BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was described as do-or-die time for Birmingham Legion FC by Tom Soehn earlier in the week and the head coach saw his squad do the former on Wednesday night. With its back against the wall, The Three Sparks showed its mettle at Protective Stadium in a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies for a second win over its Eastern Conference rivals.
“The win was important, but the way we won was most important,” Soehn said. “We haven’t been a good team lately in the way that we support each other and fight for each other. Tonight we battled and when you get everyone on the same page like that, good things happen. Full credit to our guys, they played really well.”
Not only did Wednesday’s triumph bring Birmingham’s three-match skid to a halt, it also vaulted the club up to fifth place in the USL Championship East table with 38 points and just one point behind Detroit City FC in fourth place with seven matches left to play.
Stefano Pinho got the party started in the 36th minute with his eleventh goal across all competitions this season. Kobe Hernandez-Foster then shut the door in the 86th on what has become his signature long-range strike. Meanwhile, Legion FC bent on defense against Tampa Bay’s attack, but never broke as the Rowdies went scoreless for the first time in three matches despite taking 21 total shots.
“Everybody was just focused on doing the things you do to win games,” Soehn explained. “The way everyone was committed on that end of the field was a real positive.”
The overall possession numbers were fairly even with Tampa Bay having a slight 51%-48% edge, however the visiting side tallied 43 touches in the opposing box to Birmingham’s 18. But it was all for naught, thanks to six saves from Matt Van Oekel and a total-team defensive effort.
“It really took everybody,” Dodson said of Legion FC’s seventh clean sheet of the season and its second against the Rowdies. “You see Pinho and Preston (Tabort Etaka) up top pressing hard and tracking back, while everyone in the midfield was doing the dirty work. Matt obviously came up with some great saves as well.”
With his teammates helping out on defense, Dodson returned the favor in the attacking third when a deft touch off a pass from Dawson McCartney freed himself to dribble inside the box. He then sent in a low cross that split Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jordan Farr and defender Freddy Kleemann, leading to a tap-in from Pinho to open the scoring.
“That was huge,” Dodson recalled of the first half goal. “Going three games without a goal, once you see the ball go in the net it feels good to just keep pushing on for the rest of the game.
“Pinho did really well to get a touch on that, because that was not an easy ball. It was a great goal.”
The Rowdies nearly equalized in the 61st minute on an over-the-top ball that had forward Damian Rivera one-on-one with the goal from the left side. Van Oekel came out to charge and made himself, forcing Rivera to attempt a shot over him and the ball clipped the top of the cross bar and went out of harms way.
As Tampa Bay continued to throw numbers forward, Legion FC hit it on the counter with six minutes of regulation left as Dodson played a line-breaking pass to Hernandez-Foster, who dribbled up into some space before playing it off to McCartney. Hernandez-Foster then received the ball back roughly five yards outside the top of the box and fired a low stinger that froze Farr and rippled the net in the bottom right corner.
“I just followed through with the play and saw that I had a shot and took it,” said Hernandez-Foster. “After getting the first goal, it allowed us to not chase the game anymore and go at our own pace from there. With everything opened up we were able to get that second goal and put the game away.”
It was the 22-year-old midfielder’s second goal of the season and it came from an eerily similar spot to when he opened his account against Monterey Bay FC in what was, ironically enough, Birmingham’s last win before Wednesday night.
“He’s got a great strike,” Soehn said of Hernandez-Foster. “I don’t think people respect that enough because he doesn’t get pressure out there and he once again finished a really good ball.”
The win was not the only welcome sight for Legion FC staff and fans as both Tyler Pasher and Diba Nwegbo not only returned to action, but to the starting eleven. It marked the first appearance for Pasher in four matches, while it was a longer wait for Nwegbo who last saw the pitch on July 5.
Match Details
| BOX SCORE | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
| TB (12W – 8L – 7D; 43 PTS) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BHM (11W – 11L – 5D; 38 PTS) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
LINEUPS
TB: Farr – GK, Guillen – C (Munjoma 86′), Kleemann (Crisostomo 62′), Doherty, Spaulding, Bender, Hilton (Worth 63′), Nyongabire, Rivera (Fernandez 62′), Bodily, Arteaga (Jennings 62′)
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Mensah, Paterson, Crognale, Dodson, Hernandez-Foster, Nwegbo (Zouhir 62′), Martinez – C, McCartney, Pasher (Tabort Etaka 45′), Pinho (Rufe 70′)
GOALS
TB:
BHM: Pinho 36′; Hernandez-Foster 86′
DISCIPLINE
TB: Kleemann (Yellow) 55′; Crisostomo (Yellow) 71′
BHM: Hernandez-Foster (Yellow) 13′; Pinho (Yellow) 32′; Mensah (Yellow) 43′; Dodson (Yellow) 48′; Nwegbo (Yellow) 58′
NEXT UP
With Wednesday’s win under its belt, Legion FC will spend one more day in Birmingham before heading out to Virginia ahead of a Saturday contest on the road against Loudoun United. Kick-off is set for for 6 p.m. from Segra Field. Birmingham then returns home on Sunday, September 22nd to face Miami FC. Tickets for that match can be purchased HERE.
