaction to the defeat.
"Obviously the scoreline is not complimentary," said Underwood. "We didn't start the game well and didn't do the things we needed to do, but we just have to move forward now. There's a lot to work on. There's a lot to work on every game. We're not satisfied with this, and we know with the position that we're in, teams are coming to knock us off. We need to learn that the more you're on top and in positive positions, the more people are going to come after you. We didn't react well to that tonight, but I don't have negatives to say about my guys. I trust these guys. I trust that they will show up and work hard for us. It just wasn't our night tonight. We had a talk in the locker room and I think they'll be ready to go when it's time to get back at training."
On his message to the players after the match:
"The general message was that we need to be a team. We need to fight for each other and work hard for each other and do everything for each other. That's something we always harp on—unity when the tough gets going. We need to keep building that. We've played 11 games in eight weeks and some of these guys haven't been here eight weeks yet, so we're still building a team. In a lot of ways, we've achieved some things that maybe have come a little early. We get knocked down, and now we get a chance to come back and say, 'This is who we really are.'"
On the challenge of staying at the top and dealing with more attention from teams around the league:
"These teams are always prepared. These teams have resources, lots of staff, and they're prepared. We need to be prepared for that."
On Gray's performance and leading the league in assists:
"I expect a lot from Taylor. I think Taylor's a good player. His mindset is really improving. That was a good individual play for him to set up Jalen."
Box Score:
Crown Legacy FC (3-3-3D, 2SOW, 14 pts.) - Chattanooga FC (5W-2L-3D, 2SOW, 20 pts.)  
Sportsplex at Matthews | Matthews, N.C.
Final Score:
CLFC: 4
CFC: 1
Scoring Summary:
CLFC: Ben Bender 6'
CLFC: Dylan Sing 14'
CLFC: Nick Scardina 22'
CLFC: Ben Bender 45'+1
CFC: Jalen James 77'
Discipline:
CFC: Anatolie Prepelita (caution) 76'
CLFC: Julian Bravo (caution) 85'
Stats (CLFC/CFC):
Shots: 9 / 4
Shots on goal: 6 / 1
Blocked shots: 2 / 0
Total passes: 314 / 523
Passing accuracy percentage: 82.9 / 88.9
Corners: 4 / 3
Total crosses: 5 / 6
Offsides: 0 / 6
Goalkeeper saves: 0 / 2
Clearances: 5 / 2
Fouls: 11 / 12
Line-ups:
CLFC starters: Chituru Odunze, Jahlane Forbes (Julian Bravo 80'), Assane Ouedrago, Willian Sangoquiza, Jack Neeley, Ben Bender (Cameron Duke 46'), Filip Mirkovic, Aron John, Nimfasha Berchimas (Marko Filipovic 80'), Nick Scardina (Brian Romero 77'), Dylan Sing (Jonathan Nyandjo 77')
Substitutes not used: Nick Holliday, Jean-Aniel Assi, Erik Pena, Josue Rodrigues
Head Coach: Jose Tavares
CFC starters: Jean Antoine, Joseph Perez (Farid Sar-Sar 56'), Anatolie Prepelita, Duvan Viafara, Milo Garvanian (Jesse Williams 80'), Jude Arthur, Andres Jimenez Aranzazu, Alex McGrath (C) (Luis Garcia Sosa 57'), Taylor Gray, Jesus Ibarra (Jalen James 57'), Mehdi Ouamri (Carlos Rivas 79')
Substitutes not used: Jonathan Burke, Ethan Koren, Damian Rodriguez
Head Coach: Rod Underwood
