CFC's Juan Hernandez Mendizabal, left, and Matt Aldred (4) battle with a Sonoma player for the ball.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga's John Carrier (7) slides in for a steal.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga FC goal keeper Gregg Hartley, right, stops a shot on goal.
photo by Dennis Norwood
CFC's Jake Young, left, keeps his dribble against Sonoma's Diego Lopez.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga FC's Matt Aldred heads the ball towards a teammate.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga's Jon Finley (12) and Matt Aldred (4) converge on the ball as a Sol player goes down.
photo by Dennis Norwood
A ball girl keeps her attention focused on the task at hand.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Juan Hernandez Mendizabal, right, kicks the ball away from a Sonoma defender.
photo by Dennis Norwood
CFC's Matt Aldred, left, fights a Sonoma's Nicholas Spann for control of a header.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga mid-fielder Kieran Bywater (14) heads the ball away from Sonoma's Edgar Amador Martinez (8).
photo by Dennis Norwood
Two young fans watch the action from atop the wall in front of the stands.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Sonoma Sol's Noah Paravinci (33) watches as teammate Simon Wheatley's shot in stoppage time gets past a diving CFC keeper Gregg Hartley.
photo by Dennis Norwood
12,251 fans packed Finley Stadium for Saturday's NPSL semi-final match between Chattanooga FC and the Sonoma Sol.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Fans watch the match from atop the West wall of Finley Stadium.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Part of the 12,251 fans who filled Finley Stadium for the NPSL semi-final match Saturday night.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Chattanooga FC held on tightly to a 1-0 lead until late in their NPSL semi-final match against the Sonoma Sol (Calif.) Saturday night at Finley Stadium before falling 2-1 in front of 12,251 fans.
CFC striker Will Roberts scored the first goal of the match in the sixth minute off an assist by Juan Hernandez when he hit from the left side and drove the ball under Sol goal keeper Sean Taufer. The goal stood for 75 minutes until Sonoma's Noah Paravinci snuck one by Chattanooga keeper Gregg Hartley in the 80th minute.
The teams took the 1-1 tie into three minutes of added stoppage time and that’s when Sonoma mid-fielder Simon Wheatley drove a long shot past a diving Hartley into the upper right corner of the net for the winner in the 91st minute.
With the win the West champion Sol move on to the national title game next Saturday against AFC Cleveland.
Sonoma won the NPSL championship in 2009 and this will be their fourth trip to the title match.
Chattanooga finishes the season as the South region champions with a 14-3-3 overall record.