Villalobos ends Red Wolves' unbeaten run
Former player comes back to haunt Chattanooga, scoring an excellent brace
Jimmie Villalobos spent two years with the Chattanooga Red Wolves. He gave them six goals in 60 appearances culminating in the run to the USL League One Final in 2022. Now, the 29-year-old plies his trade at AV Alta FC, a new club based in Lancaster, California, a mere hour-and-a-half from where he grew up in Bakersfield. The theme of this game was ‘returning’ as luck and demons would return to harass both sides through 100 minutes of highly entertaining soccer.
The Red Wolves came to Lancaster having not lost a single game yet this season. Before the game, Head Coach Scott Mackenzie had talked about solidity and stronger defense, winning duels to ensure the team can keep games tight. Given they’d lost their 3 highest goalscorers from last year, he knew that they needed to rely on their backline as their new frontline settles. Mackenzie will have been disappointed with their defensive performance last night.
His opposite number, Brian Kleiban, once again on the sideline after being suspended for their win over Westchester, has committed to playing direct football with flair, and trying to dominate games for 25-30 minutes. On the basis of last night’s first half performance, he’ll be very pleased.
The Red Wolves started the better of both sides and got the early break. After Zahir Vazquez had a shot saved in the center of the goal, he was again putting pressure on Alta center-back Kaloyan Pehlivanov. Goalkeeper Carlos Avilez, another former Red Wolf, came charging out and missed the fray, clumsily stumbling into Chattanooga’s Matt Bentley. Referee Robert Vincze duly awarded the penalty. Poor Avilez went the wrong way in the resulting penalty kick, taken by Bentley, and also got a yellow card for the foul. The visitors were up 1-0.
Barely ten minutes later, Alta would get one back. A scintillating team goal, full of quick passing down the left flank found Villalobos in the middle of the box. He smashed his shot into the top left corner giving Jason Smith no chance in the Red Wolves net. 1-1. Villalobos needed physio attention after the goal, looking pained in his shoulder. He would go on to play another 53 minutes in spite of this and dominated the game.
Proceedings settled somewhat after Alta’s equalizer, but the home side dominated possession and chances. The pressure started to tell as we drew close to half-time. Jerry Desdunes had a right footed shot from the center of the box blocked but on 37 minutes, they got the breakthrough. Another great team move ended with another Jimmie Villalobos goal. This time a right footed half volley shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. A fine move and a fine finish. The flair that Kleiban had promised to show was on display, and AV Alta was in the driving seat.
The next forty minutes of play were largely uneventful, and fans in the Antelope Valley were probably hoping to cruise to a calm 2-1 comeback win as the clock counted down and the benches were cleared.
But, and perhaps somewhat against the run pf play, on 78 minutes, Chattanooga found its equalizer. A darting Joshua Ramos low cross found Bentley who shook off his marker and found the net with a delightful one-touch strike. It was the Englishman’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions.
And the game ended as it started, with a frenetic ten minutes as both sides went in search of the win. It came, controversially, in the form of a penalty on 85 minutes. Vincze adjudged that Tobi Jnohope had fouled Desdunes in the box. Replays showed there was contact, but not a lot. That didn’t matter to Joaquin Acuna, on for Villalobos, who scored his first professional goal to put the hosts in front again.
The last limping moment of the contest was settled by Avilez. Formerly the villain, he made a huge save on 91 minutes to deny his old club a point.
Chattanooga’s unbeaten run comes to an end, and they now find themselves in 12th place.
Match Takeaways
What a game for Jimmie Villalobos. The journey-man midfielder is back in his home state after five years of wandering in Tennessee and Wisconsin. He’s proof that a new club like Alta needs players experienced in this league to put points on the board. He’ll be an important part of their season and a key player for Southeast Soccer Report readers to watch when Alta plays other regional clubs.
Matt Bentley scored two goals tonight and now has five in all competitions this year. Having lost the bulk of its goalscoring department in the offseason, the Red Wolves needed to find a striker who could keep them within reach of games. Bentley is proving to be that man. His second goal tonight was a fine strike and was the sign of a forward playing with confidence.
We’ve talked a lot on this site about the Red Wolves’ depth chart. While it has added three additions recently, I’d still be worried about the side’s stamina to pull through an entire season, featuring the longest USL League One campaign on record, a USL Jägermeister Cup run and their ongoing Open Cup Run. It feels like Chattanooga is emptying its entire bench in every game, and it’s hard to see where and when players will be given needed rest. Two or three more additions might be required.
The Red Wolves will stay out west as they prepare to take on the Las Vegas Lights in the US Open Cup. The Lights sit 6th in the USL Championship Western Conference. It will be interesting to see if Mackenzie rotates, if indeed, he can.
Box Score
AV Alta FC - Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
USL League One
Venue: Lancaster Municipal Stadium | Lancaster, CA
Final Score: AV Alta FC 3-2 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
Attendance: 3,982
Referee: Robert Vincze
Scoring summary:
4': M. Bentley - pen (CRW)
12': J. Villalobos (ALT)
37': J. Villalobos (ALT)
78': M. Bentley (CRW)
86': J. Acuna - pen (ALT)
Discipline:
3': C. Avilez (ALT) - yellow card, foul
17': M. Alassane (ALT) - yellow card, foul
39': E. Alaribe (ALT) - yellow card, foul
42': M. Knapp (CRW) - yellow card, foul
45+6': J. Ayimbila (CRW) - yellow card, foul
90+9': O. Green (CRW) - yellow card, foul
Man of the Match: Jimmie Villalobos (ALT) - this prize could also have gone to Matt Bentley, but it was the eloquence of Villalobos’s two goals, not only the individual strikes themselves, but being there on the end of two great team moves, that demonstrated his quality. The fact that he played on through an apparent injury makes his performance all the more impressive.
Line-ups:
AV Alta FC (4-1-4-1): Carlos Avilez; Walmer Martinez (88’ Ashkanov Apollon), Maboumou Alassane, Luca Mastrantonio (C), Kaloyan Pehlivanov; Osvaldo Lay (87’ Erick Ceja Gonzalez); Sebastian Cruz, Jimmie Villalobos (75’ Joaquin Acuna), Harrison Robledo, Jerry Desdunes; Emmanuel Alaribe (69’ Eduardo Blancas)
Subs not used: Denzil Smith, Alexis Cerritos, Miguel Ibarra
Head Coach: Brian Kleiban
Chattanooga Red Wolves (3-4-2-1): Jason Smith; Eric Kinzner, Declan Watters, Tobi Jnohope; Joshua Ramos (87’ Owen Green), Michael Knapp (71’ Omar Gómez), Ualefi (C), Jordan Ayimbila; Omar Hernández (61’ Alhassan Alhassan), Matthew Bentley; Zahir Vazquez (60’ Pedro Hernández)
Subs not used: Ricardo Jérez
Head Coach: Scott Mackenzie
Next Games
• April 15th, 22:00 (ET): AV Alta FC v Orange County SC, Lancaster Municipal Stadium, Lancaster, CA (US Open Cup Third Round)
• April 16th, 22:30 (ET): Las Vegas Lights FC v Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Cashman Field, Las Vegas, NV (US Open Cup Third Round)
But the Wolves' backup keeper did not have to play in the field, unlike in an earlier US Open Cup game! Seriously though, the Wolves' opener should spend a little more to sign more players, rather than exhaust and risk injury to the players they have on hand.
By the way, where did you get the attendance numbers from? Encouraging that AV Alta had a healthy turnout, not a precipitous drop from the sellout/ more than standing room only historic stadium opening!
Very good summary. Had to laugh when you mentioned AV fans just hoping we calmly saw out the 2-1 scoreline, because that was exactly it … it really felt like we had the control to get through things without much of a problem, and then the equalizer turned everything on its head for the final 20ish minutes.