Legion FC chased the game after going down 1-0 in the 49th minute
Edinburg, TX (September 17, 2023) – Birmingham Legion FC picked up a loss against Rio Grande Valley Toros FC on Sunday night. After a scoreless first half that saw both sides create many chances, the Toros found a breakaway goal in the 49th minute. Grande Valley were able to hold that result and earn a clean sheet along with three points.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a lack of effort,” said Head Coach Tommy Soehn on the final result. “It was the quality of the work, or it was just sloppy and uninspiring. I mean, it’s crunch time right now. We can’t afford to have games like this where I felt like I could have subbed several guys out, and then you bring guys in. I don’t think we made a big difference. We kind of kept the same motif. So it’s crunch time now. We can’t afford it.”
The first half of play ended fairly even on stats, with Birmingham attempting six shots and Rio Grande seven. The second half, however, was a different story. Legion had just two shots in the second half, with both of those shots occurring in stoppage time.
“It was just poor execution,” said Soehn on the lack of opportunities in the second half. “I look at our numbers, and everybody worked hard, but if you’re not working smart and keeping the ball and creating quality opportunities, you know, you’re shooting yourself in your foot. And that’s what we did tonight.”
Valley FC had eight shots in the second half compared to Birmingham’s two. After finding its breakaway goal in the 49th minute, the hosts dominated the run of play.
Now the Legionnaires have just two days of rest before they kick off against its rivals Memphis 901 FC at home on Wednesday evening. A quick turnaround game against its arch-rivals, Birmingham will have to come to the game with full energy. Fans can get tickets to the derby game here.
“We got to bounce back from this,” said Soehn. “I mean, this wasn’t good enough. So, obviously, we know the rivalry between us and Memphis. There shouldn’t be any reason why we don’t get up for that one.”
Match Details
Box Score:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| Birmingham | 0 | 0 |
| RGV | 0 | 1 |
Goals:
RGV – 49′ – #9 Frank López (assisted by #17 Ian Cerro)
Starting XI:
BHM – 4-2-3-1 – #1 Matt VanOekel; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #4 Collin Smith (67′ – #13 Jake Rufe), #21 Alex Crognale, #33 Moses Mensah; #5 Mikey Lopez (83′ – #16 Gabriel Alves), #17 Matthew Corcoran (57′ – #28 Preston Tabort Etaka); Enzo Martinez, #9 Juan Agudelo (57′ – #7 Diba Nwegbo), #10 Prosper Kasim (83′ – #23 Grayson Dupont); #11 Neco Brett
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