Chattanooga FC's all-time top scorer Markus Naglestad scored a stunning volley for his first career MLS NEXT Pro goal on Saturday evening in a narrow 2-1 defeat by Toronto FC II at Finley Stadium.
CFC put in a strong first-half performance that culminated with Naglestad's perfectly-hit strike from Tate Robertson's league-leading eighth assist of the season.
The visitors responded after the break with goals scored by Markus Cimermancic in the 49th minute and Hassan Ayari in the 73rd minute to ultimately take all three points back to Ontario.
The Boys in Blue created a plethora of goalscoring chances in the first half with Naglestad getting on the end of a curled in Milo Garvanian pass in the 14th minute in what was the match's first significant opportunity. Daniel Mangarov sailed two opportunities just a foot over the bar and Garvanian executed a bicycle kick on target.
The hosts were ultimately rewarded in the last minute of the half when Naglestad created a moment of magic.
Despite making a host of changes to try and affect the result after Toronto jumped into the lead, the breakthrough that was needed never came.
"It's a frustrating night," said Nugent in his post-match press conference. "I thought we played very well in the first half and created a lot of chances. It was frustrating to not finish them. I thought we had an opportunity to put the game away in the first half and we didn't. I think their first real chance was the one they scored. The defending was quite poor through the midfield. We had opportunities to change the game and respond but we didn't take them. They had an opportunity and they did. I think if we had taken more of our chances in the first half, it would have been a different story in the second half.
"I felt we could have made some adjustments earlier and recognizing when teams change some things up and fixing things on the field a little faster. I didn't feel we were getting tight enough in the second half. The behaviors that were making us successful in the first half weren't there in the first ten minutes of the second half and that's when we got under real pressure and they got back in the game."
Next up
Chattanooga FC will on the road for the next two matchweeks with games at Orlando City B (August 9) and Carolina Core FC (August 16) before returning home for a highly-anticipated Southeast Division clash against Huntsville City FC on Saturday, August 23. Tickets are on sale now.