Legion WFC show spirit to start season with a win
The Three Sparks came from behind twice to defeat the Chattanooga Red Wolves in their USL W opener
Last Saturday, Taylor Leib was scoring the winning penalty to secure Briarwood Christian School the Class 6A state title.
Five days later, she scored a goal and got an assist on her Legion WFC debut to give the team a winning start to the season.
“It’s exciting,” Leib said. “First game, just trying to make an impact, getting use to playing with each other. Starting out the season, it’s definitely great to start with a win.”
The Three Sparks welcomed Chattanooga Red Wolves to Dunnavant Valley Fields for their USL W season opener. After conceding an early goal, they twice came from behind to win the game.
Once they finally seized the lead just before the hour mark, they refused to relinquish it. A resolute defensive performance in the final half-hour ensured the game ended 3-2 to get their season off on a positive note.
“Good opening game, the girls played well,” Nate Archard, Legion WFC head coach, said. “Little bit of a slow start, we kind of built into the game, so proud of the resiliency we showed.”
Chattanooga started the brighter of the two sides and took the lead just four minutes into the game. A period of sustained pressure five minutes later nearly led to a second if not for a Mac Titus save in net.
Legion WFC’s first real chance waited until the 26th minute. Kierson McDonald sent a deep free-kick into the box, but the ensuing header went just over the bar. Before the set-piece was taken, the Three Sparks were forced into an early substitution as Addison Soehn replaced Katherine Brightwell.
Though enforced, the change proved a needed impetus for the hosts.
With her sister Sydney Soehn at left back, Addison came onto the left wing and quickly added an spark to the Legion attack. The sisters combined under the watchful eye of their father, former Birmingham Legion head coach Tom Soehn.
Addison won a dangerous free-kick just outside the area four minutes after coming on. She took it herself, but though she did well to beat the wall, the shot was too central and easy to save.
For the next 10 minutes, Legion started turning the screw on their visitors.
Avery Berryman and Tatum Ahlemeyer were the team’s best players in the middle of the pitch as the Three Sparks hunted for an equalizer. In the 38th minute, Berryman nearly got it after a moment of individual brilliance.
Picking up the ball just inside the penalty area, the attacking midfielder showed quick feet and great balance to shift past two defenders and create a shot at goal. The effort was parried, however, and a subsequent attempt held by the Red Wolves keeper.
Not even a minute later, it was Addison’s turn to go agonisingly close, sliding in to meet a low cross at the back post. Though the winger got the contact, the ball slid just wide of the post with the goalkeeper nowhere near.
The Three Sparks weren’t to be deterred. One minute later, they had the equalizer.
“Fighting from behind, the defense played really well, continuing to keep them from scoring,” Leib said. “Us it’s on the attack, let’s capitalize and make a few chances. So I think the press as a team went really well. It’s good and we can develop from here, continue to improve.”
A corner kick was sent to the back post and headed out by a Red Wolves defender, but only so far as Lauren Lucero. The midfielder sent the ball back into the box, and Leib beat the offside trap to find herself unmarked and able to calmly slot it home.
The joy was short lived, as Chattanooga immediately restored their one-goal lead.
As with the first goal, the visitors raced down the right side of the field before putting in a cross to be turned in. Not even a minute after getting even, Legion WFC was behind once more.
It wasn’t to be the end of the first half drama, however, as the hosts needed just four minutes to even the game up a second time.
“You never want to concede right after a goal,” Archard said. “The first 30 seconds or so was a little bit of a mental breakdown. But the girls responded after that, so it was good for us to get back to 2-2 at halftime and then plug away in the second half.”
The second goal came in the 44th minute as Elise Marquardt threaded a delightful ball through the Red Wolves defense for Berryman to run onto. One-on-one with the keeper, the midfielder made no mistake.
Titus came up with a big save with her right foot in first-half stoppage time to keep the teams level at the break. Once both sides re-emerged for the second half, the tide had truly turned.
After sending in a warning shot in the 48th minute when an effort from distance crashed off the top of the crossbar, Legion WFC took the lead in the 56th.
Leib ran down the left wing before cutting onto her right foot and sending in a cross for Marquardt. The right winger connected well with the header to power it past a helpless keeper, her second goal contribution of the night after assisting on the previous on.
Leib and Marquardt are both new to the team, having just graduated high school. They aren’t the only 2007-born players either, with several more impressing on the night.
“It was really awesome to see us all,” Leib said. “It’s fun to play again together because a lot of us grew up playing together. The third goal, me and Elise played together the past few years, so just to see that happen, that was fun to rekindle that connection.”
Ahlemeyer nearly got a fourth just two minutes later off a pass back from Berryman, but Chattanooga’s keeper dove well to save.
As the minutes ticked on, Archard made several more changes to keep his team fresh and defend the lead. Several Red Wolves attacks were snuffed out through important blocks by the Legion defense, and Kacey Powell, on for Titus in the second half, had very little to do between the sticks.
Only in the 90th minute did it look like the Three Sparks might suffer a late heartbreak.
With three minutes of stoppage time just announced, Red Wolves won a corner down the right side of the field. A Chattanooga player rose highest to meet the cross, and her header seemed to have beaten Powell only for the defense to clear it behind their goalkeeper.
It was to be the final big chance of the game as the Three Sparks ran out 3-2 winners.
“The girls were very resilient tonight, kept plugging away,” Archard said. “Everybody did their roles, did their jobs very well, so pleased with everybody’s performance. It was good.”
“After seeing today, I think we can do some things for sure,” he added. “I think we have a lot of pieces that can definitely hurt some others teams. We’re definitely dynamic going forward. We’re young, but we’re athletic and we’re hungry. […] We should have a succesfull year based on the squad and how we performed today.”
Legion WFC travel to Tennessee next, taking on One Knoxville SC at 6 p.m. May 21. It will be the first of three road games before returning home at 7 p.m. May 30 to face Greenville Liberty SC.
Game Facts
Legion WFC Lineup (4-2-3-1): Mac Titus; Ava Mills, Kensley Simmons, Kierson McDonald, Sydney Soehn; Tatum Ahlemeyer, Lauren Lucero; Elise Marquardt, Avery Berryman, Katherine Brightwell; Taylor Leib.
Substitutes: Addison Soehn (25’), Langston Lilly (45’), Kacey Powell (45’), Ali Howard (67’), Torri Botthof (67’), Sunny Ferren (85’), Erin Turley (85’).
Goals: Leib (39’), Berryman (44’), Marquardt (56’).