The Ghanaian forward bagged both Birmingham goals to propel his side to its second league win in a row
BIRMINGHAM, AL (April 27, 2022) – Birmingham Legion FC earned its second consecutive victory in league play with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Charleston Battery. It was midfielder Prosper Kasim who propelled his side to victory, bagging both goals for the Black & Gold on the night.
Legion FC kicked off the festivities at Protective Stadium just 11 minutes into the match. A swift throw in down the line to forward Enzo Martinez from midfielder Bruno Lapa allowed the former to quickly play the ball across the box to an onrushing Kasim, who neatly placed his finish into the bottom left corner of the goal.
“Prosper has been pretty good the last few games,” said Legion FC Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “His ability to find the open space with his passing, that’s always been there, but today he showed his other side with his finishing. That’s the side that I want to see more of.”
Charleston answered twenty minutes later via an Aidan Apodaca goal that was assisted by Augi Williams. Williams got on the ball down the right side of the box and sent his cross just out of the reach of Legion FC goalkeeper Matt VanOekel to the head of Apodaca to send both teams into the locker room tied up at the break.
“We were good the first 20 minutes, up until a bit after our goal,” said Soehn. “Then I felt we stopped doing all the things that got to that point and handed the game over to them. The message was clear, we need to get back to how we started the game. I think that message translated, because we went back to how we were, possessed better, and started being better with our play.”
The home side came out as the aggressors again to start the second half, and effectively limited the visitors chance while searching for the game winner. That search ended abruptly in the 72nd minute as Kasim got on the ball at the top of the box and unleashed an absolute missile of a shot that hit the left upper 90 to give Legion FC the final advantage.
“It feels great. We needed a win and I found myself in the perfect spot, so happy for the goal…The thing is from the beginning of the season we’ve been playing well, the goals and wins just weren’t coming. We believe in ourselves and know the quality we have, so we know it’s going to come. We just have to be patient and keep working hard. Finally, we’re getting there, so everybody is happy.”
Soehn when asked if the last two wins are a turning point for Legion FC:
“I think winning and losing is a habit. Sometimes your mentality becomes losing a game and putting so much pressure on yourself that it carries over. Winning is the same way. You win a game and all of a sudden you feel like you can’t lose. The team has been performing well, we just haven’t been scoring, we’ve leaked a goal, and that doesn’t get fixed overnight. It takes repetition and games and learning, but I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
Box Score:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| BHM | 1 | 1 |
| CHS | 1 | 0 |
BHM – 4-2-3-1 – #1 Matt VanOekel; #24 Jonny Dean, #20 Zach Herivaux (80’ – #13 Jake Rufe), #3 Phanuel Kavita, #7 Ryan James; #5 Mikey Lopez (80’ – #27 Thomas Vancaeyezeele), #6 Anderson Asiedu; #10 Prosper Kasim, #8 Bruno Lapa (67’ – #99 Juan Agudelo), #11 Marlon Santos (80’ – #9 Edi Horvat); #19 Enzo Martinez
CHS – 4-4-2 – #30 Hugo Fauroux; #27 Tristan Weber, #3 Patrick Hogan, #5 Leland Archer, #13 Matt Sheldon; #15 Joe Schmidt (81’ – Dominic Oduro), #12 Goebel Perez (67’ – Shak Adams), #7 Andrew Booth (81’ – E. Johnson), #9 Augi Williams; #17 Aidan Apodaca, #24 Mauro Cichero (90’ – #10 Romario Piggott)
The next match for the Black & Gold will be at home at Protective Stadium on Wednesday, May 4, at 7:00PM CT against Miami FC. Tickets for the match are available HERE. Details about our new ‘Everybody Wins on Wednesdays’ can be found HERE, and news about upcoming ‘Cinco de Mayo’ promotions will be released in the coming days so keep an eye on @bhmlegion on social.
