Lethal in attack and defense, the hosts earned a shutout victory against Birmingham
San Diego, Calif. (September 03, 2023) – Birmingham Legion FC’s visit to San Diego ended in a loss for the Black & Gold. The Loyal scored two in the first half, which made Birmingham chase the game. The Californian side put in a third in the 84th minute to close out the game.
“I felt like we had guys who under-performed today up to their capabilities,” said Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “This league has turned into a league where there are no easy games. There were plenty of opportunities to be had, and even our decisions when it came time — which side to pass to or who to pass to — we just weren’t on our game tonight.”
The hosts opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Driving down Legion’s half on a counter-attack, a whipped-in ball into Birmingham’s box deflected conveniently to the feet of an open Blake Bodily, who curled the ball into the far post.
Birmingham had a couple of chances on target in the first half, with the best chance being a header by Juan Agudelo that Loyal’s goalkeeper Stoneman kept out.
San Diego would go on to score another in the 39th minute. Alejandro Guido sent a ball in behind Legion’s defense to Tumi Moshobane who scored at the near post.
The Black & Gold were not shy to take shots, but could not convert its chances. Legion had 14 shots, but only two of them were on target.
“It’s frustrating because we also let them penetrate really easily on the goals they scored. Was it individual, or collective? Again, the goals were too easy. Our opportunities came — and we had some opportunities that were really good looks — and we just didn’t make the right decisions at the time and that’s the difference of getting up or down early. It’s just disappointing because this late in the year you don’t expect that.”
The hosts put in a third in the 84th minute to seal their win. After VanOekel saved a shot on target the ball fell to the far post for Collin Martin to tap in.
“Ultimately, today just wasn’t good enough on our end,” said Soehn. “There’s no excuses for that. We need to show up with a better mentality, and that’s also on me. I need to make sure they understand the importance of every game. We definitely have lost too many games this season.”
The Legionnaires return home on Sunday, September 10 to take on New Mexico United. Fans can get tickets here as Birmingham pushes for the playoffs.
Match Details
Box Score:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| Birmingham | 0 | 0 |
| San Diego | 2 | 1 |
Goals:
SD – 18′ – #7 Blake Bodily
SD – 39′ – #11 Tumi Moshobane (assisted by #10 Alejandro Guido)
SD – 84′ – #17 Collin Martin
Starting XI:
BHM – 4-2-3-1 – #1 Matt VanOekel; #3 Phanuel Kavita, #4 Collin Smith (45′ – #28 Preston Etaka), #21 Alex Crognale, #33 Moses Mensah; #5 Mikey Lopez (74′ – #17 Matthew Corcoran), #19 Enzo Martinez; #9 Juan Agudelo, #10 Prosper Kasim (83′ – #23 Grayson Dupont), #7 Diba Nwegbo; #11 Neco Brett
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