Professional Seasons End

UPSL play continues

Apologies for the late post, as I was on vacation in Charleston, where I also attended the Legion/Battery game

Birmingham Legion FC

Shem Creek, Mt Pleasant, SC

If you haven't been to Charleston before, let me take a minute to say that I would highly recommend it. There's a lot to do, and to see; kind of New Orleans lite. The vibe continues across the bay in Mt Pleasant and on Sullivan's Island. That's the side that has the stadium for the Charleston Battery, and while it's not a modern, flashy place, it offers a great gameday experience.

Image credit: Birmingham Legion

The fans were welcoming, but it's a tough environment to play in at the best of times, much less at the end of a disappointing season. There were questions surrounding Legion as they headed into the match, including whether they would hit the field motivated and give Charleston a run for their money. That was answered quickly, as Birmingham started on the front foot and got the opening goal in the sixth minute. Preston Tabort-Etaka out-hustled a Charleston defender and was able to chip the ball over the goalie to take a surprising lead. Sam Shashoua was back in the lineup for Birmingham, but had to make way for Enzo Martinez in the 34th minute due to injury. Charleston would get an equalizer later in the half from a set piece, and the first half ended tied up at 1-1.

Legion made one more sub at the half, while Charleston made two changes of their own. In the 54th minute Phanuel Kavita was shown a red card for a foul from behind against Cal Jennings in the box. Jennings stepped up and buried the PK to take a 2-1 lead. From my location it was hard to see exactly how it played out, but Mark Briggs was adamant that it shouldn't have been a red card. The central referee didn't offer an explanations, which built some frustration, and led to a yellow for Briggs later in the half. Birmingham continued to fight to the end, and it's noteworthy that Charleston doesn't go through the same gyrations for time-wasting that other teams do (I observed the same thing last year). Charleston held on to take the win.

Birmingham played a good game, especially considering that they were down a man for a third of the match. Trevor McMullen got the start at keeper, his first appearance as a pro, and did a great job against a very strong opponent.

Huntsville City FC

Image credit: Kevin Barrett

Saturday night's playoff game between Huntsville City and Philadelphia Union 2 was a tight defensive contest. Huntsville's style is to play with possession, and they ended the match with 69%, but were unable to get a single shot on target. The two teams battled back and forth, and went into the half locked up at 0-0. Philly got their breakthrough in the 67th minute when the Huntsville keeper took down Stas Korzeniowski (pictured above) in the box. Korzeniowski scored from the spot, and Huntsville was unable to find a way to respond. Philadelphia moves on to the Eastern finals with a 1-0 win, ending Huntsville's season.

UPSL

LSA Norcross 3-2 FC Birmingham. FCB has yet to win a game during the Fall season, but have been very competitive, with only one game that wasn't close.

Filial Pachuca 2-1 FC Columbus Elite. Colgaelite put together another strong effort, but came up short.

UMC II 7-1 Augusta Arsenal. UMA turns in their best performance for the Fall season, over an Augusta team that started on a hot streak, but has since cooled off. Five different players scored for UMA.

FC Atlanta 1-3 Columbus Knight Eagles. The Eagles put together a strong performance to earn thier second win in a row. Goals came from three different players, including one from Mouhamadou Diop, who leads the team with 5 goals this season.