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USL Birmingham Legion FC

Legion FC Falls to El Paso 2-1 at Home

May 20, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


BIRMINGHAM, AL - Birmingham Legion FC lost at home to El Paso Locomotive FC of the USLC Western Conference 2-1 on Saturday night. Legion's Juan Agudelo gave the Black & Gold an early lead, but El Paso scored two unanswered to take all three points.

Legion scored first in the 17th minute. Prosper Kasim drove into the box and cut the ball back to find Agudelo at the far post. The veteran hammered the ball into the back of the net with his first touch. Kasim now is tied for the USL Championship lead in assists with four.

Only two minutes later El Paso would find an equalizer after capitalizing on a Legion FC turnover. After a failure to clear the ball out of danger, Luis Solignac's strike took a deflection and got past VanOekel between the posts.

"The way we started the game I thought was pretty good," said Legion Head Coach Tommy Soehn. "We got the first goal, but how we responded after that we just had a couple giveaways that really cost us. But overall, I wasn't pleased with our performance. We lacked in the final third."

Scores remained level at half time, with the Locomotive leading in possession (60.8%) and shots (8). The Western Conference side would take the lead in the 58th minute. After a giveaway on the top of the box, El Paso midfielder Liam Rose shot the ball into the top corner of Legion's goal.

The score would not change from then on, with chances about even on both sides. Each team got five shots away in the second half. After tonight's loss, Birmingham falls to fifth in the Eastern Conference, and it marks four league losses in a row for the Black & Gold. Vulcan's Henchmen will hope to turn its form around on Wednesday against Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer.

"We have to put this one to bed and move on to the next one," said Soehn. "Everybody does it in different ways, but we have to make sure we're cleaner. Today I said we weren't as good on the ball as we needed to be, and against Charlotte we'll have to really be."

Midfielder Anderson Asiedu when asked about Wednesday's game against Charlotte FC:

"The most important game is the next game," said Asiedu. "I feel like everybody knows what the next game means and everybody is going to put this behind and we're going to go to war next game because it's one game at a time. Some games will be good, some games will be bad. So the next one is the most important. That's what we're looking up to."

Box Score:

1st Half 2nd Half

BHM 1 0

ELP 1 1

Goals:

BHM - 17' - #9 Juan Agudelo (assisted by #10 Prosper Kasim)

ELP - 19' - #9 Luis Solignac

ELP - 58' - #22 Liam Rose

Lineup:

BHM - 4-3-3 - #1 Matt VanOekel; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #16 Gabriel Alves, #21 Alex Crognale, #13 Jake Rufe; #6 Anderson Asiedu, #5 Mikey Lopez, #10 Prosper Kasim; #15 Tyler Pasher, #19 Enzo Martinez, #9 Juan Agudelo

Come cheer on Legion FC as they take on a Major League Soccer team in a competitive match for the first time in club history! Legion FC's next match is a historic US Open Cup Round of 16 contest at Protective Stadium versus Major League Soccer's Charlotte FC on Wednesday, May 24th at 7:00pm. Season ticket holders can claim their tickets for the match in the Legion FC Account Manager, and single game tickets can be purchased HERE.

For all club news and updates fans are encouraged to follow @bhmlegion on social media and keep an eye on bhmlegion.com and the Legion FC app.

Legion FC Quote Sheet

Head Coach Tommy Soehn

Coach, any positives to take away from tonight's match?

"The way we started the game I thought was pretty good. We got the first goal, but how we responded after that we just had a couple giveaways that really cost us. But overall, I wasn't pleased with our performance. We lacked in the final third."

How do you move on and perform on Wednesday versus Charlotte FC?

"We have to put this one to bed and move on to the next one. Everybody does it in different ways, but we have to make sure we're cleaner. Today I said we weren't as good on the ball as we needed to be, and against Charlotte we'll have to really be."

Midfielder Anderson Asiedu

What do you tell your team after a loss like this with your next game only four days away?

"It's actually just one game at a time sometimes. But the most important game is the next game. I feel like everybody knows what the next game means and everybody's going to put this behind and we're going to go to war next game because it's one game at a time. Some games will be good, some games will be bad. So the next one is the most important. That's what we're looking up to."

What difference can we see with you guys next Wednesday?

"We can see a lot of differences because they are the MLS side. We have a chip on our shoulders. We want to prove ourselves. We are the underdogs. We want to show them we are here to compete as well. Every game is a different game it doesn't matter what side they are. It doesn't matter what side we are. It's who wants it the most, who wants to commit, who wants to do the little things to win. So we were going to get ready for them. We're going to do what we can do best to win. So that's the goal."

Do you think that was the case tonight? Do you think El Paso just wanted it a little bit more?

"Yeah, sometimes every game is different with the players, with different teams, and different commissions, saying things might not go well the way you want them to. And they didn't really do anything crazy. It's just that it was their night when it comes to a little thing. We did our part. They execute what they got. We didn't get any chances to execute. I feel like the next game is the most important. We put everything behind us and then we go to war next game."

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