From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
MEMPHIS — It was a tie game for Birmingham Legion FC and Memphis 901 FC on Saturday in Memphis with each team putting up two goals.
Memphis had possession of the ball 54.4% of the time in the first half. They scored a looping goal from outside of the box off the foot of midfielder Cam Lindley in the 40’ minute mark. This gave Memphis the early lead of 1-0.
“I felt like the first half just wasn’t good enough,” said Legion head coach Tom Soehn. “I felt like we had a bit of a hangover from (playing New York) Red Bull, and we gave Memphis way too much of the ball and didn’t create for ourselves. Unfortunately, when you play like that in the first half you have to show resilience and fight to get back into games.”
Birmingham came out after the half on fire and worked to even up the score. They got their goal at the 84’ minute. Midfielder Daniel Johnson got the ball at the top of the box and sent it into the top right corner to level.
Memphis answered with another goal of their own finding runner at the back post for a tap in second goal to take the lead just two minutes later. Legion FC spent the final 10 minutes steadily getting into the opposing box, and that pressure led to defender Kyle Culbertson dribbling into the edge of the box and earning a penalty in stoppage time, in roughly the 93’ minute. Chandler Hoffman got a clutch goal, it was his second goal of the season.
“I think as we move forward, with it still being relatively early,” said Johnson. “We’ve talked about having more patience and when getting into the final third not just looking for a cross or a long shot, but looking for that extra pass and trying to break teams down and getting a good opportunity from it. I think that just comes from more composure and a little bit more game time together.”