August 9, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release
Birmingham Legion FC huddle up after a goal
(Birmingham Legion FC)
SEASIDE, Calif. – With its new training facility set to have its grand opening soon, Birmingham Legion FC christened the complex this week with a physicality in practice that had been missing for much of the season. But, after dropping points at home against Hartford Athletic, the players and coaching staff knew that they had to kick things up a notch.
“(Assistant coach Braeden Cloutier) said it best, ‘where was that energy when we were giving away two goals in the second half against Hartford?’,” said midfielder Jake Rufe. “You see the intensity out here and sometimes we lose that edge a little bit in the games. That’s something we can’t afford to do.”
That switch-off last weekend burned a golden opportunity for The Three Sparks who would’ve reached fourth place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings had it held on to a 2-0 lead. Instead, it sits in fifth place in a jumbled-up race both for first round hosting privileges and a postseason spot altogether.
With 12 matches left and a road trip to face a potentially volatile opponent in Monterey Bay FC on Saturday, Legion FC coach Tom Soehn knows that his team can ill afford to drop anymore points, hence the recent ramp up within the training sessions.
MATCH DETAILS
Birmingham Legion FC (9W-8L-5D) at Monterey Bay FC (7W-9L-6D)
USL Championship | Matchday 23
Saturday, August 10 – 9:00 p.m. CT
Cardinale Stadium – Seaside, CA
Watch: WABM My68 (Birmingham)
Stream: ESPN+
“It was a hard video session (following the draw with Hartford) and when you have those it tends to lead to a hard training session, but we need to do that on the weekend, not during the week,” Soehn said. “When you lose or tie and feel like you gave away points, there’s a hell of a lot to learn from that.
“Those are two points we’ll look back at and regret later on in the season. The message was really clear and the response was good, we just have to keep it there.”
As things stand, Legion FC is at 32 points through 22 matches, just three back of fourth place Indy Eleven. Detroit City FC and Loudoun United are both right behind at 30 points apiece, with Rhode Island FC rounding out the top eight at 29 points and North Carolina FC currently on the outside looking in – six points behind at Birmingham – at 26.
What makes the race even closer is that Legion FC has played one more match than…