LEESBURG, Va. – Twice on Saturday night it appeared as though Birmingham Legion FC was on its way to a second consecutive victory. Instead, The Three Sparks leaves Segra Field left wondering what could’ve been as it falls victim to a torrid second half from Loudoun United FC in a 4-2 defeat.
With the loss, Birmingham drops to sixth place on 38 points in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings, just one point ahead of Loudoun in seventh and Rhode Island FC in eighth. Legion FC is three points clear of the postseason cutline with ninth place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC sitting at 35 points.
“I thought we started the game decent but we just gave up some really poor goals,” Legion FC coach Tom Soehn said. “We had some really good moments but it wasn’t enough to negate what they were doing.”
Holding onto a 1-0 lead at the halftime break thanks to a superb strike from beyond midfield by Alex Crognale, and then later grabbing a 2-1 advantage on Diba Nwegbo’s first goal of the season. vital points seemed to be on the table for Legion FC.
However, Loudoun United answered back on both occasions and pulled ahead for good in the 78th minute with forward Tommy Williamson – having subbed on just three minutes earlier – winning a race with Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel to a second ball and finishing on his first touch.
Loudoun’s Florien Valot then solidified the result in the 90th minute by heading in a cross from Christian Francois as Legion FC suffered defeat for the first time in its last 13 matches in which it has scored the opening goal, dating back to August of last season.
“We just weren’t putting much pressure on the ball,” Soehn said of Loudoun’s second half success. “They kept playing balls over the top and in behind and that was a real issue for us.”
The home side had the lion’s share of the ball for much of the night as it garnered 60.7% of possession with 15 of its 18 total shots coming inside the box, eight of which were on target.
Meanwhile, Birmingham’s goals came via its only two shots on target and the opener was certainly one that will not long be forgotten.
Receiving a pass from AJ Paterson as Legion FC recycled possession, Crognale settled the ball roughly five yards beyond the halfway line and quickly noticed that Loudoun goalkeeper Hugo Faroux was well off his line. The veteran defender opted to try his luck and launched a long-range effort that completely caught Faroux off guard as it sailed into the back of the net, emphatically and improbably giving Birmingham a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.
The opposing side would equalize eleven minutes into the second half with Isaiah Johnston netting a goal off the end of a mad scramble with players on both teams chasing the ball inside the box.
Nwegbo would put Legion FC back in front just seven minutes later in the 63rd by getting on the end of chipped ball in the box from Enzo Martinez and muscling a shot past Faroux for his sixth career goal in his two seasons with Birmingham.
“It felt like we had grabbed control of things at that point,” Soehn said. “It sure didn’t end like that and at times we looked like a team that just had a game on Wednesday. But we got through that and needed to perform better tonight.”
It was another busy night in goal for Van Oekel who made five saves in last Wednesday’s clean sheet against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. He followed that performance with four on Saturday, including a double-save effort in the 62nd minute where he parried away an initial shot from Ryan and then followed up with a point-blank stop on an offering off the rebound from Wesley Leggett.
The four goals allowed in the second half by Legion FC is tied for the most the club has allowed in a half this season. Louisville City FC scored four in the second half in a 4-1 Birmingham loss on June 29.
Match Details
| BOX SCORE | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
| BHM (11W – 12L – 5D; 38 PTS) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| LDN (10W – 7L – 10D; 37 PTS) | 0 | 4 | 4 |
LINEUPS
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Mensah, Crognale, Paterson, Dodson, Hernandez-Foster (Corcoran 79′), Nwegbo (Zouhir 66′), McCartney, Martinez – C, Pasher (Kasim 45′), Pinho (Tabort Etaka 66′)
LDN: Faroux – GK, Erlandson, Hughes (Dambrot 75′), Leerman, Awuah, McCabe, Valot (Bidois 90+3′), Tringey, Johnston (Skundrich 75′), Ryan – C (Francois 86′), Leggett (Williamson 75′)
GOALS
BHM: Crognale 15′; Nwegbo 63′
LDN: Johnston 56′; Ryan 69′; Williamson 79′; Francois 90′
DISCIPLINE
BHM: Martinez (Yellow) 19′; McCartney (Yellow) 62′
LDN: Hughes (Yellow) 36′; Erlandson (Yellow) 48′
NEXT UP
With six matches left, Legion FC returns to the pitch on Sunday, September 22 for a match with Miami FC at Protective Stadium. Kick-off for that special Hispanic Heritage Night match is set for 4:00 p.m. CT and tickets can be purchased HERE.
