Match Preview: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Greenville Triumph SC
Red Wolves still seeking first win
Match: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Greenville Triumph SC
Date: Saturday, April 19th, 2025. 19:00 (Eastern)
Venue: CHI Memorial Stadium, East Ridge, TN. Capacity: 2,500
How to watch: ESPN+
Tickets: Red Wolves website
Sixth place Greenville Triumph visits East Ridge on Saturday evening (KO 7pm) to take on the 12th place Red Wolves. Boasting three former Chattanooga players in its roster, the Triumph will be hoping such inside knowledge will help it unlock a stubborn home defense and claim a valuable three points on the road.
For the Red Wolves, it’s a return to the grind of league play, an unwelcome distraction from its adventurous cup-run. It’s fair to say that, with no wins, three ties, and one loss, it’s season hasn’t really gotten going yet. A home game, after so much road play of recent, may be what these side needs to finally kick-start its USL campaign.
The history
This will be the seventh meeting between the two sides. Greenville currently enjoys the superior record, with three wins to the Red Wolves’ two. The sides have tied once. Games between them always see goals; 29 have been scored across the six meetings, with both teams scoring each time.
When it comes to meetings in Chattanooga, the record is 1-1-1. Last June, the Red Wolves came away from Paladin Stadium with a 3-1 win. Two of those goals came from Jamaican international Chevone Marsh, who now plays for Greenville. In September, the Triumph turned the tables, beating Chattanooga 5-2 at CHI Memorial Stadium. While three goals for Greenville that day came from Lyam MacKinnon (who is the top scorer of this fixture with 7 goals), now of Orange County SC, one of the Red Wolves’ strikes came from Ropapah Mensah, also now with Greenville.
With both sides coming off disappointing shutout losses in league play, this is a contest that could go either way.
Report cards and lineups
Red Wolves
While the Red Wolves have been competitive this season, they’re not finding ways of winning games in normal time. They’ve tied all their US Open Cup games, winning all of them on penalties, and have tied three of their four league games. Their only loss, against AV Alta, was a close game that could easily also have been a tie. Where the wins will eventually materialize is harder to tell.
The Red Wolves player to watch right now is Matt Bentley who has five goals across six (4 league and 2 cup) games this year and is undoubtedly the club’s main attacking threat. Attacking midfielder Omar Hernández has some cracking goals to his name this year also and is lethal from set pieces.
With the Red Wolves going far in the Cup and balancing this against league play and an upcoming USL Jägermeister Cup schedule, it remains to be seen how Mackenzie will rotate his relatively scant options.
Triumph
Greenville hasn’t won an away game since last October but comes into the game with a decent 2-2-1 record, fitting its mid-table status. Its last five games have been D-W-L-W-L and this inconsistency means it’s hard to know which Triumph side will show up in East Ridge; the one that hammered Omaha 3-0 or the one that was spanked 4-0 at home by Spokane.
Two of the Red Wolves’ top three goalscorers in club history - Ropapa Mensah and Chevone Marsh - will return to CHI Memorial Stadium for the first time since departing the club in the offseason. Defender DJ Benton is also a former Wolf, playing 26 games for them in 2022.
Some of the Triumph’s best performers this season have been in their defense, particularly Zane Bubb and Tyler Polak. Right-wing Ben Zakowski has a goal and an assist to his name in league play but is rarely started by Head Coach Rick Wright. Colombian Leo Castro is Greenville’s player to watch. The former Millonarios, Alianza Lima, and Kaizer Chiefs attacker has scored three goals so far this season in league play, with more shots and shots on target than anyone else in the squad.
Analysis and Prediction
Neither of these teams has had a stellar start to their campaigns so far and their record against one another is fairly even. A tie is the most likely result here and I expect plenty of goals. I anticipate both teams will score and the game will be decided by a single winner. Prediction: Red Wolves 1-2 Greenville.