BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – August was a month that Birmingham Legion FC would soon like to forget. Last month, saw The Three Sparks notch just one victory in five matches, while dropping its last three where it was outscored 6-0 in that dubious stretch. The recent struggles have thrown the club’s playoff hopes right into the middle of a thunder dome battle with seventh through tenth place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference table all within at least two points of each other.
Eight matches still remain in the 2024 regular season, so Legion FC’s script is still largely to be written, but the staff is preaching urgency in hopes of turning things of around in this final stretch, beginning with Wednesday’s home matchup against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
“Now, it’s kind of do or die time,” said Birmingham coach Tom Soehn. “It’s time for us to come together as a group and support each other while battling for spots. That’s just what this time of year is.”
MATCH INFO
- Birmingham Legion FC (10W-11L-5D; 35PTS) vs Tampa Bay Rowdies (12W-7L-7D; 43PTS)
- USL Championship | Matchday 27
- Wednesday, September 11 | 7:00 p.m. CT
- Protective Stadium | Birmingham, AL
- Watch: CBS Sports Network (National)
- Stream: CBS Sports Live
Having last been on the pitch on August 31 in a 2-0 defeat at Rhode Island FC, the schedule has afforded Legion FC some valuable time off to rest, recharge and regroup. With no match this past weekend, the club was able to participate as spectators as the rest of the league descended further into chaos.
As things stand now, Birmingham currently holds the eighth and final playoff-eligible spot in the East and just one point ahead of ninth-place Loudoun United – who the club meets later this weekend. Even so, things seem to still be in Legion FC’s favor with seventh-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC tied on points despite having played two more matches and Rhode Island FC two points ahead with one more match played.
Essentially, Legion FC still controls its own destiny as it looks to return to the postseason for a sixth consecutive season. It just comes down to the squad handling its own affairs by getting back into the win column.
“The results (last weekend) kind of helped us,” said midfielder Enzo Martinez. “Right now, every spot from fourth to tenth is close. To add to that, we’ve had some time to work on things and work on ourselves definitely helps. We have to focus on ourselves and execute our gameplan to make sure that we take advantage of the opportunities that have been given to us.”
The next opportunity is quite the familiar foe in Tampa Bay, a side that Legion FC has already seen twice in 2024.
The two teams treated fans in Florida to arguably the match of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on May 8 with Legion FC scoring four goals in the final ten minutes of regulation to erase a 4-0 deficit, only for the Rowdies to grab two extra time goals and advance out of the Round of 32. A rematch occurred just three days later in what was a wildly different contest with Martinez providing the only goal in a 1-0 Birmingham victory.
“They’re a team where you know what to expect from them,” said Martinez, who also scored against Tampa Bay in the Open Cup loss. “We know that we have to be ready to work really hard to make a good game of it.”
Despite the familiarity from the meetings this season, more than three months have passed since the last time Birmingham and Tampa Bay have faced, so Soehn and his staff are ready for some new wrinkles from their opponent.
“Having played them in the past factors in, but personnel changes and tactics change over time so every time you see a team it’s a bit new,” explained Soehn. “One thing we know with Tampa is that we always have tight games. They are a group that’s really organized and they like to attack with numbers which leaves them open on counter attacks so we have to be able to take advantage of that.”
If there was ever an ideal time to catch the Rowdies, now would be it.
Even though it is still sitting in a comfortable spot in third place, Tampa Bay has produced a win just once in its previous six outings and has dropped three of its last four. The latest defeat coming over the weekend where fell 4-2 on the road to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
However, the Rowdies still boast one of the more fearsome attacking duos of any team in the USL-C with forwards Manuel Arteaga and Cal Jennings having combined for 27 goals this season. It was those two who did the majority of the damage in the Open Cup meeting with Jennings providing a hat trick while Arteaga clinched the victory with a brace in extra time.
Those two headlining the front three, along with goalkeeper Jordan Farr and his 10 clean sheets this season have down a lot to position the Rowdies with the third best goal differential in the league this season, making for a tough test that is paramount for Legion FC to pass.
“It’s time to come together,” Martinez said. “We need to work hard and battle to compete for every ball in every moment of the game.”
Follow Along
For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as the Legion FC Match Center.
