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USL Birmingham Legion FC

Birmingham Takes Tough Loss Against Miami FC

September 25, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Birmingham, Ala. - Birmingham Legion FC lost against Miami FC on Sunday night. Although the hosts led in shots by a staggering 23 shots to nine, the visitors took all three points.

"We had a game plan, and I thought we executed except for the final part, which is the finishing," said Head Coach Tommy Soehn. Credit to their keeper who made a couple of big saves. Obviously missing a penalty hurts, but overall, I don't think we gave him a whole lot and we had plenty of looks. And I think over a course of a season, if you play that way, you come out on the right side. And obviously today we didn't. But no time to sulk. We have to build off today and make sure that we've got three games left. You go back and get your points, but the performance can't get worse. It needs to improve even on today."

Miami opened up by scoring off of a corner kick in the 38th minute of the first half. Former Legionnaire Ben Ofeiumu got his head to the ball to score his first goal of 2023.

Coming into the second half, Preston Tabort Etaka won the home side a penalty kick after going down in the box. Enzo Martinez stepped up to take the kick, but his effort was saved by Miami's goalkeeper Jake McGuire.

McGuire was massive for Miami. Arguably one of the best performances of his career, he had 12 saves on the night and earned himself a clean sheet.

Miami FC would go on to score once again in the 84th minute. Stealing the ball from Birmingham's Trevor Spangenberg, Kyle Murphy made it 2-0.

The scoreline of this game does not properly reflect the performance put on by the Legionnaires. In terms of the overall fluidity of the attack, it was one of Birmingham's better performances. Legion put up a staggering 23 shots, 12 of which were saved by Miami's McGuire.

"Well, I mean, I just had a talk with the team," said Soehn on tonight's game and where to go from here. "You look at this and say, nine out of ten times, if you play like that, you're going to come out ahead. Unfortunately, we haven't played that great, so it hurts even more, especially because I thought we put a lot into it and made their lives really tough, pressured them really well. But again, I look at our finishing, and that's to be desired. Right. We had so many looks to put them away."

"Most importantly you want to make the playoffs, and then what you do from there is up to you," said Soehn. "It's kind of one game at a time right now, and it takes one to get the next one. But if we can build on this last performance, there's still a battle to go and you know we're starting to get Tyler back. We're starting to get some more pieces to go build that chemistry."

The Black & Gold take on rivals 901 FC in its next match on Sunday, September 30. Traveling to Memphis for the rivalry game, a lot will be on the line for both sides. Fans can watch the game on My68 and ESPN+.

Box Score:

1st Half

2nd Half

BHM

0

0

MIA

1

1

Goals: MIA - 35 ‚¬Â² - #22 Ben Ofeimu (assisted by #8 Gabriel Cabral) MIA - 84 ‚¬Â² - #9 Kyle Murphy

Starting XI:

BHM - 4-1-4-1 - #18 Trevor Spangenberg; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #33 Moses Mensah (78 ‚¬Â² - #15 Tyler Pasher), #21 Alex Crognale, #13 Jake Rufe; #5 Mikey Lopez; #19 Enzo Martinez, #7 Diba Nwegbo (61 ‚¬Â² - #11 Neco Brett), #10 Prosper Kasim, #9 Juan Agudelo; #28 Tabort Etaka

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Match Recap: Birmingham Legion Takes Tough Loss Against Miami

Despite a very promising performance, Miami came out on top 2-0

Birmingham, Ala. - Birmingham Legion FC lost against Miami FC on Sunday night. Although the hosts led in shots by a staggering 23 shots to nine, the visitors took all three points.

"We had a game plan, and I thought we executed except for the final part, which is the finishing," said Head Coach Tommy Soehn. Credit to their keeper who made a couple of big saves. Obviously missing a penalty hurts, but overall, I don't think we gave him a whole lot and we had plenty of looks. And I think over a course of a season, if you play that way, you come out on the right side. And obviously today we didn't. But no time to sulk. We have to build off today and make sure that we've got three games left. You go back and get your points, but the performance can't get worse. It needs to improve even on today."

Miami opened up by scoring off of a corner kick in the 38th minute of the first half. Former Legionnaire Ben Ofeiumu got his head to the ball to score his first goal of 2023.

Coming into the second half, Preston Tabort Etaka won the home side a penalty kick after going down in the box. Enzo Martinez stepped up to take the kick, but his effort was saved by Miami's goalkeeper Jake McGuire.

McGuire was massive for Miami. Arguably one of the best performances of his career, he had 12 saves on the night and earned himself a clean sheet.

Miami FC would go on to score once again in the 84th minute. Stealing the ball from Birmingham's Trevor Spangenberg, Kyle Murphy made it 2-0.

The scoreline of this game does not properly reflect the performance put on by the Legionnaires. In terms of the overall fluidity of the attack, it was one of Birmingham's better performances. Legion put up a staggering 23 shots, 12 of which were saved by Miami's McGuire.

"Well, I mean, I just had a talk with the team," said Soehn on tonight's game and where to go from here. "You look at this and say, nine out of ten times, if you play like that, you're going to come out ahead. Unfortunately, we haven't played that great, so it hurts even more, especially because I thought we put a lot into it and made their lives really tough, pressured them really well. But again, I look at our finishing, and that's to be desired. Right. We had so many looks to put them away."

"Most importantly you want to make the playoffs, and then what you do from there is up to you," said Soehn. "It's kind of one game at a time right now, and it takes one to get the next one. But if we can build on this last performance, there's still a battle to go and you know we're starting to get Tyler back. We're starting to get some more pieces to go build that chemistry."

The Black & Gold take on rivals 901 FC in its next match on Sunday, September 30. Traveling to Memphis for the rivalry game, a lot will be on the line for both sides. Fans can watch the game on My68 and ESPN+.

Box Score:

1st Half 2nd Half

BHM 0 0

MIA 1 1

Goals:

MIA - 35 ‚¬Â² - #22 Ben Ofeimu (assisted by #8 Gabriel Cabral)

MIA - 84 ‚¬Â² - #9 Kyle Murphy

Starting XI:

BHM - 4-1-4-1 - #18 Trevor Spangenberg; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #33 Moses Mensah (78 ‚¬Â² - #15 Tyler Pasher), #21 Alex Crognale, #13 Jake Rufe; #5 Mikey Lopez; #19 Enzo Martinez, #7 Diba Nwegbo (61 ‚¬Â² - #11 Neco Brett), #10 Prosper Kasim, #9 Juan Agudelo; #28 Tabort Etaka

Head Coach Tommy Soehn

A crazy game. Coach, I thought your squad put on one of the best performances, but yet the result went another way. Overall, thoughts on the game?

"We had a game plan, and I thought we executed except for the final part, which is the finishing. Credit to their keeper made a couple of big saves. Obviously missing a penalty hurts, but overall, I don't think we gave him a whole lot and we had plenty of looks. And I think over a course of a season, if you play that way, you come out on the right side. And obviously today we didn't. But no time to sulk. We have to build off today and make sure that we've got three games left. You go back and get your points, but the performance can't get worse. It needs to improve even on today."

Right? Yeah. How do you plan on taking the positives from this game into the game forward?

"Well, I mean, I just had a talk with the team. I said, I think if the season weren't where it's at and we've blown a lot of points along the way, you look at this and say, look at nine out of ten times, if you play like that, you're going to come out ahead. Unfortunately, we haven't played that great, so it hurts even more, especially because I thought we put a lot into it and made their lives really tough, pressured them really well. But again, I look at our finishing, and that's to be desired. Right. We had so many looks to put them away."

It's really important that the guys don't feel disheartened by a positive game that doesn't go your way. We were once fighting for a home playoff spot. Now we're fighting to be in the playoffs. What impact has that had on the mood in the locker room? And how can you sort of use that frustration and turn it into fuel since last?

"Well, I think most importantly is you want to make the playoffs, and then what you do from there is up to you. It's kind of one game at a time right now, and it takes one to get the next one. But if we can build on this last performance, there's still a battle to go and you know we're starting to get Tyler back. We're start getting some more pieces to go build that chemistry."

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