Despite playing down a man for more than 80 minutes, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC overcame NJ Alliance FC in a dramatic penalty shootout, winning 4-2 after a 2-2 draw in the First Round of the 2025 US Open Cup on Tuesday night.
New Jersey struck first just before halftime, with Marlon Preciado finding the net one minute into stoppage time. Chattanooga, however, battled back in the second half after Garrett Morris was sent off with a red card in the 36th minute.
The Red Wolves equalized in the 65th minute when Matthew Bentley converted a penalty. Bentley struck again in the 84th minute, giving Chattanooga a 2-1 lead, but NJ forced extra time with a dramatic goal two minutes into stoppage time from Joel Quist.
With no available substitutes for the backline, Chattanooga was forced to bring on backup goalkeeper Jason Smith as an emergency defender after an injury to starter Eric Kinser.
Despite the adversity, the Red Wolves held firm through extra time and sealed the win in the penalty shootout with Bentley, Ualefi Rodrigues Dos Reis, Jason Smith, and Owen Green converting on their kicks against NJ goalkeeper, Yamil Macias. Red Wolves keeper, Ricardo Jerez, stopped Konrad Rodzen’s penalty while Christian Villegas missed on his attempt for New Jersey.
“We were poor, really, realy poor in the first half. Credit to New Jersey,” said Red Wolves head coach Scott Mackenzie. “They did a lot of stuff that was difficult or us, but at halftime we were very very honest with ourselves and got a very good reaction and we fought for the rest of the game.”
This marked the second year in a row that the Red Wolves have advanced to the Second Round.