Chattanooga FC travels to face Carolina Core FC in the latest edition of the Battle of the Independents at Truist Point in High Point, North Carolina on Sunday, July 12. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. ET with the match broadcasted on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Chattanooga FC looks to extend its five-match unbeaten streak when it travels to face Carolina Core FC in the latest edition of the Battle of the Independents.
The club is coming off a memorable performance and historic night on July 4th at Erlanger Park that saw the Boys in Blue defeat Inter Miami CF II 1-0 in front of a club record regular season crowd thanks to a second-half goal from Alex Krehl.
The team has collected 12 points of the last 15 available and has a 8W-5L-4D (3 SOW) record with 31 points. CFC has jumped up to fourth place in theĀ Eastern Conference and sits second in the Southeast.
CFC last faced Carolina Core on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Finley Stadium on May 24 in another 1-0 win thanks to a second-half goal from the club's leading scorer Krehl, who is joint-second (10 goals) in the MLS NEXT Pro golden boot race. The two sides will finish out the regular season series back at Fort Finley on August 29.
Coach's corner
Interim Head Coach Richard Dixon spoke about some of the keys to the team's strong form of late.
"We have a good group of returners, who I consider leaders, mixed with new players," said Dixon. "The diversity in our leadership and personnel has helped us with the bridge between the players and coaches. Collaboration has been very easy. We go into every game with a plan of how we want to approach things and we also collaborate with the players on that very well. That's been really helpful in our recent run here."
Dixon also previewed what he expexcts from the latest edition of the Battle of the Independents.
"Since the changes they've made in staff, they've looked better in some areas, and play more organized with intent and intensity, so we have to be mindful of those things as well. Knowing that the change happened since the last time we played them, there's probably some extra motivation for them as well. They're a good team and have good individual players and seem to have a clear structure in how they want to play in and out of possession, so we are making sure we prepare accordingly for them."
Know the opponent
There has been a change at the helm since the last meeting against Carolina Core with Interim Head Coach Jake Davis taking charge in place of Donovan Ricketts. Davis was most recently at Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC as head of goalkeeping and head of analysis.
Core is coming off a 3-1 loss at expansion independent club CT United FC last Sunday in the two sides' first-ever meeting. Core now sits 14th in the Eastern Conference standings and eighth in the Southeast behind a 3W-9L-6T (2 SOW) record with a total of 17 points.
Arnaud Tattevin leads the team with seven goals scored in 14 matches played. Thomas Raimbault leads the Foxes in assists with four on the season.
Sunday will be the first of three straight home matches for Carolina Core.
Match info
Venue: Truist Point Stadium | High Point, N.C.
Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. ET,Ā Sunday, July 12
Broadcast: MLSNEXTPro.com / OneFootball TV | Talent: Jon Gross
Team uniforms for Sunday's match
Referees
Calin Radosav
Head Referee
Colin Ashley
Assistant Referee 1
Paige Bell
Assistant Referee 2
IzlenĀ Peksenar
4th Official
