Metro-Atlanta based Apotheos FC – one of the few amateur teams remaining in the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup – played host to USL League one side Chattanooga Red Wolves on a cool, windy evening at Silverbacks Park on Wednesday. With their First Round match forfeited by NISA’s Georgia Lions, the match at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta would be the first Open Cup match for a young Apotheos NPSL club. The Open Cup run would be short-lived, however, as a stingy Chattanooga team kept the clean sheet and netted an early second half goal to win, 1-0.
With the win, Chattanooga wins multiple games in a single tournament for the first time. They will also advance to the Third Round for the first time. They will found out their next opponent on Thursday, April 4 at 1 p.m. ET.
The game began promptly at 7:45 p.m. and both teams found it difficult to establish a rhythm. Chattanooga’s Lucas Coutinho was shown a yellow in only the second minute for a stout challenge in midfield, but both teams seemed to struggle with understanding which infractions the officials would be calling and which they’d be letting slide. Chattanooga carried the bulk of possession in the first half and created a handful of decent chances, though it was Apotheos that almost struck first off a fortuitous rebound that goalkeeper Timothy Trilk was able to smother just as the shot was coming.
Halftime came and went, and Chattanooga continued to pressure Apotheos. The breakthrough arrived in the 50th minute after a series of rebounds in the box eventually led to the ball finding its way to the feet of Stefan Lukic, who wasted no time in slotting it somewhere a stubborn Abraham Mendieta couldn’t save.
Apotheos head coach Jonathan Mercado made a series of subs throughout the second half and switched from a 4-2-3-1 to more of a 3-5-2 in an attempt to net an equalizer. Apotheos created a couple of opportunities but struggled to connect many passes through the midfield, instead relying on their talented and quick wingers to progress the ball.
Two minutes of stoppage time were added, and well after the two minutes were over, Apotheos had a golden chance to tie the game in the dying seconds. A bit of chaos in the box led to a powerful shot by Apotheos, but a Chattanooga defender was barely able to get a leg in the lane for the block, and the referee subsequently blew the whistle for full time.
“This game was important to us, because we haven’t played as much as we planned on playing,” said Chattanooga head coach Scott Mackenzie about the postponements to their stadium. “I think what you saw from them was an identity, we knew we had to dominate possession and really dominate both sides of the ball. We just have to build on that going into the league.”
Chattanooga returns to USL League One play as they will take on Central Valley Fuego next weekend.