Red Wolves lose 2-1 to Tucson FC

The Chattanooga Red Wolves came away empty-handed in their trip to Arizona, losing 2-1 in Saturday night’s USL League One match against Tucson FC.

Fouls figured largely into the contest, with the first two goals coming on penalty kicks — Daniel Bedoya converted for Tucson in the 30th minute and Moe Espinoza drew the Red Wolves even five minutes later — before Kaelon Fox scored on an assist by Giovanni Calixtro three minutes into the second half. The teams drew a combined seven yellow cards, with five for Chattanooga. Two of those were shown to Devin Benton, with the second in the 67th minute leaving the Red Wolves down a man the rest of the night.

Chattanooga (10-10-7) remains in contention for one of the NISA’s six playoff berths, but its 37 points in the standings are just one ahead of seventh-place Northern Colorado. Tucson (8-12-6) is 10th in the 11-team league but is unbeaten in five straight matches, including four wins.

The Red Wolves are two points behind fifth-place Charlotte (11-10-6), the opponent at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at CHI Memorial Stadium in East Ridge for the last home date on the schedule. Chattanooga closes the regular season with road matches against North Carolina (Oct. 8) and South Georgia (Oct. 15).