The Blues Used a Dominant Second Half to Pull away from the Red Wolves and Claim their First Win of the Season.
Asheville City SC used a complete team effort and a Phoebe Hollin brace to down the Chattanooga Red Wolves 3-1 on the road for their first win of the season.
Caitlin Conroy caused the first bit of trouble for the Chattanooga defense early, when she hopped on a ball outside the box and fired it at the lower left corner, forcing a diving save from Alo Iriarte.
10 minutes later, Maya Leoni forced a turnover from the Red Wolves backline and laid it off to Naroa Domenech. Domenech danced around the edge of the box to create enough space to launch a curling effort at net, but the attempt was too high.
Finally in the 35th minute, the Blues found their first goal of the season. Ana Chaves received a backpass from Lauryn Mateo on the left side of the field before sending a diagonal ball toward Phoebe Hollin running inside the box. Hollin made a deceptive run, losing her defender and creating a one-on-one opportunity which she calmly poked past Iriarte to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
The Red Wolves started pushing before half however, and found the equalizer a mere 6 minutes after going down. A beautifully worked play saw the ball end up at Maya Maxwell’s feet who slotted the ball home to knot things up at 1 heading into the break.
Things got off to a blistering start when Hollin capped off an attack 20 seconds into the half with a tap-in finish, but the goal was called back for offsides. Play switched to the other end quickly, as the Red Wolves produced a point-blank shot that Lilly Heaslet made a brilliant save on to keep things tied.
The Blues hopped back in front in the 58th minute, courtesy of Domenech. Domenech received a feed on the edge of the box and created space with a nifty turn before burying it into the bottom right corner to restore the Asheville lead.
The Blues almost struck again 7 minutes later, when brilliant passing in the build-up found Hollin inside the box on the right side. She launched a strike from a tight angle that stung Iriarte’s palms. Conroy snagged the rebound but the Red Wolves were quick to close in on her and put out the fire.
The Blues kept up the pressure as a corner found Kelly Gordon in the middle of the box who sent a header toward the upper left 90 that Iriarte pushed away.
Hollin doubled the lead in the 69th minute after she was taken down in the box to earn a penalty. She stepped up to take the spot kick and slotted it home to give Asheville a 3-1 win.
Phoebe Hollin was named the Wicked Pie Player of the Match for her efforts on the night, which included a pair of goals.
The Women in Blue take on One Knoxville SC on Wednesday, before returning home on Tuesday, June 9th at 6:30 PM to face the same One Knox side in a makeup game from the rainout on 5/23. The Men are home at Greenwood Field on Sunday, June 7th, when they take on Wake FC at 6:30 PM. You can buy your tickets here.
