MEMPHIS, TN (Sept. 5, 2020) – Birmingham Legion FC kept its unbeaten streak against Memphis 901 FC alive on Saturday night, drawing 1-1 with its Group G rivals at AutoZone Park.
Memphis opened the scoring in the 28th minute as midfielder Tommy McCabe played a ball over the top for forward Keanu Marsh-Brown, who chipped it in for his third goal of the season.
Legion FC drew level early in the second half after halftime substitute Jaden Servania was chopped down in the box, earning the visitors a penalty kick. Midfielder Bruno Lapa stepped up to face goalkeeper Tim Howard and sent the USMNT legend the wrong way while calmly slotting home his sixth goal of the season. The goal pulls Lapa even with forward Neco Brett for the most on the BHM team this season.
901 FC’s Dan Metzger was shown his second yellow card of the match in the 73rd minute, leaving the home side to finish the contest down to 10 men. BHM had a few quality chances to grab a game winner, including with the last kick of the match, but the shot went just wide and both teams share the points.
The draw gives Legion FC 22 points on the season and the top spot in Group G, while Memphis now have seven points from their 10 matches and are at the bottom of the group.
"We definitely came here to get three [points], so we’re definitely leaving disappointed,” said Legion FC Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “Is one [point] on the road bad? No, but we have higher expectations. So, coming out we’re disappointed with that. One of the concerns last game [on Wednesday vs. North Carolina FC] was our shape, and I thought our shape was better. But I felt like today we lacked some quality and crispness when we had the ball. We lacked ideas, but we also had three games in a week, so some days you’re not going to have that, and I felt like today was that day. At least today we had the fight and the bite that we lacked a little against Carolina, so I’ll credit the guys for that.”
“It feels great to be back into the team,” said defender Razak Cromwell, who recently returned from injury. “We’re not happy with the results tonight, but it's an okay result on the road. We will keep fighting, and we just need to keep doing what we are doing.
“Some games will be tough, because when you are at the top every team wants to beat you. We just need to keep our focus.”
Box Score:
|
|
1st Half |
2nd Half |
|
MEM |
1 |
0 |
|
BHM |
0 |
1 |
Goals:
MEM – 28’ – #9 Keanu Marsh-Brown (assisted by #16 Tommy McCabe)
BHM – 48’ – #8 Bruno Lapa (P)
Lineups:
MEM – #1 Tim Howard; #19 Rece Buckmaster, #3 Zach Carroll, #4 Liam Doyle, #6 Dan Metzger; #10 Jean-Christophe Koffi (81’ – #23 Leston Paul), #16 Tommy McCabe, #20 Jose Baxter © (79’ – #17 Michael Reed), #70 Matt Hundley (64’ – #14 Rafa Metzingen); #9 Keanu Marsh-Brown (81’ – #21 Duane Muckette), #29 Brandon Allen (64’ – #26 Cal Jennings)
BHM – #1 Matt VanOekel ©; #13 Jake Rufe (45’ – #17 Jaden Servania), #21 Alex Crognale, #3 Bolu Akinyode, #30 Razak Cromwell (84’ – #16 Daigo Kobayashi); #6 Anderson Asiedu, #12 Eli Crognale, #10 Prosper Kasim (63’ – #5 Mikey Lopez), #24 Jonny Dean; #8 Bruno Lapa; #7 Brian Wright (63’ – #11 Neco Brett)
Legion FC returns home to face the Charlotte Independence again on Saturday, September 12. For live match updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, or tune in as the match will air live on My68 and ESPN+. Download the Legion FC app to preorder concessions on gameday, load the full season schedule straight into your calendar, and stay up to date with Legion FC.
The last home match of the regular season is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 vs. North Carolina. For the 12th and 26th, 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.
MEMPHIS, TN (Sept. 5, 2020) – Birmingham Legion FC kept its unbeaten streak against Memphis 901 FC alive on Saturday night, drawing 1-1 with its Group G rivals at AutoZone Park.
Memphis opened the scoring in the 28th minute as midfielder Tommy McCabe played a ball over the top for forward Keanu Marsh-Brown, who chipped it in for his third goal of the season.
Legion FC drew level early in the second half after halftime substitute Jaden Servania was chopped down in the box, earning the visitors a penalty kick. Midfielder Bruno Lapa stepped up to face goalkeeper Tim Howard and sent the USMNT legend the wrong way while calmly slotting home his sixth goal of the season. The goal pulls Lapa even with forward Neco Brett for the most on the BHM team this season.
901 FC’s Dan Metzger was shown his second yellow card of the match in the 73rd minute, leaving the home side to finish the contest down to 10 men. BHM had a few quality chances to grab a game winner, including with the last kick of the match, but the shot went just wide and both teams share the points.
The draw gives Legion FC 22 points on the season and the top spot in Group G, while Memphis now have seven points from their 10 matches and are at the bottom of the group.
“We definitely came here to get three [points], so we’re definitely leaving disappointed,” said Legion FC Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “Is one [point] on the road bad? No, but we have higher expectations. So, coming out we’re disappointed with that. One of the concerns last game [on Wednesday vs. North Carolina FC] was our shape, and I thought our shape was better. But I felt like today we lacked some quality and crispness when we had the ball. We lacked ideas, but we also had three games in a week, so some days you’re not going to have that, and I felt like today was that day. At least today we had the fight and the bite that we lacked a little against Carolina, so I’ll credit the guys for that.”
“It feels great to be back into the team,” said defender Razak Cromwell, who recently returned from injury. “We’re not happy with the results tonight, but it’s an okay result on the road. We will keep fighting, and we just need to keep doing what we are doing.
“Some games will be tough, because when you are at the top every team wants to beat you. We just need to keep our focus.”
Box Score:
|
|
1st Half |
2nd Half |
|
MEM |
1 |
0 |
|
BHM |
0 |
1 |
Goals:
MEM – 28’ – #9 Keanu Marsh-Brown (assisted by #16 Tommy McCabe)
BHM – 48’ – #8 Bruno Lapa (P)
Lineups:
MEM – #1 Tim Howard; #19 Rece Buckmaster, #3 Zach Carroll, #4 Liam Doyle, #6 Dan Metzger; #10 Jean-Christophe Koffi (81’ – #23 Leston Paul), #16 Tommy McCabe, #20 Jose Baxter © (79’ – #17 Michael Reed), #70 Matt Hundley (64’ – #14 Rafa Metzingen); #9 Keanu Marsh-Brown (81’ – #21 Duane Muckette), #29 Brandon Allen (64’ – #26 Cal Jennings)
BHM – #1 Matt VanOekel ©; #13 Jake Rufe (45’ – #17 Jaden Servania), #21 Alex Crognale, #3 Bolu Akinyode, #30 Razak Cromwell (84’ – #16 Daigo Kobayashi); #6 Anderson Asiedu, #12 Eli Crognale, #10 Prosper Kasim (63’ – #5 Mikey Lopez), #24 Jonny Dean; #8 Bruno Lapa; #7 Brian Wright (63’ – #11 Neco Brett)
Legion FC returns home to face the Charlotte Independence again on Saturday, September 12. For live match updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, or tune in as the match will air live on My68 and ESPN+. Download the Legion FC app to preorder concessions on gameday, load the full season schedule straight into your calendar, and stay up to date with Legion FC.
The last home match of the regular season is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 vs. North Carolina. For the 12th and 26th, 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.
