Birmingham Legion FC Falls in Penalty Kicks, Earns Road Point
June 28, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release
Birmingham Legion FC versus Indy Eleven
(Birmingham Legion FC)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Entering Saturday night at Michael A. Carroll Stadium, the stage was set for a thrilling affair with both Birmingham Legion FC and Indy Eleven undefeated in the 2025 USL Jagermeister Cup through two matches. The two sides lived up to the lofty billing in a 1-1 draw that saw Legion FC equalize in the final minutes of regulation, followed by eight rounds of penalty kicks with Indy grabbing the extra point in the end.
"I told them in the locker room that I'm so proud with how they performed," said Birmingham coach Mark Briggs. "The quality they showed, the intensity and the amount of opportunities that we created was great, but you have to win matches and if you don't score goals, you won't win."
While the defeat in penalties was not the ideal outcome, Birmingham's chances of winning Group 3 and advancing to the knockout stage of the in-season tournament are still strong. With one last group match at home against Forward Madison FC on July 26, Legion FC sits at seven points, just one behind Indy for first place, and is also in good standing for being locking up one of the two wild card spots.
It appeared for the longest time that it would be the Eleven taking all three points in the match and locking up first place, if not for a stoppage time goal off of a free kick by Preston Tabort Etaka to even things up.
It was the final of Birmingham's 21 shots on the evening and its seventh on-target that finally found a path past Indy goalkeeper Hunter Sulte.
"That's the type of football we want to play," Briggs explained. "That game should have seen us up four or five goals. The things that we asked of them, they did, we just have to really focus in on the finishing element."
With renewed momentum heading into penalties, Legion FC quickly jumped out in front as goalkeeper Fernando Delgado made a diving stop on an attempt by Romario Williams.
The two sides would then trade goals through to the fifth round of kicks where Ronaldo Damus' chance to end the match was denied by Sulte. After both sides converted a pair of sudden death opportunities, Indy sealed things in the 8th round with Erik Centeno's shot denied after Josh O'Brien converted.
"That's the way it goes sometimes, it's just the toss of a coin," Briggs said. "There were some good penalties from us. It was a lot like the game where we were unbelievable but were unable to take our chances."
While proud of the overall performance, Legion FC is lamenting a couple of missed opportunities that could have seen the match won in regulation.
Birmingham finished regulation with an expected goals metric of 2.54 to the Eleven's 0.88. Additionally, Birmingham controlled the match from outset with 63.5% of the possession and recorded six big chances, but was having its issues getting the ball past Sulte, who made six saves, none bigger than a pair of point-blank shots from Danny Trejo in the 22nd and 49th minutes.
"It is frustrating because the goals scored in this tournament or so important and we created a lot of opportunities," noted Briggs. "The adjustments, the team took well and our movement and quality of possession of the ball was very good, but the finishing, we've got to score goals. As a coach, I understand that it's the last thing that comes. For 90 minutes, they played the football that I want us to play and they looked like they enjoyed it, and that's why I'm proud of them."
The Eleven finished the match with just nine total shots, but opened the scoring in the 28th minute as O'Brien headed in a cross from Oliver Bryneus.
BOX SCORE USL JAGERMEISTER CUP | GROUP 3 1ST HALF 2ND HALF FINAL BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC (2W-0L-1D | 7 PTS) 0 1 1 (6) INDY ELEVEN (2W-0L-1D | 8 PTS) 1 0 1 (7)
LINEUPS BHM: Delgado - GK, Tregarthen (Turnbull 77'), Kavita, Rufe (Hernandez-Foster 77'), Hamouda (Suarez 52'), Mensah (Centeno 85'), Laszo, Martinez - C (McIllhatton 85'), Trejo (Tabort Etaka 77'), Pasher, Damus IND: Sulte - GK, Musa, O'Brien, White, Bryneus (McRobb 67'), Rendon, Quinn - C, Murphy (Blake 88'), Lindley, Foster (Collier 82'), Amoh (Williams 82')
GOALS BHM: Tabort Etaka 90+4' IND: O'Brien 28'
DISCIPLINE BHM: Pasher (Yellow) 90+6' IND: O'Brien (Yellow) 50'; Musa (Yellow) 69'; Murphy (Yellow) 89'
NEXT UP Legion FC jumps back into the USL Championship regular season quickly as it returns home on Wednesday to face a stout Charleston Battery side.
"Charleston are one of the best teams in the league," said Briggs. "They'll come to our place this week and we'll get the guys ready and prepared and we'll see how that games goes."
Kickoff from Protective Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available to purchase for a special Salute to Service Night match that will include a flyover at the culmination of the national anthem and a fireworks show immediately following the match. More surprises will be announced on bhmlegion.com and the Legion FC social media channels.
Images from this story
 Birmingham Legion FC versus Indy Eleven |
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