We’re 9 weeks into the season and CFC seems to be running away with it. LA Force seems to be the real deal, climbing up the ranks, while Maryland seems to be slumping. Will Flower/Salt City Union ever win? Here’s the recap of the week that was in NISA!

Chattanooga FC 2 - 0 ALBION

It was the Alex McGrath show in this midweek fixture, with the midfielder getting first an assist and then a goal in the first half to power CFC to the 2-0 win. After the match, McGrath described his assisting cross as “you take a look and clip it and hope for the best.” The best was waiting at the end of that cross, as Naglestad made space and headed in the goal. Naglestad’s goal would come in the 35th minute and McGrath would get his own in first half extra time.

With ALBION playing out of the back, Naglestad applied pressure and forced an errant touch that fell to the feet of a streaking McGrath. McGrath would calmly slot the ball past Ben Roach for the insurance goal just before the half. It was an impressive sequence from CFC and showed how quickly this team can turn turnovers into goals.

While Chattanooga would be the only team with goals, ALBION did have some close chances. Last year’s Golden Glove winner, Jean Antione, was rock solid in goal, saving several would-be goals. Overall it was a solid result for Chattanooga against an unproven ALBION side that is still finding its footing this season (more on that in a second).

Chattanooga FC 1 - 0 Maryland Bobcats

After a great midweek win for CFC, Chattanooga hosted the second-place Maryland Bobcats this weekend. Maryland was coming off a loss last week to the defending champion, Michigan Stars, and looking to bounce back on the road to this year’s front-runner. And early on, both sides had chances. In fact, the visiting side had several plays were it seemed goals were imminent, if not for the stellar goalkeeping play of Antione.

The deciding goal would come in the 61st minute. After a foul just outside the box, CFC was awarded a free kick. Naglestad stepped up and absolutely crushed a missile over the wall and into the net for a 1-0 lead. There was nothing the Bobcat goalkeeper, Sutton, could do with the perfectly placed shot. The second half saw several chances for the home side to extend the lead, but Maryland’s plucky last second defense prevented any additional scoring. Regardless, the 1-0 would stand and Chattanooga would exit the week with 6 points and a solid hold on first place.

Salt (Flower) City Union 1 - 3 LA Force

In a day that saw the debut of Salt City Union (and uniforms that some pundits assumed didn’t exist), we got the surprise explosion of the LA Force offense. Of course, it would come on a baseball field, the worst possible setting for a soccer match, but I digress. The Salty boys were playing at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY and the setting did no favors for a club that has struggled to deliver a watchable stream this season. This time the camera was behind the foul ball net and far away from the action.

The opening goal would come on a counter by the visiting side, where a streaking Oscar Correa Sanchez would get the ball and calmly finished to put LA up 1-0. Aldo Quintanilla would find the net early in the second half to extend the lead. Quintanilla’s goal would come at the end of a passing series that saw Force move the ball quickly up the pitch. It was a beautiful bit of soccer.

The home side would get one back in the second half, when Kyle Nelson managed to head a corner kick past Brandon Gomez. But Dekel Keinan, who subbed on in the 75th minute, would add an insurance goal for LA in the 77th. That would come off a corner kick that was headed into the box. Keinan was ready and pounced on it for the goal.

The blowout win for LA is a bit of a surprise for those that follow the league, given the lack of scoring on the part of Force so far this season. Up to this weekend’s match, the club hadn’t scored more than a single goal in any of its matches, but the lack of scoring hasn’t prevented Force from going without a loss and it is now tied with Michigan for third in the standings. City Union stays last with five straight losses.

Savannah Clovers 1 - 4 ALBION

Talk about a surprising result. ALBION had scored two goals total in the three league matches headed into this weekend. Saturday the club would double that total in a single match. The California club struck early on a beautiful bit of passing that saw the ball move quickly up the field, slicing and dicing the Clover defense. The series would end at the feet of midfielder Corey Lundeen, who put it past the keeper for the opening goal. Misael Mendoza would add a second and ALBION was off and running.

At the 31st minute, Savannah would get one back after a handball call in the box granted them a penalty. Hargreaves would convert the PK and get the home side within one. That would only hold for ten minutes, as ALBION would score a third on a corner kick that bounced around the box before squirting past Savannah keeper, Jack“Big Fish” Pondy. Pondy’s woes would continue in the second half, when his own errant pass would find the feet of Lennyn Carreon. Carreon cooked Pondy, who slipped on the wet field, and easily scored the fourth goal of the match for ALBION.

Savannah is going through all the growing pains of a brand new club and this loss is the second in the last three matches to be decided by multiple goals.

- Dan Vaughn