The Legion FC center back led his side with six clearances, three interceptions and two tackles in Friday’s 1-1 draw at Tampa Bay
TAMPA, Fla. – The USL Championship announced the Team of the Week for Week 29 of the 2022 regular season on Tuesday, with Legion FC center back Alex Crognale earning a spot in the team for his strong defensive showing in Birmingham’s draw at the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Friday.
Crognale helped anchor a Legion FC defense that went on the road and did a solid job stifling a dangerous Rowdies attack that is currently fourth in the USLC in goals scored this season. Birmingham’s #21 finished the night with the most touches on the team (50), the most clearances (six), and tied for the most interceptions (three), while adding two tackles, one block, and winning three of five duels.
The center back remains dominant in the air, leading the club in aerial duels and aerial duels won for the season. He also paces his team in clearances (114), is second in interceptions (42) and total passes (1,323), and is third in blocks (16). This is the second time this season, and fifth time in his three years in BHM, that Crognale has been named to the USL Championship Team of the Week.
Rio Grande Valley FC midfielder Christian Pinzon was voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball, for scoring twice in RGV’s victory over Charleston. Pinzon earned 38 percent of the ballot to claim the award. San Antonio FC’s Sam Adeniran finished second on 23 percent after scoring SAFC’s game-winning goal against Sacramento Republic FC in a match that clinched the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Championship’s Player of the Week is selected by the USL National Media Panel, which is made up of representatives from each media market in the Championship.
GK – Jordan Farr, San Antonio FC: Farr posted clean sheets against both Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Sacramento Republic FC as his team notched a pair of narrow 1-0 wins, making a total of five saves.
D – Graham Smith, Memphis 901 FC: In addition to scoring a 95th minute game winner to defeat Louisville, Smith recorded a whopping nine clearances in the match.
D – Michael Bryant, Detroit City FC: Bryant scored the game-tying goal and recorded five interceptions and two clearances in Detroit’s 2-2 draw with FC Tulsa.
D – Matthew Mahoney, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: Mahoney racked up 13 clearances, five interceptions and three tackles in games against San Antonio and Oakland.
D – Alex Crognale, Birmingham Legion FC: Crognale tallied six clearances, three interceptions and two tackles as Legion FC held the Rowdies to a 1-1 draw at Al Lang Stadium.
M – Christian Pinzon, Rio Grande Valley FC: Pinzon scored twice and created three chances in RGV FC’s 3-0 win over the Charleston Battery.
M – Tyler Freeman, Loudoun United FC: Freeman came off the bench in the 66th minute with Loudoun up 1-0 on Hartford. By the 74th minute, Freeman had scored twice to secure the 3-0 victory.
M – Eric Bird, FC Tulsa: Bird assisted a goal and then scored one of his own within a three-minute stretch of Tulsa’s 2-2 draw in Detroit.
F – Skage Lehland, Loudoun United FC: Lehland contributed a pair of assists and created a total of four chances in his side’s 3-0 win over Hartford. Lehland then created another chance in a 1-0 loss to Indy.
F – Christian Volesky, Monterey Bay F.C.: Volesky scored twice from three shots in a wild 3-3 draw against Phoenix Rising FC.
F – Sam Adeniran, San Antonio FC: Adeniran scored the decisive goal in the win over Sacramento, helping his team clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.
Bench: Tyler Deric (RGV), Grant Robinson (MB), Akeem Ward (RGV), Theodore Ku-Dipietro (LDN), PC (SA), Yazeed Matthews (DET), Ottar Magnus Karlsson (OAK)
Legion FC heads to Oakland this weekend to battle the Roots at 9:00pm CT! Fans can tune in on My68 or ESPN+ and are encouraged to follow @bhmlegion on Twitter for live match updates.
The Three Sparks return to Protective Stadium to wrap up the season with two home matches on Sunday, October 9 at 4:00pm against League-leaders San Antonio FC, and Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00pm against Indy Eleven. Fans can get tickets to the October 9 match here, and the October 12 match here.
For team updates, news and more, follow @bhmlegion on social media, sign up for Legion FC’s Newsletter, or visit bhmlegion.com. The Legion FC app is also available for download via Apple or Android. For gameday reminders, sync the Legion FC 2022 schedule to your calendar HERE.
