Chattanooga FC's three-match winning streak was snapped on Sunday evening after a narrow 2-1 defeat by Orlando City B.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Shak Mohammed. However, CFC found the equalizer before the break through midfielder Steeve Louis Jean, who scored his first goal for the club with an unstoppable rocketed shot that found the bottom corner.
Head Coach Chris Nugent brought on attackers Peter Plougmand and Jalen James off the bench midway through the second half in an effort to push for a winner.
Unfortunately it came at the other end in stoppage time through a pair of Orlando substitutes as Noah Levis finished after a counter-attack from an assist by Justin Hylton.
"It's frustrating to concede late on in the game," said Nugent. "I felt like we had a lot of good moments in the game and we did well to limit their chances, other than the actual two goals they scored. I thought we had some good territory. We could have been a little cleaner with some of the final decisions around the goal. Overall, minus that last minute of the game, I was quite pleased with how we played. There were a few individual performances that helped out. The way we built and pressed was pretty good and followed the plan of what we wanted.
"Steeve [Louis Jean] played very well. Obviously he had a great goal, but I think he defended well in midfield and broke up play and was involved in the build-up. Callum [Watson] was very good as well, finding space in the midfield. Our wingers, Jesus [Ibarra], Daniel [Mangarov] and Jalen [James] did well.
"Defeats are part of seasons. No one goes through the season unbeaten. We have to move on quickly. We're all in this together. We're going to win and lose together. We get another opportunity every week to play and improve. We're still in a great position. We have some big games coming up and we've had some great performances over the last month, so looking at the bigger picture, where we're moving in a positive direction. We can't let a couple actions in a game derail us."
Chattanooga FC remains at the top of the Eastern Conference and overall league standings.
The team will return to Finley Stadium on Saturday, June 7th against Inter Miami CF II. Before that, CFC Women will look to continue its fantastic start to the season with a crucial match against Decatur FC on Tuesday, June 3rd at Finley Stadium.