Weekend Results

Huntsville is on fire; Legion gets a point on the road

Birmingham Legion FC

Image credit: Birmingham Legion

Birmingham was on the road to face Phoenix Rising, and came away with a 3-3 draw. It was a gritty performance in the oppressive heat (over 105 at kickoff), and the result has Birmingham hanging on to eigth place in the East.

The game was a roller-coaster of emotions, as Phoenix jumped to an early 2-0 lead. The Legion defense looked very unsettled through the first thirty minutes, and the two goals felt like they were very preventable. My first issue is that Briggs made the decision to start newcomer Maliek Howell over Jake Rufe at center back, the only change in the lineup from the squad that won last week's game against Forward Madison. I felt like he was out of position early, and the shape of the back line suffered. Additionally, CDM Edwin Laszo had some early struggles, and repeatedly gave the ball away. Briggs made the unusual (but definitely correct) decision to burn a sub and a window early, and took Laszo off after just thirty minutes. The defense settled in after the change, and Birmingham's attack got revved up. Tyler Pasher pulled one back in the 39th minute, and they went into halftime down 1-2.

Legion didn't make any changes at the half, and almost got an equalizer immediately. They had Phoenix on their heels, and in the 54th minute Sebastian Tregarthen took a cross from Shashoua and fired it into the top of the goal to equalize. Just ten minutes later, Tregarthen drove in and got the ball to Enzo Martinez right in front of the keeper for another goal to go ahead. Honestly, it was one of the weirder goals you'll ever see. Enzo stretched out his left leg to poke the ball towards the goal; it rebounded off of the keeper and pinballed in off of Enzo's thigh. We'll take it. Both teams made several substitutions to get some fresh legs on the field, and Legion tried to hold on to the lead. Unfortunately, Phoenix was able to press the attack consistently, and they found a late equalizer from a ball that was served into the box and found its way into the net. Birmingham will feel good about rallying from a two goal deficit, but they missed another golden opportunity to move up in the table. Shashoua and Tregarthen had an incredible game.

Huntsville City FC

Image credit: Huntsville City

One week after a 4-0 dismantling of Orlando, Huntsville did it again on the road against Crown Legacy. Legacy helped to jumpstart things by getting an early red card on a Huntsville breakaway, just 28 minutes into the match. Huntsville would take the lead just ten minutes later, and wouldn't look back. Christian Koffi got a brace, on the way to a big 4-0 win. The win has Huntsville in fourth place, just one point behind third place Chicago. Huntsville's balance has them at a +20 GD, the second-best in all of NextPro.

Other news

Image credit: Nashville SC

On Saturday Nashville SC played a friendly against English Premier League side Aston Villa. 19 year-old Matthew Corcoran scored a goal for Nashville to lead a comeback on the way to a 2-2 draw. It waa the first goal this season in all competitions for the former Birmingham Legion player.