USL CHAMPIONSHIP: Wild second half sees Legion FC earn draw with Tampa Bay
- Dan Stickradt
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – For a week that was nothing short of a rollercoaster for Birmingham Legion FC, it was only fitting that it would be capped off with a rollercoaster of a match.
In the first match under new head coach Mark Briggs, the Three Sparks took a lead after falling behind early, only for the Tampa Bay Rowdies to grab a late equalizer, as the two clubs split the points Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium.
“It’s always a positive to get a point on the road but I thought we should’ve gotten more,” Briggs said. “I thought we were a bit sloppy in possession in the first half, but in the second half I thought we were excellent apart from the final three minutes of the game.”
Following a pair of goals from Enzo Martinez and Danny Trejo within a span of six minutes, it appeared Legion FC was well on its way to securing its first road victory of 2025. But in the third of the six allotted minutes of stoppage time, Rowdies forward Pacifique Niyongabire salvaged the draw for the home side after the Birmingham defense was unable to take the ball off of him inside the box.
“We have to be better with our game management,” Briggs noted. “It’s the 93rd minute and we turned the ball over while trying to dribble out of our own penalty box. We just have to have more discipline and composure to see out the game.”
It was a wide-open contest as both teams had a second win in USL Championship play in its sights. Both teams combined for 12 shots on target, as Legion FC had the narrow edge in that department with seven of its 17 total shots.That included an early flurry in the match, forcing Tampa Bay goalkeeper Nicolas Camposi into action with three of his five saves occurring in the opening 15 minutes as he stymied both Trejo and Ronaldo Damus. It allowed for the Rowdies to grab the lead against the run of play after forward Leo Fernandes drew a foul in the box and then buried his penalty in the 26th minute.
“It was to still believe,” said Briggs of his message to the team after it fell behind 1-0. “I told them at halftime that the attention to detail and the focus has to be a little bit better and that we needed more. And they responded.”
After more than an hour of pushing, Legion FC finally broke through in the 71st minute with Tyler Pasher dribbling in from the right side before sending a dangerous ball in front of the goalmouth. The Rowdies could only push out as far as Martinez who powered it home to open his scoring account for the season.It would then take just five more minutes for Birmingham to take the lead.
Again working down the right flank, Preston Tabort Etaka — having just came on in the 69th minute — received a pass from Jake Rufe. After his first touch took him towards the end line, the Legion FC forward centered the ball with Trejo beating Campisi to it for the go-ahead goal. He then celebrated the effort by running straight over to the technical area to the open arms of Briggs.
“It’s very rewarding,” Briggs said of seeing an immediate impact from his substitutes. “Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t and tonight we made changes at a critical moment. I thought Preston was very good with his movement with the ball as soon as he came on and played a big part in us turning the match around.”
It marked Trejo’s first goal in USL-C play, but his second in the matter of a week, having also found the back of the net in Birmingham’s 3-1 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC in the USL Jagermeister Cup opener.
For Briggs, the draw marked his first match as a head coach in six months, with his last outing coming on November 1 of last year when he led Sacramento Republic FC against Las Vegas Lights FC in the first round of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs.
“It was great to be back in the technical area tonight,” explained Briggs. “I’ve only had a couple of days with the group and there’s a lot of positives to take away from tonight, especially being able to turnaround from 1-0 down and go ahead. It shows me that there is a lot more in the team, we just have to instill a little bit of a nastier mentality.”
BOX SCORE
USL CHAMPIONSHIP | MATCHDAY 7 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC (1W-3L-3D | 6 PTS) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES (1W-5L-1D | 4 PTS) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
LINEUPS
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Rufe, Kavita (Suarez 69′), Hamouda, McCartney, Martinez – C, Hernandez-Foster, Pasher (Torres 79′), Tregarthen (McIllhatton 69′), Trejo (Turnbull 89′), Damus (Tabort Etaka 69′)
TBR: Campisi – GK, Guillen – C, Lasso, Castellanos, Vancaeyezeele, Bassett, Crisostomo, Fernandes (Mustali 78′), Niyongabire, Pacius (Wyke 65′), Arteaga
GOALS
BHM: Martinez 70′; Trejo 76′
TBR: Fernandes (Penalty) 26′; Niyongabire 90+3′
DISCIPLINE
BHM: Tabort Etaka (Yellow) 90+5′
TBR: Lasso (Yellow) 90+6′
NEXT UP
Following the point on the road, Briggs and Legion FC will now have to wait a little bit until their next time on the pitch. The Black and Gold returns home on Wednesday, May 14 to take on the defending Eastern Conference champions, Rhode Island FC. Tickets for that match are on sale now. It will be the beginning of a two-match stretch at Protective Stadium with Legion FC then hosting Detroit City FC on Sunday, May 18.
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