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USL Birmingham Legion FC

Legion FC Suffers Road Defeat at Loudoun United

April 15, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Loudoun County, VA - Birmingham Legion FC suffered its first road loss of the season against Loudoun United FC, with the Virginia side winning 3-0. The Black & Gold were on the backfoot the entire match and failed to create many dangerous opportunities.

Loudoun United dominated the first half of play in every aspect; leading in possession (61.8%), shots (11 to 1), and touches in the opposing box (25 to 2). Its commanding performance earned the Virginia side two unanswered first-half goals.

Wesley Leggett opened the scoring up for the home side in the 32nd minute, capitalizing on a chance that came through Loudoun putting pressure in the Legion box. Having won the ball in a 50/50 with Birmingham goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg, Loudoun switched play to the far post and then sent in a header to Leggett who sent the ball past Spangenberg.

The second goal for the White & Red came just ten minutes later. Kalil ElMedkhar took the ball well outside the box, made a run past Legion's Anderson Asiedu, and slipped it past Spangenberg to make it 2-0.

The Three Sparks looked better in the second half but could not get in control of the game. Loudoun kept up the pressure and its third goal came in the 69th minute through its leading goal scorer Zach Ryan.

"What's going through my head is frustration," said Legion FC captain Phanuel Kavita. "Because we have the players to perform but we all came out flat and Loudoun punished us from start to finish."

Birmingham was unable to get any control during the game, with its midfield unable to hold on to the ball and make offensive progress. The squad practiced throughout the week without its head coach Tommy Soehn, who was away due to family matters. That may have played a part in the three-goal defeat.

"I think it was a difficult week because I wasn't there all week," said Soehn. "There was only one team on the field today, and we didn't deserve anything. They earned everything they got. And it's tough to swallow because we're not that kind of team. That's my job to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"The mentality moving forward is learn from these two last games because we have another next week," said Kavita. "It's early in the season and we're still figuring things out, but attitude and effort has to be 100 percent better from the start of the whistle to the end and those are things we can control, and the football will come."

Box Score:

1st Half 2nd Half

LDN 2 1

BHM 0 0

Goals:

LDN - 32' - #11 Wesley Leggett (assisted by #2 Kao Santos)

LDN - 42' - #23 Kalil ElMedkhar (assisted by #28 Zach Ryan)

LDN - 69' - #28 Zach Ryan (assisted by #23 Kalil ElMedkhar)

Lineup:

BHM - 4-3-3 - #18 Trevor Spangenberg; #4 Collin Smith (45 ‚¬Â² #13 Jake Rufe), #21 Alex Crognale, #3 Phanuel Kavita ©, #16 Gabriel Alves; #6 Anderson Asiedu, #17 Matthew Corcoran (63 ‚¬Â² #2 Ben Reveno), #33 Moses Mensah (45 ‚¬Â² #19 Enzo Martinez); #9 Juan Agudelo, #10 Prosper Kasim (72 ‚¬Â² #7 Diba Nwegbo), #11 Neco Brett

Legion FC's next match is on the road at Orange County SC on Saturday, April 22 at 9PM CT. Tune in to watch the match on My68 or on ESPN+ and follow @bhmlegion on Twitter for live match updates.

The Three Sparks return to Protective Stadium on Sunday, April 30th to face the Hartford Athletic, and fans can grab tickets today at bhmlegion.com/tickets!

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