MATCH INFO:
USL Championship Eastern Conference Quarter-final
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Birmingham Legion FC
Saturday, October 20
6:30 pm CT Kickoff
Al Lang Stadium – St. Petersburg, FL
Watch – My68 & ESPN+
The USL Championship playoffs have arrived. In its first round, Birmingham Legion FC (7th) travels south to Tampa for an Eastern Conference quarter-final clash against the Tampa Bay Rowdies (2nd). Having lost to the Rowdies in the 2020 USL Championship Eastern Conference quarter-finals and then again in the 2021 USL Eastern Conference semi-finals, Legion FC come to Tampa looking to overcome a postseason nemesis.
Tomorrow’s playoff match will be streamed locally on My68 and can also be found on ESPN+. International viewers can tune in live on YouTube.
Legion FC’s Form
The Legionnaire’s come into their first round of the playoffs on two wins, three losses, and one draw. In its last match, the Black & Gold lost to the Charleston Battery 1-0 in South Carolina. Before its loss to Charleston, the Legion beat Monterey Bay 2-0 in the last home game of the regular season. Before that, the Legion traveled to Memphis and bested its arch-rivals Memphis 2-1.
Neco Brett led Birmingham in scoring during the 2023 regular season, netting 12 goals in 30 appearances. The Jamaican is Legion FC’s all-time top goalscorer with 39 goals for the club. Close behind Brett in goals scored this season, and leader of the squad in goal contributions, was Enzo Martinez with ten goals and seven assists in 33 appearances. Largely an attack-minded team, with 44 goals scored during the regular season, the Legionnaires also have attacking outputs like Preston Tabort Etaka, Tyler Pasher, Diba Nwegbo, Prosper Kasim and Juan Agudelo all healthy and available for its clash against Tampa.
On the defensive side of things, Birmingham has both goalkeepers Matt VanOekel and Trevor Spangenberg it can turn to. Both goalkeepers have shown they are able to keep clean sheets this season while in goal. VanOekel received the majority of starts in the 2023 regular season (23) and registered 64 saves and a 65.3% save success rate. Legion FC struggled defensively during the regular season, however, letting in the fifth most goals in the Championship (53). The Black & Gold has shown it is able to keep out goals this season, however, with clean sheets against New Mexico and Louisville FC. Its defense must stay very organized against a high-scoring Tampa team.
Trevor Spangenberg had a very impressive performance during the 2022 USL Championship quarter-final, where he saved two penalty kicks in a penalty shootout against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Protective Stadium. His penalty experience may come into play if the match looks to head in the direction of a shootout.
Opponent Info
Tampa Bay Rowdies: 19W – 9L – 6D / 60 Goals Scored – 39 Goals Allowed / 63 Points / 2nd in USLC Eastern Conference / H2H vs BHM: 3W-3D-3L
The Tampa Bay Rowdies have one of the best attacks in the league, with 60 goals scored during the 2023 regular season. And after an electric performance against Louisville FC in Tampa’s last game of the regular season on Oct 14, they are looking especially lethal.
Tampa’s Cal Jennings is its top scorer this season, with 19 goals scored in 31 appearances. He is the league’s second-top marksman. Behind him is former Legionnaire JJ Williams, with 13 goals to his name. Jennings and Williams have been one of the league’s most lethal duos.
While Tampa are very good offensively, they are not invincible. Legion FC triumphed over the Rowdies twice in the regular season, once at home and once away. Both of those games were in April and July, however, and Tampa has improved a lot since then. It has been nearly two years since the Rowdies have won a game against Birmingham. The last time Tampa overcame Legion FC was in the 2021 Eastern Conference semi-final on November 11, 2021. The final score of that game was 1-0.
For this week’s UAB Medicine Injury Report, all players are available.
To keep up to date on all things Legion FC, Legion encourages its fans to follow @bhmlegion on social media and keep an eye on bhmlegion.com and the Legion FC app. Download the Legion FC app today on Apple or Android, and sync our 2023 schedule to your calendar HERE.
