
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For a second straight week, Birmingham Legion FC was unable to etch its name on the scoresheet after succumbing to a first half deficit, as it drops Saturday’s contest to Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 3-0, at Protective Stadium.
“It kind of feels like we’ve hit rock bottom a little bit,” said Legion FC coach Tom Soehn, “Tonight was just another really low moment and we have to find a way to get out of it. That’s now two matches in a row where we have just not been ourselves.
“There’s nowhere to go but up, but the only ones that are going to get us there is us and we all have to dig deeper.”
Birmingham has now dropped its previous two home matches and has only earned one point over the last three at Protective Stadium. For another week, the Three Sparks finds itself sitting on 35 points in a USL Championship Eastern Conference playoff race that is getting tighter with nine matches remaining in the 2024 season.
“It’s just not working for us right now,” Defender and captain Phanuel Kavita said. “It’s hard to explain and it’s frustrating. These are the type of games that have caused a lot of sleepless nights. There is still so much to play for and we have to just continue to push. We just have to keep trying different things, because if something is not working, something else eventually will and when it does, it’ll hit at the right time. So, as tough as it is right now, we just have to stay positive.”
After failing to register a shot on target in last week’s loss to Detroit City FC, the Legion FC attack outshot Pittsburgh 14 to 11 on Saturday evening and was even with shots on target at six apiece.
However, Birmingham was unable to get the ball by opposing goalkeeper Eric Dick, while Pittsburgh forward Edward Kizza pushed his team-lead in goals to seven on the season with a brace in the span of five minutes in the first half. Substitute Emmanuel Johnson capped off the scoring with a goal from a set piece play in the 84th minute.
“Falling behind like we did is tough because (Pittsburgh coach Bob Lilley’s) teams are always tough defensively,” Kavita explained. “Right now, we’re not getting any goals and we’re not defending out goal properly and we are leaving ourselves open too much because we keep having to fight from behind.”
Birmingham nearly got on the board first in the 32nd minute with Dawson McCartney playing Stefano Pinho into space down the left side. The Brazilian forward sent a cross to Derek Dodson who got a touch that found Enzo Martinez in on goal, but his first time shot was deflected away on the right foot of Dick.
With Legion FC seemingly in control of the flow of the match to that point, the momentum quickly swung to the away side just two minutes later with Kizza getting on the end of a cross from Baba Dienne and putting the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring. The Riverhounds forward then bagged his brace in the 39th minute, as Birmingham suddenly found itself having to dig out of a 2-0 hole.
“It’s always tough when you miss a chance and then give up one on the other end,” Soehn said of the sequence. “We didn’t even allow them that many chances but they converted the few they had and that’s deflating.”
Dick would get the best of Martinez again right in the 45th minute with another point-blank reaction save, keeping the Birmingham deficit at two goals heading into the half.
Legion FC tested the Riverhounds keeper again in the 79th minute when Preston Tabort Etaka gathered the rebound at the top of the box off a blocked shot. The forward rocketed one in on goal, but Dick dove to his right and parried it away for the fifth of his six saves on a night in which he tallied his ninth clean sheet of the season – tied for first in USL Championship play.
A lone bright spot for Legion FC occurred in the 76th minute with midfielder Matthew Corcoran subbing on for his 2024 debut. It marked the finality of a lengthy rehabilitation process for the 18-year-old United States youth international who suffered a torn labrum in his hip back in February that required surgery.
“Obviously I wish it would have happened on better circumstances, but it was good for my head to get back out there tonight,” Corcoran said. “With this first one out of the way, I’m looking forward to getting more minutes under my belt and helping this team turn things around.”
Match Details
BOX SCORE | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
PIT (7W – 9L – 10D; 31 PTS) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
BHM (10W – 10L – 5D; 35 PTS) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
LINEUPS
PIT: Dick – GK, Suber, Biasi, Hogan, Etou (Rovira 87′), Blackstock (Johnson 69′), Griffin, Walti, Mertz (Forbes 80′), Kizza (Sample 80′), Diene (Osumanu 69′)
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Paterson (Mensah 67′), Crognale, Kavita – C, Dodson, Zouhir (Corcoran 76′), Hernandez-Foster, Rufe (Tabort Etaka 45′), Pinho (Kasim 62′), Martinez, McCartney
GOALS
PIT: Kizza 34′, 39′; Johnson 84′
BHM:
DISCIPLINE
PIT: Biasi (Yellow) 79′
BHM: Zouhir (Yellow) 27′; McCartney (Yellow) 43′; Dodson (Yellow) 83′; Hernandez-Foster (Yellow) 90+4′
NEXT UP
Following a tough stretch at home, Birmingham heads back out on the road where it has had much better success this season. Legion FC travels to face Rhode Island FC next Saturday on August 31, with an official watch party to be held at Side Bar in Birmingham for the 6:30 p.m. CT kick-off. The squad then will get a bit of a break before hosting the Tampa Bay Rowdies for a special Salute to Service Night match on Wednesday, September 11. Tickets for that 7:00 p.m. CT kick-off can be purchased HERE.