Chattanooga and Carolina Core met in the MLS Next Pro Group Stage at Finley Stadium Davenport Field on 29 August 2026, with the hosts running out 5-2 winners. The result keeps Chattanooga in second place on 47 points from 25 games, while Carolina Core remain 14th on 26 points after another heavy defeat.
And here's the thing about the opening exchanges — Krehl had the ball in the net by the 11th minute, then added a second just after the interval. Czech picked up a yellow card for Carolina in the 16th, before Montenegro came on for the visitors at the break, and Jones pulled one back for them in the 51st.
By then the match had settled into its pattern. Krehl completed his hat-trick in the 62nd minute, drawing a yellow card of his own, and the home side brought on Hammond and Ford in quick succession. Robertson managed a late reply for Carolina in the 67th, but the game was already slipping away.
To be fair, Carolina had more possession and more attacks, but the numbers don't tell the whole story. They registered 90 attacks against 82, and their shot accuracy sat at 60 per cent compared to the hosts' 45 per cent, yet they could only find the target six times to Chattanooga's 10.
Orbaugh and Diaz added second-half goals for the home side in the 74th and 82nd minutes, with Lundeen booked late on. Three substitutions came for Carolina in the 69th minute alone, and the visitors had already shown they couldn't contain Krehl's movement.
The statistics sit alongside the result rather than explain it. Chattanooga took nine corners to Carolina's four, and their 10 shots on target produced five goals while the visitors managed just two from six attempts. The gap in the table now stands at 21 points after both sides have played 25 matches.
