CHARLOTTE, NC (Aug. 29, 2020) – Birmingham Legion FC stepped onto the field at the Sportsplex at Matthews to take on the Charlotte Independence on Saturday night with a clear goal in mind. A loss to CLT, currently the second place team in Group G, would cut Legion FC’s lead in the group down to three points with six matches to play, while a win would extend the club’s lead to a commanding nine points. As focused and determined as ever in this impressive 2020 season, the team from Birmingham came out firing, and left no doubt as to who the top team is in Group G, in a dominate 4-1 win.
Jaden Servania got the start for Birmingham on the right wing, and the 19-year-old made his presence felt early with a curling goal in the 26th minute of play. Midfielder Eli Crognale produced his second assist of the season with a line-splitting through ball to release Servania, who expertly cut back at the edge of the box and beat the ‘keeper for his second goal of his rookie season.
Neco Brett joined the party soon thereafter, notching the 40th goal of his USL Championship career in the 33rd minute, after he latched on to a Prosper Kasim cross and smashed the ball into the back of the net. The forward volleyed home his second of the night, and team-leading sixth on the season, early in the second half on a play worthy of the Sportscenter Top Ten. Midfielder Bruno Lapa got onto the ball at the top of the box, danced for a second, and chipped a perfect ball over the backline to an onrushing Brett who rocketed a no-look shot into the top right corner.
Eli Crognale was shown his second yellow card and sent off in the 63rd minute, but even down a man the attack continued to prove dangerous. Forward Brian Wright joined in on the action in the 83rd minute, after Servania turned his defender and played in Wright, who then calmly slotted his shot past the Charlotte goalkeeper to put the match to bed.
Goalkeeper Ford Parker nearly had a perfect professional debut, and still earned Man of the Match honors, but Charlotte got one back in the 86th minute, via a corner headed in by the USL Championship’s all-time leading scorer, Dane Kelly. This makes it the second time in 2020 Birmingham has knocked off the Independence 4-1.
“I think getting we’re all getting to know teams in the group pretty well, since we play them so often,” said Assistant Coach Khano Smith. “They’re definitely a more improved team than when we saw them the first time, and obviously the second time that we played them they were much better and made life difficult for us. It was their third game in a week, and we’ve been through that, but it was a tough stretch. They kept the same lineup for most of it, so they maybe were fatigued a bit, but we can only play who’s in front of us, and I thought our guys had a really good, complete team performance.
“I thought Ford was excellent to be honest with you. He made two really, really big saves, one in the first half and one in the second. I am really proud and happy for him, and his teammates are happy for him to get his first pro performance and first pro win. Really disappointed he didn’t get the shutout, obviously we always try and get the shutout, but we’ll take the win and couldn’t be happier for him. I’m sure he’s just happy to contribute to the season and help his team win a game. He had a really good performance.”
“I was very confident in the group heading into the game,” said Parker. “Every week we get better and more sound defensively, so I was confident that they would come out and put in another great shift and make it difficult for Charlotte to get opportunities.
“I am really happy to make my debut with this club. It has been a while since I’ve played a game, but all the guys had my back and gave me confidence going into the game. It was a great team effort.”
Box Score:
|
|
1st Half |
2nd Half |
|
CLT |
0 |
1 |
|
BHM |
2 |
2 |
Goals:
BHM – 26’ – #17 Jaden Servania (assisted by #12 Eli Crognale)
BHM – 33’ – #11 Neco Brett (assisted by #10 Prosper Kasim)
BHM – 49’ – #11 Neco Brett (assisted by #8 Bruno Lapa)
BHM – 83’ – #7 Brian Wright (assisted by #17 Jaden Servania)
CLT – 86’ – #9 Dane Kelly (assisted by #11 Valentin Sabella)
Lineups:
CLT – #33 Brandon Miller; #17 Clay Dimick, #3 Hugh Roberts, #18 Aaron Maund (75’ – #90 Christian Chaney), #14 Duke Lacroix; #4 Jake Areman (69’ – #23 Guido Vadala), #15 Luke Haakenson (69’ – #32 Tresor Mbuyu), #7 Rey Ortiz (69’ – #11 Valentin Sabella), #21 Junior Etou (87’ – #20 Oscar Ramsey); #19 Enzo Martinez ©, #9 Dane Kelly
BHM – #0 Ford Parker; #24 Jonny Dean, #21 Alex Crognale (84’ – #4 Josh Bauer), #3 Bolu Akinyode, #5 Mikey Lopez ©; #6 Anderson Asiedu, #12 Eli Crognale; #17 Jaden Servania (84’ – #30 Razak Cromwell), #8 Bruno Lapa (62’ – #16 Daigo Kobayashi), #10 Prosper Kasim (84’ – #13 Jake Rufe); #11 Neco Brett (66’ – #7 Brian Wright)
Legion FC returns to BBVA Field on Wednesday night, September 2, to take on North Carolina FC at 7:00PM. Get tickets at https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/bhmlegion/tickets, by emailing tickets@https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/bhmlegion, or by calling the Legion FC Ticket Office at 205-791-7145.
CHARLOTTE, NC (Aug. 29, 2020) – Birmingham Legion FC stepped onto the field at the Sportsplex at Matthews to take on the Charlotte Independence on Saturday night with a clear goal in mind. A loss to CLT, currently the second place team in Group G, would cut Legion FC’s lead in the group down to three points with six matches to play, while a win would extend the club’s lead to a commanding nine points. As focused and determined as ever in this impressive 2020 season, the team from Birmingham came out firing, and left no doubt as to who the top team is in Group G, in a dominate 4-1 win.
Jaden Servania got the start for Birmingham on the right wing, and the 19-year-old made his presence felt early with a curling goal in the 26th minute of play. Midfielder Eli Crognale produced his second assist of the season with a line-splitting through ball to release Servania, who expertly cut back at the edge of the box and beat the ‘keeper for his second goal of his rookie season.
Neco Brett joined the party soon thereafter, notching the 40th goal of his USL Championship career in the 33rd minute, after he latched on to a Prosper Kasim cross and smashed the ball into the back of the net. The forward volleyed home his second of the night, and team-leading sixth on the season, early in the second half on a play worthy of the Sportscenter Top Ten. Midfielder Bruno Lapa got onto the ball at the top of the box, danced for a second, and chipped a perfect ball over the backline to an onrushing Brett who rocketed a no-look shot into the top right corner.
Eli Crognale was shown his second yellow card and sent off in the 63rd minute, but even down a man the attack continued to prove dangerous. Forward Brian Wright joined in on the action in the 83rd minute, after Servania turned his defender and played in Wright, who then calmly slotted his shot past the Charlotte goalkeeper to put the match to bed.
Goalkeeper Ford Parker nearly had a perfect professional debut, and still earned Man of the Match honors, but Charlotte got one back in the 86th minute, via a corner headed in by the USL Championship’s all-time leading scorer, Dane Kelly. This makes it the second time in 2020 Birmingham has knocked off the Independence 4-1.
“I think getting we’re all getting to know teams in the group pretty well, since we play them so often,” said Assistant Coach Khano Smith. “They’re definitely a more improved team than when we saw them the first time, and obviously the second time that we played them they were much better and made life difficult for us. It was their third game in a week, and we’ve been through that, but it was a tough stretch. They kept the same lineup for most of it, so they maybe were fatigued a bit, but we can only play who’s in front of us, and I thought our guys had a really good, complete team performance.
“I thought Ford was excellent to be honest with you. He made two really, really big saves, one in the first half and one in the second. I am really proud and happy for him, and his teammates are happy for him to get his first pro performance and first pro win. Really disappointed he didn’t get the shutout, obviously we always try and get the shutout, but we’ll take the win and couldn’t be happier for him. I’m sure he’s just happy to contribute to the season and help his team win a game. He had a really good performance.”
“I was very confident in the group heading into the game,” said Parker. “Every week we get better and more sound defensively, so I was confident that they would come out and put in another great shift and make it difficult for Charlotte to get opportunities.
“I am really happy to make my debut with this club. It has been a while since I’ve played a game, but all the guys had my back and gave me confidence going into the game. It was a great team effort.”
Box Score:
|
|
1st Half |
2nd Half |
|
CLT |
0 |
1 |
|
BHM |
2 |
2 |
Goals:
BHM – 26’ – #17 Jaden Servania (assisted by #12 Eli Crognale)
BHM – 33’ – #11 Neco Brett (assisted by #10 Prosper Kasim)
BHM – 49’ – #11 Neco Brett (assisted by #8 Bruno Lapa)
BHM – 83’ – #7 Brian Wright (assisted by #17 Jaden Servania)
CLT – 86’ – #9 Dane Kelly (assisted by #11 Valentin Sabella)
Lineups:
CLT – #33 Brandon Miller; #17 Clay Dimick, #3 Hugh Roberts, #18 Aaron Maund (75’ – #90 Christian Chaney), #14 Duke Lacroix; #4 Jake Areman (69’ – #23 Guido Vadala), #15 Luke Haakenson (69’ – #32 Tresor Mbuyu), #7 Rey Ortiz (69’ – #11 Valentin Sabella), #21 Junior Etou (87’ – #20 Oscar Ramsey); #19 Enzo Martinez ©, #9 Dane Kelly
BHM – #0 Ford Parker; #24 Jonny Dean, #21 Alex Crognale (84’ – #4 Josh Bauer), #3 Bolu Akinyode, #5 Mikey Lopez ©; #6 Anderson Asiedu, #12 Eli Crognale; #17 Jaden Servania (84’ – #30 Razak Cromwell), #8 Bruno Lapa (62’ – #16 Daigo Kobayashi), #10 Prosper Kasim (84’ – #13 Jake Rufe); #11 Neco Brett (66’ – #7 Brian Wright)
Legion FC returns to BBVA Field on Wednesday night, September 2, to take on North Carolina FC at 7:00PM. Get tickets at https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/bhmlegion/tickets, by emailing tickets@https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/bhmlegion, or by calling the Legion FC Ticket Office at 205-791-7145.
