Back in USL-C Play, Legion FC Takes on Detroit City FC

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The beginning of a lengthy road trip did not go as planned for Birmingham Legion FC as the squad on Wednesday saw its 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup campaign stymied at the hands of USL2’s Little Rock Rangers. But while one competition comes to an end, another more daunting one is still in its infancy as the Three Sparks hop back into USL Championship mode for a Saturday date at Detroit City FC.

Wednesday’s defeat in Arkansas was a particularly tough pill to swallow for a Legion FC side that controlled the pace of the game for the entire 90 minutes of play, but were unable to fully unlock the opponents’ staunch defense. For the match, Birmingham occupied 64-percent of the possession with 100 of its 290 total passes occurring in the final third.

Additionally, Legion FC outshot Little Rock 13-7, including nine in the box, but were only able to direct three of those shots on target with the opposing side making space hard to come by in a low block that got even more defensive once it took a 1-0 lead early in the second half.

The attacking piece is something that is still being figured out by coach Tom Soehn’s squad with Legion FC in search for its first goal from the run of play with three matches under its belt. Part of solving that equation likely will come down to availability with Danny Trejo missing the last pair of matches, while veteran Tyler Pasher and dynamic newcomer Sebastian Tregarthen still waiting for the clean bill of health to make their 2025 debuts.

With those three on the mend, Birmingham will in the meantime look to find openings against a Detroit City FC squad that has been stingy in the back en route to a 2-0-0 start to its season.

The home side’s defense enters Saturday’s match having allowed just one goal, but more impressively, goalkeeper Carlos Saldana has sparingly been called into action with his five saves on six shots faced. It’s the least amount of shots on target allowed by any team thus far in USL-C play. Comparatively, Legion FC netminder Matt Van Oekel has had 13 shots come his way over two league matches.

Detroit also has a unique homefield advantage on its side, having not lost in its last 11 matches dating back to August of last season. Birmingham, though, is no strangers to playing spoiler to DCFC’s longstanding streaks in the past. When the two sides met last season, Detroit came in on a 15-match home win streak only for Legion FC to pull off a shock 2-1 victory thanks to goals from defenders Derek Dodson and Phanuel Kavita in the final 10 minutes of the content.

It marked Birmingham’s first ever win over Detroit and the club will now look to double that feat as it has a chance to not only rebound, but also make a statement, as it searches for its first victory of the young season.

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