May 4, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release
Birmingham Legion FC’s Stefano Pinho
(Birmingham Legion FC)
BIRMINGHAM, AL – Trailing by a goal with mere minutes left in the match, Birmingham Legion FC was able escape defeat at the end, thanks to a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time by Stefano Pinho that sent the Protective Stadium crowd into a frenzy, as the home team salvaged a point with a 2-2 draw against FC Tulsa on Saturday night.
“Credit to our guys, they showed fight,” said Legion FC head coach Tom Soehn. “You can drop points throughout a season, but you can never not fight and today is hopefully a step in the right direction and something that moving forward, we bring every day.”
Trailing since the 21st minute of the match and down 2-0 in the second half, Legion FC showed off a never-say-die attitude with a pair of goals in the final 19 minutes, first from Enzo Martinez which later set up Pinho’s heroics in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
“Our job is to never give up,” said Pinho following his second goal in USL Championship play this season and sixth overall. “We knew we couldn’t send our fans home with a loss, so we came out in the second half and gave it our best.”
Pushing numbers forward in search of the game-tying goal, Birmingham was awarded a corner kick following a deflected shot into the side netting from Diba Nwegbo. That only delayed the inevitable as Tyler Pasher’s corner couldn’t have been placed any better to Pinho, who headed it past FC Tulsa goalkeeper Michael Creek.
“I actually don’t think I was in the right position,” Pinho laughed. “But I was praying for the goal, so when I saw the ball and I just jumped for it.”
While the possession numbers were nearly split 50-50, the goal was a long time coming for Legion FC who outshot FC Tulsa by a staggering 30-9 and 8-6 with shots on target.
“We were a bit unfortunate today because I think we hit the woodwork a few times,” Soehn explained. “Sometimes you go through ruts like that, so to come back and push to at least come out with a point, it makes a coach old but it makes me happy that they showed a lot of heart. “
Birmingham opened the match by getting out on the front foot and it nearly resulted in an early goal on the match’s first corner of the evening. Off an FC Tulsa clearance, Kobe Hernández-Foster won the second ball at the top of the box and found Phanuel Kavita who immediately fired off a right-footed rocket, forcing a save from Creek….