Chattanooga FC hits the road to face league leaders Crown Legacy FC on Saturday, April 18 in Matthews, N.C. at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Chattanooga FC has a quick turnaround, returning to MLS NEXT Pro action at Crown Legacy Saturday night.
On Wednesday, CFC's 2026 U.S. Open Cup run came to an end with a 3-1 defeat by Atlanta United in the Round of 32 that saw defender Yves Tcheuyap bag his first goal for the Boys in Blue.
Chattanooga earned a 3-1 win over Orlando City B in last week's league action thanks to Damien Barker John and Alex McGrath leading the way. Entering Saturday, CFC sits fifth in the league standings with a 3-2-1 (10 pts.) record and the club made its debut at eighth place in the league's weekly power rankings.
Focus now shifts to this weekend's contest against Crown Legacy, which CFC most recently faced March 1, falling 4-1 in the club's home opener at Finley. Barker John scored Chattanooga's lone goal, just 30 seconds into the season.
Saturday will be the second of three scheduled meetings with Crown Legacy, with the regular season series coming to an end August 23 on the road. Chattanooga holds a 2-4-1 (1 SOW) record against Crown Legacy dating back through 2024.
Coach's corner
Interim Head Coach Richard Dixon previewed the match with media this week.
"We try to look at trends of other teams throughout the season," said Dixon. "We played them in the first game of the season, but we aren't focusing too much on that in our analysis. We'll focus on ourselves first, while preparing for some of the possibilities they may approach the match with. Crown Legacy's a good team. They're top of the division and scoring a lot of goals, so we need to make sure that we're mitigating their threats in transition and on the same page when we're against the ball."
Know the opponent
Crown Legacy FC currently sits at the top of the MLS NEXT Pro table after playing to a 5-0-1 (1 SOW) record. In the Eastern Conference, their 17-point total positions them six points clear of second-place Red Bull New York II with 11 points.
Crown Legacy goes into Saturday unbeaten after earning the extra point in a 3-3 draw and 3-1 penalty shootout win over Toronto FC II on April 12. Forward Nimfasha Berchimas scored a brace for his fifth and sixth goals of the season, matching Rodolfo Aloko, who recently signed a first-team contract with Charlotte FC, for the club lead.
Berchimas also scored in his first-team debut on Wednesday night against Charlotte Independence. Hugo Mbongue paces the rest of the group with three goals and one assist.
Match info
Venue: Sportsplex at Matthews | Matthews, N.C.
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, April 18
Broadcast: MLSNEXTPro.com / OneFootball TV | Talent: Parker Johnson
Team uniforms for Saturday's match
Referees
Head Referee: Amin Hadzic
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Lopez
Assistant Referee 2: Marcus Moss
4th Official: Kevin Broadley
