Weekend Results
Jake Rufe maximizes his opportunity; FC Birmingham earns a point on the road
Birmingham Legion FC
Image credit: screencap from ESPN+
On Saturday night Birmingham earned a 1-1 draw against the top team in the West. Legion came into the match with a thin roster due to injuries and call-ups, but did have 18 players on hand.
I'll start here by calling out the head referee, who I thought did a terrible job. The ask for a referee is simple: be consistent. The referee Saturday night just wasn't at all consistent. Too many fouls called for phantom contact, no fouls called for obvious contact, etc. And then there was a biggie just before the half, when a PK was given for a Legion hand ball in the box. It was the correct call, but the referee made a meal of it after nobody on the crew seemed to have a clear view on the play, and the accusation is that he made his call after seeing the replay on the scoreboard. It was just one more botched effort in his body of work.
It was a game of two very different halves. Tulsa had heavy possession throughout the first half, aided by Legion's Shashoua getting an injury early in the half. Newly acquired Peter-Lee Vassell was subbed on to replace him, but was a step down for the Birmingham effort. Birmingham managed to keep Tulsa at bay until the penalty kick gave Tulsa the lead.
Birmingham regrouped at halftime, and came out with intensity for the second half. Legion would have the bulk of possession throughout, and looked more dangerous overall. After the referee, the big story of the night was Jake Rufe. Jake has had a strong season, but largely was sidelined for the last month. He started on Saturday, and did a great job on the defensive end, keeping things steady. As the game dragged on, Legion made several substitutions to look for a spark. Preston drew a foul well outside of the box, and then lined up to take the free kick. He put solid service into the box, and a deflection brought it towards the back post, where Jake Rufe outmuscled a Tulsa player and fired a header into the goal. Birmingham had one more chance at the death. Damus sent in a beautiful cross to an unmarked Vassell, but he missed the chance, sending the ball wide. The final score was 1-1, with Jake Rufe as the hero for Birmingham.
UPSL
FC Birmingham was on the road to face Scenic City SC. The game was close, and Scenic City got a late goal to equalize. Very good start to the Fall for both teams. Final score was 2-2.
Meanwhile, FC Columbus Elite took a hard loss on the road on Sunday. Georgia Athletic Soccer Club was firing on all cylinders, as they dominated Elite, winning 5-0.
Scoreboard watching
Image credit: Google
Birmingham's point against Tulsa enabled them to move up one position in the table, as the other teams from 8th to 12th all lost. On the other hand, the teams in 5th through 7th won, and increased their distance from the last playoff spot. Detroit and Hartford are in good form right now, and have moved to just one point behind North Carolina - the race will be tight for a home playoff position. Realistically, Birmingham's hope is just to overtake Indy for 8th place.
Lexington 2-1 North Carolina
Detroit City 4-1 Orange County
Charleston 2-1 Indy Eleven
Rhode Island 1-0 Louisville
Tampa Bay 0-2 Sacramento
Miami 0-1 Hartford
El Paso 2-1 Loudon United
Oakland 0-2 Pittsburgh