It comes down to this. The final round of Jägermeister Cup group games is this weekend. For the Legion it’s simple: win or go home. Preferably in regulation rather than in a shootout, which would necessitate help from elsewhere.
The most important part
The Three Sparks could—and should—have already locked up Group 3 and a place in the quarterfinals with a win over Indy Eleven. Instead they now find themselves out of the quarterfinal spots, having been bounced by Phoenix Rising who won their last group game last week. Thus this week’s home game against Forward Madison (Saturday, 7:00pm, ESPN+) looms large. The good news is that the Legion is entirely in control of its own destiny.
In fact, there could be as many as 13 Legion players on the field. Striker Lucca Dourado (whom you may have recognized in the picture above) and midfielder Temi Ereku are both on loan to Madison and are eligible to play. Somehow I doubt the numerical advantage will help. Lucca has been with Madison since May and has played 10 games for them, scoring 3 goals and making 1 assist. The most recent of those goals was Wednesday evening when he bagged the only score in a win over South Georgia Tormenta. That win gave them a slight boost in the League One standings, taking them up to 11th (of 14). At one point they had been dead last but 3 decent results lately have seen them climb out of the basement.
Forward Madison has been in League One since 2019 so is as old as the Legion. They have made the playoffs in 3 of 6 seasons to date, but look a tad shaky on that front this year. They are the runners-up in the inaugural Jäger Cup last season, drawing 1-1 with Northern Colorado but losing 4-5 in a shootout. Since the Hailstorm is no longer in the USL, they are as close to a reigning champion as the competition has.
The team is probably best known for its rather offbeat personality and active social media presence. Their team crest features a pink flamingo, specifically a plastic pink flamingo, which since 2009 has been the city’s official bird. The team is generally referred as the Mingos; as a result of a snowstorm “going full mingo” has become a catchphrase for the club.
Despite that, the club’s mascot is a dairy cow, which makes a lot more sense. Beyond that, the club is known for its rather wild uniform designs; the current alternate home version shown above includes tartan side panels and shorts. The away kit is mostly bright pink.
Madison remains alive in the Cup, but just barely. They have 4 points and would need a big win and a ton of help to stay in. Those 4 points came from a 1-1 draw (and shootout loss) with Chattanooga Red Wolves and a 1-0 win over One Knoxville. Both goals scored in the Cup came from penalties. They lost the first game 0-4 to Indy Eleven at home. Fortunately the scoreline does not impact what the Legion needs to do as the tiebreaker is already decided.
The Mingos play almost exclusively with a 3-4-2-1, Lucca being the man up top since his introduction. He is not the leading scorer; that would be left winger Derek Gebhard, who has 5 goals and 2 assists from 18 games total. No one else has scored more than once in league play.
Starting goalkeeper is Bernd Schipmann (a German-born Filipino) who has been in that role since 2023. He has 3 total clean sheets this year.
Also, Lucca and Temi are not the only Legion connections. Madison’s head coach is former goalkeeper Matt Glaeser, who has led the club since 2022. From 2017-2020 he was an assistant at Real Monarchs, eventually moving up to be an assistant with Real Salt Lake in late 2020. He then became goalkeeper coach at Sacramento Republic in 2021. He also finished his playing career at Wilmington Hammerheads in 2014-2015. So he has a well-established history with Mark Briggs.
The loanees and Glaeser obviously add an interesting dimension to the game. Briggs addressed this: “We sent them to Madison because, one, they’ve got a very good head coach; two, they play very similar to how we play. So from a learning perspective, they’re going to grow and understand when they come back in better detail of what we want. And it’s an opportunity for them to go and grow, develop. So when they come back next year, they’re ready to play in the first team, they’re ready to compete and pull on our jersey. And that will be an added motivation for them tomorrow.” No expectations of Lucca and Temi going easy on their parent club, then.
As to Glaeser himself: “It’s a very good team. Yes, Matt’s very close to me from a personal perspective. But he’s also done a fantastic job with that group. They haven’t got the results that they would have liked, but you watch that team play and you can tell they’re coached very well. So it’s a difficult game for us.”
Briggs was also not happy with the team’s performance last week against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. He stated that there had been “consequences” for the team, although he did not specify what those might have been. Sounds ominous, though he also said the response was good. The team has practised penalties but that is just a necessity of the competition and not what is wanted tomorrow. “We’ve got to win. I want to win in 90. I want to see the team tomorrow [that] I want to see the team I see on the road. I want to see a team that’s hungry. I want to see a team that has that chip on their shoulder.”
Prediction: Forward Madison is 1-3-4 on the road, the only win coming against Richmond (10th in League One) all the way back in Week 2. They have lost both games against Championship opponents this year by an aggregate score of 1-7 (the other team was FC Tulsa, in the Open Cup not the Jäger Cup). Tomorrow needs to be the third loss. They are also on short rest. The Legion has played one League One team, winning 3-1 over the Chattanooga Red Wolves (who are 2nd) under Eric Avila. Mark Briggs should have his team’s mindset right. If so, the win absolutely will happen, and possibly by multiple goals.
Best of the rest
If the Three Sparks advance, they would face one of seven teams, including potentially one League One team. Our selections below cover 5 of the 7, although they all overlap the Legion game. So keep an eye on your phone’s scorebug while you watch at Protective Stadium.
Indy Eleven v. FC Tulsa (Saturday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)
This is the big one as far as the Legion is concerned. Tulsa, who are top of the Championship’s Western Conference, are already out of the Cup. They have nothing to play for except pride. Indy are leading Group 3 over the Three Sparks by just a point and the Scissortails can really help out in the spoiler role.
Rhode Island FC FC v. Hartford Athletic (Saturday, 6:00pm, ESPN+)
Also a game Legion fans need to keep an eye on. Rhode Island currently holds the best record in the Jäger Cup; Hartford are 2 points behind them in Group 4 and hold the second wild card spot. If the Legion gets the first wild card, it would face the Group 4 winner, one of these two teams.
Charleston Battery v. Tampa Bay Rowdies (Saturday, 6:30pm, ESPN+)
If the Legion wins Group 3 it would face the Group 6 winner; the Rowdies are currently in that position. The Battery is already eliminated and is in position to cause chaos. The Greenville Triumph (who play FC Naples) and The Miami FC (who play South Georgia Tormenta) could also win the group.
San Antonio FC v. New Mexico United (Saturday, 8:00pm, ESPN+)
The last team the Legion could play is the winner of Group 2 (as Wild Card 2). That is currently San Antonio but if New Mexico wins in regulation they would take that group. This is #2 v. #3 is the Championship’s Western Conference and is the toughest game remaining on the Jäger Cup group schedule.
