Points at a Premium for Legion FC as It Travels to Monterey Bay FC

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Birmingham Legion FC

Points at a Premium for Legion FC as It Travels to Monterey Bay FC

August 9, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Birmingham Legion FC huddle up after a goal
Birmingham Legion FC huddle up after a goal
(Birmingham Legion FC)

SEASIDE, Calif. - With its new training facility set to have its grand opening soon, Birmingham Legion FC christened the complex this week with a physicality in practice that had been missing for much of the season. But, after dropping points at home against Hartford Athletic, the players and coaching staff knew that they had to kick things up a notch.

"(Assistant coach Braeden Cloutier) said it best, 'where was that energy when we were giving away two goals in the second half against Hartford?'," said midfielder Jake Rufe. "You see the intensity out here and sometimes we lose that edge a little bit in the games. That's something we can't afford to do."

That switch-off last weekend burned a golden opportunity for The Three Sparks who would've reached fourth place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings had it held on to a 2-0 lead. Instead, it sits in fifth place in a jumbled-up race both for first round hosting privileges and a postseason spot altogether.

With 12 matches left and a road trip to face a potentially volatile opponent in Monterey Bay FC on Saturday, Legion FC coach Tom Soehn knows that his team can ill afford to drop anymore points, hence the recent ramp up within the training sessions.

MATCH DETAILS

Birmingham Legion FC (9W-8L-5D) at Monterey Bay FC (7W-9L-6D)

USL Championship | Matchday 23

Saturday, August 10 - 9:00 p.m. CT

Cardinale Stadium - Seaside, CA

Watch: WABM My68 (Birmingham)

Stream: ESPN+

"It was a hard video session (following the draw with Hartford) and when you have those it tends to lead to a hard training session, but we need to do that on the weekend, not during the week," Soehn said. "When you lose or tie and feel like you gave away points, there's a hell of a lot to learn from that.

"Those are two points we'll look back at and regret later on in the season. The message was really clear and the response was good, we just have to keep it there."

As things stand, Legion FC is at 32 points through 22 matches, just three back of fourth place Indy Eleven. Detroit City FC and Loudoun United are both right behind at 30 points apiece, with Rhode Island FC rounding out the top eight at 29 points and North Carolina FC currently on the outside looking in - six points behind at Birmingham - at 26.

What makes the race even closer is that Legion FC has played one more match than every team in that group except for Indy and Rhode Island.

"Everyone kind of pays attention to that," midfielder Kobe Hernandez-Foster said of the season standings. "We know now that we have to go in and pretty much win every game that we play. The most important thing is not dropping points and we let points go away last game, so we know that we have to go into this game and make them back up."

Three points are ripe for the picking as Legion FC heads to the Pacific coast this weekend having grabbed seven points in its last four home matches, while Monterey Bay FC went winless at Cardinale Stadium with a pair of draws in July. That was the catalyst to the team shaking up its coaching staff by parting ways with Head Coach and Sporting Director Frank Yallop after three seasons.

The ensuing hire came this past Tuesday with the club naming Jordan Stewart as its new coach. It marks the first head job for the former San Jose Earthquakes assistant and longtime English Premier League defender, which can throw a wrench into the gameplan for Soehn and company.

"A lot could change, it could be the same, no one knows," the Legion FC coach explained. "What you'll find normally when a new coach comes in is that there is going to be a bounce from the team that you're playing against. We have to expect that emotional bounce, so we're going to have to match that first then worry about tactics."

In 21 matches under Yallop and one with interim coach Simon Dawkins, Monterey's biggest issue has been a lack of bite in the final third. It currently ranks in the bottom five of the USLC in goals scored with 21 and is only ahead of El Paso Locomotive FC with an 11% conversion rate.

In the defensive half, opposing teams have found it difficult to get much by goalkeeper Anthony Siaha, who leads the league with 84 saves - 18 saves ahead of Phoenix Rising FC's Rocco Rios Novo in second. Two of Siaha's five total clean sheets have come in his last four matches, however Monterey has allowed five goals in its two most recent outings.

"You never know what to expect from a team when a new coach comes in," Hernandez-Foster said. "At the end of the day, we just need to play our game and not focus so much on the opponent. It's just about what we do, what we can control and ultimately just going out there and getting the win."

Follow Along

For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as the Legion FC Match Center.

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Birmingham Legion FC huddle up after a goal
Birmingham Legion FC huddle up after a goal
   

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