Weekend Results

Through Sun Mar 16

Birmingham Legion FC

Lousville City game to town, fresh off a win last week over Charleston (2-1). There were questions regarding who would be available for Legion; Roman Torres came off early last week with an ankle injury, and Danny Trejo didn't return for the second half due to concussion protocols. The good news was that Torres was back in the starting lineup. The bad news was that center back Phanuel Kavita wasn't available, in addition to Trejo. Thankfully, Legion's roster is deeper than last year, with some significant versatility. Jake Rufe started at center back in Kavita's place, and Dawson McCartney started in Trejo's place.

Wind was a factor in the game, and the temperature dropped throughout the match. The most disappointing thing was that the attendance was just plain bad - maybe less than 1000 fans. Folks missed a good game.

The game was a wide open, back and forth affair. Legion was much better in the midfield than they were in the first game, and put more pressure on Louisville when they had the ball. Legion missed some great early scoring chances, and Louisville finally got on the board first from a quick counterattack. Then, in first half stoppage, Legion got their goal off of a header by Ronaldo Damus from a free kick delivered by Roman Torres.

The second half was very chippy and physical, and the wide open play continued. Both teams had quality chances to score. In a mad scramble, Jake Rufe cleared the ball off of the line, ultimately saving the day for Legion. The halftime score stood, and the game ended 1-1. Legion came away feeling like they should have gotten a win, but this was a good result.

Huntsville City FC

Image credit: Chattanooga FC

If you glanced at the stat sheet for this game without looking at the score, you would come to one conclusion: Huntsville won easily. Not so fast. Chattanooga got a gosl in the second minute and then held on to that goal to win 1-0. Huntsville had 75% possession, 12 corners to 1 for CFC, and 25 shots (5 on target) to 6 (2 on target). CFC led in saves, and had a massive 32 clearances, and somehow kept it together enough to secure the win. They need to go ahead and get a derby name for this match-up.

The Adjacency

Fountain City was on the road against Kalonji Pro-Profile, and the game was pretty much as expected. I watched a chunk of it off and on, and the takeaway was simple. KPP is relentless in attack, and Fountain had trouble getting the ball past the center of the field, much less the final third. Fountain fought hard, but got crushed 0-7.

Due to inclement weather, the FC Columbus Elite game vs North Georgia United was postponed.

Other Notes and Tidbits

Yaniv Bazini appeared in Legion's first friendly against Atlanta United. Bazini has an impressive resume from Vermont Green of USL2, and won the NCAA Championship with Vermont University. With a crowded roster of attackers, Legion wasn't able to keep him, and he landed at South Georgia Tormenta. He got his first start Saturday and scored both of Tormenta's goals in a 2-0 win.