Atlanta United 2 remains undefeated at Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium as they earned three points on the road with a 2-1 win against Huntsville City FC.
Atlanta had many opportunities to open the scoring in the first half, but weren’t able to capitalize. Nick Firmino had a few great chances in the first half, but goalkeeper Bryan Dowd for Huntsville City FC was able to get a hand on a few of those touches. The score would be level 0-0 going into halftime.
The 2's came out with a bang In the 47th minute when Tyler Wolff drove forward on the left wing to find Rodrigo Neri in the box, and neri flicked it over Dowd to make it 1-0. This was Neri’s first goal with Atlanta United 2. Dominik Chong Qui had an excellent touch to set up Wolff's cross.
“I’m happy for the team. We needed that win. I’m excited for what’s coming, and I’m very proud of the team and myself too,” said Neri after the match.
Neri would find the back of the net again in the 50th minute as Matt Edwards launched a ball from the right flank to find Neri who headed into the goal to make it 2-0. He is the third player to register a brace for the club this year.
Nearly 5,000 were in attendance in Huntsville and made lots of noise as the night went on. We asked Neri about how they affected him.
“I want to be humble about it, but I don’t really pay attention to it. It doesn't faze me. I don’t really hear them,” said Neri when asked about the atmosphere and the fans at Huntsville. “I’m focused on my game, and I just want to shut them down and show them that Atlanta is on top. So, I don't really listen to them until I score and then it gets real quiet.”
Huntsville would cut the lead in half in the 70th minute when the referee called a handball in the box on Javier Armas. Oliver Wright launched a free kick and the ball clipped Armas who was at the end of the wall and Huntsville would be given a penalty after a lengthy discussion. Wright then converted the penalty to make it 2-1. After more chaos in Huntsville in the closing minutes, the match would end 2-1 with Atlanta taking home another three points and leaving undefeated in Joe Davis Stadium.
Cooper Sanchez and Adyn Torres subbed into the match with the score at 2-1 to join starters Kaiden Moore and Dominik Chong Qui, putting four 16-year olds on the pitch in the hectic closing stages of the match. We asked Atlanta United 2 manager Steve Cooke about trusting them in those moments.
“They are in that situation that probably in academy football, they never get in to see that because it's more under their control and also with the crowd as well. They're [Huntsville] coming forward and they put on subs that were making a big influence going forward and some really athletic players coming on. I think they handled it exceptionally well and the more they are in the game in those kinds of minutes and they play well enough to stay in the game, I think it bodes well for their future,” said Cooke. “They were all good tonight and again you can highlight one or two, but i felt tonight was probably with the ball, as good as we always seem to be, but without the ball we seem to have a lot more stability to it tonight and we have a lot more organization. I think that the players wanted to win tonight, and that for me goes a long long way. They always want to win, but you got to sometimes do the dirty work that is required to win games.”
Chong Qui and Moore played the full 90 minutes of the match. It was a big night for Moore, who was playing his first match after signing a professional contract with Atlanta United 2 on July 26.
“It’s been a long time coming. I was told about it a while ago, but it’s been a long process,” said Moore. “Just knowing that the club believes in me is huge for me, so It just gives me more confidence to play knowing that they trust me no matter how it goes.”
Atlanta United 2 is back in action August 3 as they come back to Fifth Third Stadium to face off against the New England Revolution II at 8:30 p.m. Our radio broadcast will be moving to 92.9 The Game for the match, join us for pregame coverage starting at 8:00 p.m.
✍️: Madison Crews
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