
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Back on the pitch after 10 days away, Birmingham Legion FC showed no signs of rust, particularly on defense, as it earned a valuable point away from home in a scoreless draw on Saturday night against USL Championship Western Conference leaders, Sacramento Republic FC.
“It’s more than just a positive result because I think we’ve done a solid job of building from the last two games,” said Legion FC coach Tom Soehn. “Disappointed that we didn’t come out with three points but our attitude and effort were great. I’m really proud of the guys.”
While the flow of the match was fairly wide-open more often than not, converting in the final third was hard to come by, with both sides achieving just one shot on goal. And while Sacramento tallied seven shots inside the box to Birmingham’s four, it was Legion FC who appeared to be a bit more on the front foot in the attack with twenty more entries into the final third (65-45), a 12-10 advantage in total shots and had the match’s only two big chances.
“A lot of the stuff we did well was generated from good shape,” Soehn explained. “We were able to turn that into some good chances, but unfortunately we weren’t able to finishes those chances.”
Things looked promising for The Three Sparks in the 58th minute when Enzo Martinez picked out new teammate Derek Dodson on an overlapping run. Dodson then played a square ball across the box to Stefano Pinho, quickly laying it off to Jake Rufe who was able to get a touch that seemed destined for the game’s first goal from about three yards out. However, Sacramento goalkeeper Danny Vitiello was able to reach back and corral the ball inches before it crossed the goal line.
Just 14 minutes after narrowly missing out on his first goal of the season, Rufe was again involved in a scoring opportunity by forcing a turnover with a clean sliding tackle at midfield before quickly finding Martinez with some space to run. A deflected pass attempt found Pinho with the ball on the left flank and one-on-one with Vitiello, but his left-footed shot attempt just inside the box sailed well above the crossbar and out of play.
“I’m really happy with the effort and tactical awareness,” said Soehn of his squad who had a 52%-48% advantage in possession. “Would’ve obviously loved to come out with more goals, but I will take that kind of effort from our guys every time.”
With Legion FC coming off its lengthy break and Sacramento having played an emotional U.S. Open Cup match earlier in the week, the away side put its foot on the pedal at the opening whistle with a noticeable high press, looking to use its fresh legs to catch the Republic off guard early on. Through the first 25 minutes, Birmingham had a slight edge in possession to go along with nine touches in the opposition’s box.
Sacramento’s plan of attack for much of the match revolved heavily around finding Kieran Phillips on the counter. In just his sixth appearance since his loan move from EFL Championship side Huddersfield Town in April, the English forward was able to run into pockets of space running with and without the ball in his 83 minutes, but the Birmingham backline was up for the challenge, with Phillips unable to get a single shot off on the evening.
“We had good positioning on Phillips,” Soehn said. “We went in wanting to make them play pretty predictable and our backline did its job.”
Getting the start and playing the full 90 minutes at right back in his first match since joining Legion FC earlier in the week, Dodson made his presence felt almost immediately. The Minnesota United loanee showed off his defensive vision with two interceptions and three clearances, while also providing an outlet in the attack when Birmingham probed the right side of the pitch.
With Dodson and the backline doing a lot to keep the opposition’s attack at bay, Matt Van Oekel wasn’t tested much in goal on the evening, but did make a nice two-handed stop while diving to his right on a close-range header off a corner for Sacramento’s only shot on target. The clean sheet was the third for the veteran goalkeeper this season.
SRFC played the final minute of regulation and all of stoppage time with 10 men, when Sebastian Herrera received a red card from a foul on Rufe in the 89th minute.
Match Details
BOX SCORE | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
BHM (4W – 4L – 3D) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SAC (5W – 0L – 6D) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
LINEUPS
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Paterson, Kavita – C, Crognale, Dodson, McCartney, Hernandez-Foster, Rufe, Pinho (Tabort Etaka 73′), Martinez, Pasher (Nwegbo 85′)
SAC: Vitiello – GK, Desmond, Viader (Sanchez 65′), Timmer, Gurr, Wiedt, Rodrigues, Ross, Jauregui (Parano 66′), Phillips (Ricketts 83′), Amann (Herrera 66′)
GOALS
BHM:
SAC:
DISCIPLINE
BHM: Rufe (Yellow) 89′
SAC: Timmer (Yellow) 13′, Ross (Yellow) 22′, Herrera (Red) 89′, Gurr (Yellow) 90′
NEXT UP
Legion FC will be back in action on Saturday, June 1 as it stays out west and takes a trip to the border to face El Paso Locomotive FC, who currently sit at the bottom of the USLC Western Conference table with just eight points through 12 matches. Kick-off from Southwest University Park is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT.