Decatur FC wraps up season with 1-0 win over UFA Gunners

Decatur FC has arrived.

In the final game of its inaugural season — one that has been spectacularly successful by most metrics — Decatur FC proved it has the talent to be the team to beat in the WPSL’s Southeast Conference as the Black and Gold defeated UFA Gunners 1-0 at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven. The Gunners were the 10th-ranked team in the entire WPSL heading into the game and were first in the conference.

“It was probably the best game we’ve had to play,” Decatur FC coach Campbell Chapman said. “The opposition was strong, physically, defensively very strong. Physically strong up front, [and] good in midfield. It was a true test.”

Defensively, it was one of Decatur’s finest games of the season. The team started in the same formation with the same lineup as Saturday’s game against Nashville Rhythm but struggled to attack against a physically dominating and skilled UFA team. However, UFA also struggled to find possession with both teams trading weak chances for much of the first half. Decatur’s defense stood strong and prevented any real danger from the Gunners, but the offense needed a spark.

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At halftime, Chapman switched the team to a 4-4-2 formation, giving the Black and Gold more to work with on the wings. Slowly, the team began to find their stride, and more dangerous opportunities came for Decatur.

“We got some success with it in the second half, then we could still see the confidence coming into the team,” Chapman said. “Emma [Chapman] was getting open on one side, we were getting Katherine [Elliott] open. On the other side, Sarah [Greiner] and Carrie [Consolino] were finding channels to run into. So we started doing what we hadn’t done in the first half, which was turning their backs and making them run to their goal.”

The strategy caused Decatur to run a lot as well — Chapman believes it’s the most the team has run in a game all season — but it paid off. The team began to build momentum against the number one team in the conference and found more and more dangerous opportunities as their defense stood strong and shut down numerous opportunities from UFA. And with the clock ticking down, JJ Juarez made a run down the field and passed it to Chapman, who reversed it to Aniyah Collier. Collier took the shot off her left foot and the goalkeeper was unable to collect it. It was the team’s final goal of the season, and it won them a game they would have been happy to tie.

“If we’d have come out with it with a nil nil, we’d have been very happy, because obviously going into their place and getting a clean sheet,” Chapman said. “But then to sneak a win at the end, it was fantastic for the girls, a great way to end the season.”

Decatur FC ends its inaugural season second in the Southeast with six wins, one tie and one loss, and a positive twenty-goal differential. The Black and Gold defeated last year’s champion in Nashville Rhythm FC and the top-ranked team for much of the season in the UFA Gunners and only lost to this year’s conference champion, Knoxville 865 Alliance, by one goal. They broke the WPSL’s attendance record with a crowd of 2,126 and also hold other top-ten attendances within the league. It was a remarkable season for a brand-new team, and Chapman hopes to build off the success next year.

“Finishing second is a great thing for us,” Chapman said. “Because obviously now we can go hopefully one better next year, build on it, and bring the good squad back for next year to do it all over again.”

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