Legion FC Shares Point in Wild Affair at Phoenix
USL Birmingham Legion FC

Legion FC Shares Point in Wild Affair at Phoenix

August 2, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez and Phoenix Rising FC's Hope Avayevu in action
Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez and Phoenix Rising FC's Hope Avayevu in action
(Birmingham Legion FC)

PHOENIX, Ariz.- The wild west certainly lived up to its name on Saturday night as Birmingham Legion FC pulled itself off the mat after falling behind early, only for the host Phoenix Rising FC to respond with a late equalizer. The rollercoaster affair would finish with a point split in a 3-3 draw with both sides feeling like it left a win out on the pitch.

"It was a story of two halves," said Birmingham coach Mark Briggs. "I thought in the first half we were shocking and didn't seem like we wanted to run and then we changed a few things and all of the sudden we came out and played with an energy and attitude that allowed us to score goals. We put ourselves in a great position, but you have to be able to see out a game."

The draw brings Legion FC up to 19 points and back into 8th place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference table, but the visitors would've been in even better position if not for a 90th minute goal by Phoenix's Charlie Dennis, who played a ball into the box that somehow neither team got a touch on as it bounced by a diving Fernando Delgado into the side netting.

"We were in our structure and shape, but weren't really causing us problems in the second half," Briggs recalled. "Dennis was the only one causing problems by whipping balls in and we just allowed him to continue to do so and we concede a goal from that. That's where the game management comes into play. We can see that he's a threat and so we have to stop that threat."

Tabbed for the start at right wingback for a second consecutive match, Sebastian Tregarthen once again showed his unique ability to give opposing backlines fits. The 25-year-old rookie notched a goal and an assist within a 10-minute span to put the Three Sparks out in front in the second half.

"I was really proud of Sebastian's performance," said Briggs. "In the first half, he got into some good areas for us and then continued that in the second half but was able to play more quality balls once he got into those areas. Really pleased with him because I thought he had the right mindset and you could see that in his performance."

Trailing 2-1, Tregarthen smashed a cross at the back post from Samuel Shashoua off the cross bar and in for his second goal in league play and third across all competitions. It was also Shashoua's second assist in as many matches as the Minnesota United FC-loanee made his third consecutive start since coming to Birmingham.

Not satisfied with the even score line, Tregarthen in the 64th minute was hit in-stride on a long diagonal from AJ Paterson. The Uruguayan speedster chested the ball forward into space down the right side before cutting a ball back to his countryman, midfielder Enzo Martinez, who muscled it in from close range to put Legion FC up 3-2.

It capped off a stretch of three unanswered goals for Birmingham that began in the 39th minute with a sequence that also involved Tregarthen. A driven shot from the right side forced Phoenix goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky to parry into the box and eventually land at the feet of Tyler Pasher. The Legion FC captain took a touch into space before firing off a low, driven left-footed strike past Rakovsky.

"It was really important to get that goal at that time," explained Briggs. "It gave us a little bit more energy going into the half. To that point, we weren't showing any energy, hunger or desire in the first half."

Rising FC took a 2-0 lead early on by converting its only two shots on target in the first half. Midfielder Hope Avayevu had a hand in both by providing the assist to Emil Cuello in the 16th minute and then scoring his own from the top of the box in the 25th minute.

After joining Legion FC on a transfer from Las Vegas Lights FC, defender Maliek Howell made his club debut on Saturday and went the full 90 minutes. Recovered from injury, midfielder Dawson McCartney saw his first action since May 24 when he subbed on in the 74th minute for Ramiz Hamouda.

BOX SCORE USL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHDAY 19 1ST HALF 2ND HALF FINAL BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC (4W-8L-7D | 19 PTS) 1 2 3 PHOENIX RISING FC (6W-6L-6D | 24 PTS) 2 1 3

LINEUPS BHM: Delgado - GK, Tregarthen (Turnbull 84$B!l(B), Suarez, Howell, Paterson, Hamouda (McCartney 74$B!l(B), Laszo (McIllhatton 30$B!l(B), Martinez, Shashoua (Saucedo 75$B!l(B), Pasher - C, Damus (Tabort Etaka 85$B!l(B) PHX: Rakovsky - GK C, Rizzo (Ping 75$B!l(B), Essengue, Flood, Cuello (Formello 85$B!l(B), Sainte (Okello 71$B!l(B), Avayevu, Emmers (Rivera 71$B!l(B), Dennis, Johnson, Sacko

GOALS BHM: Pasher 39$B!l(B; Tregarthen 54$B!l(B; Martinez 64$B!l(B PHX: Cuello 16$B!l(B; Avayevu 25$B!l(B; Dennis 90$B!l(B

DISCIPLINE BHM: Laszo (Yellow) 26$B!l(B; Shashoua (Yellow) 70$B!l(B; Howell (Yellow) 76$B!l(B; Delgado (Yellow) 90+4$B!l(B PHX: Rivera (Yellow) 83$B!l(B; Okellow (Yellow) 90+7$B!l(B; Ping (Yellow) (90+8$B!l(B)

NEXT UP Legion FC returns home next Saturday, August 9 as it welcomes Hartford Athletic to Protective Stadium where it will be looking to not only strengthen its playoff positioning in the East, but also to exact a bit of revenge with Hartford having won the earlier meeting in Connecticut this season.

"It's a massively important game," said Briggs. "We've got to take this goal-scoring momentum, because Hartford are playing extremely well right not. They'll be coming in with a confidence, so we've got to make sure that we're at it from the start."

Check out the Birmingham Legion FC Statistics




Images from this story

Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez and Phoenix Rising FC's Hope Avayevu in action
Birmingham Legion FC's Enzo Martinez and Phoenix Rising FC's Hope Avayevu in action
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 2, 2025


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