
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the midst of a two-match skid, Birmingham Legion FC is hoping that a week off and a return home is just what the doctor ordered, as the club looks to get back on track this Saturday at Protective Stadium against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
“Anytime you lose one game, you have that hunger (to respond), so when you lose two in a row, you have to be ready to go,” said midfielder Enzo Martinez. “We played two of the best teams in the league and they showed us why they are the best, so right now we got to make sure we worry about ourselves and be ready to go from that first whistle.”
MATCH INFO
- Birmingham Legion FC (7W-7L-3D) vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (8W-6L-3D)
- USL Championship | Matchday 18
- Saturday, July 13 – 6:30 p.m. CT
- Protective Stadium – Birmingham, Ala.
- Watch: WABM My68 (Birmingham)
- Stream: ESPN+
The grind of a long season has taken its toll on Birmingham with Martinez one of just four Legion FC players who have been healthy enough to play in all 17 games of the USL Championship campaign, while also logging over 1,000 minutes. Forward Tyler Pasher, midfielder Kobe Hernandez-Foster and defender Phanuel Kavita are the others.
The good news is that the club finally seems to be on the mend with midfielder Jake Rufe returning to action in last week’s match against Charleston Battery, while defender AJ Paterson and goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg will be available for selection on Saturday. Spangenberg is set to make his season debut and his return is particularly fortuitous with it coming the same week that Atlanta United recalled Jayden Hibbert from his loan, following his four starts in goal with Legion FC in the wake of Matt Van Oekel’s injury.
“We finally got some guys back,” a relieved Birmingham coach Tom Soehn said after having just four available outfield players on his bench the previous two matches.
“It’s always refreshing to see those guys back because now it pushes everybody. Now there is competition for spots and you can’t emulate that if you don’t have guys pushing, so that’s a real positive, but also the quality that we’ve been missing from those guys, that got us through tough stretches and put us in a scenario where we were really honest and hard working. Our performances dictated that.”
The hope going forward now is that Legion FC recouping its health will return it to the form that it was on when it went on a five-match stretch where it dropped just one game and got its goal differential back to even before this recent downturn.
“It’s just so important to keep everyone fresh and rotate the squad,” explained Hernandez-Foster. “We just need that first win and from there we’re going to have the confidence to keep going and win more games and make a climb up the table.”
Speaking of that confidence, Colorado Springs seems to have it in spades at the moment. The Switchbacks recently completed a two-match homestand where secured a pair of 1-0 victories over Monterey Bay FC and FC Tulsa, pushing its points total up to 27 for fourth place in the USLC Western Conference Standings. The two wins also bumped goalkeeper Christian Herrera’s clean sheet total up to six, which ranks third in the league. Overall, Colorado Springs has only allowed 18 goals this season.
Forward Ronaldo Damus leads the club with eight goals on the campaign, including a penalty conversion that proved to be the difference in the win over Monterey Bay.
“They’ve got some athletes up top and they work in transition quite a bit so we have to be very careful with our turnovers,” Soehn said of Birmingham’s upcoming opponent. “In the same respect, they take a lot of risks going forward so we will look to see if we can transition on them as well.”
Follow Along
For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. As part of Christmas in July, a special Shootout With Santa will be held prior to the match. Registration will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT and is open to anyone who purchases a ticket (HERE) and registers for the event online (HERE).