Player Ratings: Birmingham Legion 3-0 Memphis 901

This was an all round team performance, so it’s hard to single out each of the players for their various contributions. As such, you’re not going to see much variation in the scores here.

GK: TREVOR SPANGENBERG – 7. Trevor made just 2 official saves in the game, but there were several other very dangerous balls he stopped or recovered. That being said, “very dangerous” is on the Memphis scale…

LB: GABRIEL ALVES –8. Gabriel’s attacking stats don’t adequately reflect the extent of his offensive impact. His passing was a lowly 68% on 34 tries, and neither of his crosses found a target but were threatening. Defensively, he won just 2 of 8 duels, but had 1 block, 4 clearances, 3 interceptions and 7 recoveries.

CB: PHANUEL KAVITA – 7.5. Phanny got the Legion’s only yellow card of the night (note that 3 yellows results in a suspension in the Open Cup) and it was legit. He was a surprisingly poor 58% on just 19 attempts, but 4 of those were into the final third and he connected on 2 of 9 long balls. 2 of 3 in duels, 1 block, 5 clearances (all with his head), 1 interception and 5 recoveries.

CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 8. 17 for 24 in passing (71%), including 3 into the attacking third and 4 of 11 on long balls. He won 3 of 4 duels and recorded 3 blocks, 8 clearances (5 by his noggin), 6 interceptions and 4 recoveries. That’s pretty solid.

RB: COLLIN SMITH – 7. Collin played 67 minutes and was fairly impressive. A decent 63% on 19 passes, but his 1 cross ended up nowhere. He won 2 of 5 duels, and logged 4 interceptions and 4 recoveries.

LDM: MIKEY LOPEZ – 7. Mikey played just the first half, and probably isn’t good for much more than that yet. 10 of 12 in passing but just 1 into the final third. 3 of 6 in duels and 1 tackle, 3 interceptions and 3 recoveries.

RDM: ANDERSON ASIEDU – 8. Ando was his normal unstoppable self. 81% on 31 passes and 1 shot, predictably well over the crossbar. He sent 8 balls into the final third and was 4 of 6 with long passes. He went 6 of 7 in duels, including 1 ridiculous aerial duel that his opponent should never live down, and added 1 clearance (again with his head) and a massive 12 recoveries.

LAM: PROSPER KASIM – 8. 81 minutes played. He stayed on the left wing more or less all night for once and was very difficult to deal with. He assisted on Tyler’s goal -technically speaking at least – and created 1 other scoring chance. 77% accurate on 22 passes, including 1 of 3 crosses.

CAM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 8. A goal and an assist is a good night’s work for most players. But Enzo added another shot that was oh so close to going in and created havoc all game. That were a lot of candidates in this game, but Man of the Match goes to Enzo by a nose.

RAM: TYLER PASHER – 8. A wonderful 68 minutes from Ty. He scored of course, and his one other shot was parried right back to Enzo for the score. In some ways he’s the attacking version of Ando; small but near impossible to dispossess and a highly creative player.

FWD: JUAN AGUDELO – 8. Juan got the early game-winning goal and really should have been credited with the assist on TY’s goal (Prosper barely touched it). He had one other shot wide in his 73 minutes and was in good position all night (and offside 3 times).

SUB: MATTHEW CORCORAN – 7. Playing the entire second half, Matthew created 1 chance and was a respectable 75% on 20 passing attempts. Defensively, he won 4 of 5 duels and made 2 tackles, 2 clearances and 4 recoveries.

SUB: JAKE RUFE –7. In 23 minutes as a straight swap for Collin, Jake was almost more involved in the attack than as a fresh defender. 6 of 7 in passing, 4 of 5 in duels, 1 tackle and 2 recoveries in a solid sub appearance.

SUB: BEN REVENO – 7. Ben played 22 minutes in relief of Tyler and handled what came his way. Which really wasn’t that much. 6 of 8 in passing, 2 interceptions and 2 recoveries in cleanup duty isn’t bad though.

SUB: NECO BRETT – 7. Just 17 minutes but Neco did create 1 scoring chance in that time even though the game was already well in hand.

SUB: DIBA NWEGBO – N/A. Oh, Diba. You’re not going to get a much easier scoring chance than that one. Especially when you’re only on the pitch for 9 minutes.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 7. Should a 10 rating be the default expectation when you’re coaching against Memphis? Probably. Anyhow, Tommy’s game plan worked perfectly yesterday.