Matchups between two undefeated teams at the top of the table tend to be close affairs. Birmingham Legion II against Asheville City was anything but.
Legion’s second team came into the game top of the division, having won four and drawn one in their opening five matches. But the visiting North Carolina side, themselves boasting a 100% record with four wins from four, did not care.
Asheville scored just four minutes into the game before dismantling the home side over the course of 90 minutes on the way to a 7-0 route.
“They had a quick start, which hurt us, obviously,” Carlo Schiavoni, Legion II head coach, said. “[It] got in our heads. Some players, they have to just own up to it, had bad performances. And as a staff maybe we sit back and look at what our approach was, and maybe we make a change to a few things going forward.”
Asheville’s first goal came off a free-kick down the right side of the field. The ball was sent near post, and an Asheville player got to it first to poke it home.
Barely five minutes later, another set-piece nearly doubled the lead.
An Asheville player looped the ball past Birmingham’s goalkeeper off a corner, forcing Legion II’s John Davis to head it off the line. The clearance only delayed the inevitable, but proved a rare bright moment in an otherwise torrid display.
It didn’t take much longer for Asheville to widen the scoreline.
In the 15th minute, the visitors broke down the right flank once more. Asheville’s winger cut the ball back to a teammate on the corner of the box, who sent in a deft shot over Legion II’s keeper and into the back of the net.
That right wing — Legion’s left — continued to prove an issue for the home side throughout the first half, with Asheville finding plenty of joy down that flank. Birmingham also didn’t make it any easier on themselves by appearing allergic to possession at times, aimlessly hoofing it long whenever they regained the ball.
The Legion II players looked almost scared to retain possession faced with Asheville’s press. Half an hour into the game, it prompted an exasperated Schiavoni to shout “To who? You’re just kicking and hoping” to one of his players.
It wasn’t until the dying moments of the first half that Legion II finally got a semblance of a foothold in the game.
Their first shot came in the 37th minute, with another in the 43rd. Matthias Leib took both of them from distance, but his attempt was too central and easy to save on both occasions.
And just when Birmingham thought the game might still be salvageable, Asheville sucker punched them for the 3-0.
After the home team’s first spell of sustained possession, the visitors tore through them on the counter. The play ended with an Asheville forward completely free and through on goal. A feint got him past Legion II’s keeper, allowing him to roll the ball into an empty net just seconds before the halftime whistle.
“At that point it becomes more of a test of character than anything else,” Schiavoni said. “That third goal right before half really crippled us mentally. Going in at half down 2-0 versus 3-0 is a different approach going into the second half.”
With the game all-but-lost, Shiavoni said he challenged his players to at least win the second half.
Instead, things got worse.
It had taken Asheville four minutes to score in the first half. They needed just three in the second.
A simple through ball gave an Asheville player another one-on-one with Birmingham’s goalkeeper, and the forward made no mistake for the 4-0.
Less than ten minutes later, it was five as an Asheville forward spun his man on a low cross before rifling home. In the 69th, it became six off a direct free-kick.
Birmingham Legion II had conceded just three goals in their first five matches. In only 70 minutes against Asheville, they shipped twice as many. By the time Asheville scored the final goal of the night in the 79th minute, the focus was already on the next game.
After entering the game unbeaten and with a +6 goal swing, Birmingham Legion now have a negative goal difference. In an extremely tight USL-2 South Central Division, that number could have an impact on final standings.
The Birmingham team will travel to Dothan on Saturday as they look to bounce back. With Dothan United only a point behind and with a game in hand, they cannot afford to slip up.
“The league doesn’t make things easy in such a condensed window to play so many games,” Schiavoni said. “But the reality is we have a deep roster and it’s a next man up mentality as we prepare for Saturday.”
Birmingham only had one shot, off target, in the second half, courtesy of Ty Sanchez. Even when presented with al last-minute free-kick some 30 yards out, the players went backwards before eventually losing the ball to their opponents.
But despite it all, they showed fight the full 90 minutes. They kept battling away in what was a physical, sometimes overtly so, encounter, against one of the most dominant teams in the league.
Five games into their season, Asheville City have won all five games by a combined scoreline of 28-0.
For Legion’s roster, one made up mostly of college kids using the USL League Two as a preseason, results are not always the most important. Schiavoni said it’s sometimes more about his players using the opportunity Birmingham Legion provides to better themselves. That will remain the goal throughout the season.
“Our goal isn’t to win every single game,” Schiavoni said. “Our goal is to be competitive and learn from our mistakes and grow individually.
“With every loss there’s the ability to learn from mistakes,” Schiavoni added. “Learn and move forward. This doesn’t define them as a soccer player or us as a team. But it’s a learning moment for us. … There’s a lot of things you can learn from a game like this.”
Birmingham are on the road to Dothan United at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. They return home June 17 for a double header alongside Legion WFC, the club’s semi-pro women’s team.
Both sides will face off with Southern Soccer Academy. The women kick off at 3:30 p.m., with the men set for 7 p.m.
It was just total dominance. It makes me wonder how SSA held Asheville to just one goal.