Tonight (7:00pm, ESPN+) in the Prinix Tires USL Cup the Legion will face an entirely new opponent in Corpus Christi FC, the first of 3 expansion teams it will play this year (the others being Brooklyn FC and Sporting JAX).
Those 3 teams have a combined record of 7-24-11 in all competitions. Brooklyn has 4 of the wins, JAX just 1 and Corpus Christi has 2. Until last Wednesday, Corpus Christi had only 1 win, a 1-0 decision over the Chattanooga Red Wolves in the USL Cup. At the same time as the Legion were playing Louisville City, they added their first league win. That was 3-2 over Portland Hearts of Pine, a result they only got as a result of an own goal by Portland keeper Hunter Morse (he completely fumbled a corner kick) and a last-gasp score, also off a corner, both of which were deep into second-half stoppage time.
That improved their League One record to 1-5-5 and their league standing to 15th, although the 2 teams now below them have games in hand. Their other USL Cup game was a 0-1 loss to FC Tulsa, a result surprising only in that Tulsa did not win more easily.
Speaking of Tulsa, they did not help matters much this past Saturday, giving up a first-half lead to lose 1-2 to San Antonio. San Antonio now have 8 points. The Legion can only pass them by winning both remaining games to get to 9 points and them losing to Chattanooga. That last seems unlikely, which means the road to the playoff rounds is basically the wild card.
And that won’t be easy either. There are numerous teams who can accumulate 9 points. The first tie-breaker is goals scored. All of them have scored more than the Three Sparks’ 2 goals. Brooklyn has the best record right now at 8 goals. Miami is on 6, and finishes its group play against Sarasota Paradise. Obviously, that means the Legion has to score. A lot.
The most the Three Sparks have ever scored in a game is 6, which they have done twice, in 2021 against Sporting KC II and in 2022 against Atlanta United II. A long time ago, then, and against far inferior opponents. The most Corpus Christi have allowed in a game so far is 5, to Westchester SC back in April. Westchester is one of the teams now below them in the league standings, as it happens.
Not an impossible mission, then, just a very difficult one.
Corpus Christi is not an entirely new team, just a new professional team. They were founded in 2017 and started play the following year in the then Premier Development League, now USL League Two. They were awarded a League One franchise in late 2024 and moved up this season. In late 2025 Éamon Zayed was announced as their first pro head coach. The Irish-born former Libyan international played extensively in Europe, the Middle East and the USL before becoming the head coach of the Northern Colorado Hailstorm in 2021. He led them through all 3 seasons in League One before they lost the USL franchise. The Hailstorm made the playoffs two of the three years under his direction and were also the first winners of the USL Cup. He also has a Birmingham connection: his wife is from Vestavia Hills.
He is a canny coach and many (yours truly included) had hoped he would come here in some capacity when Tom Soehn was fired. His lineup choices are utterly unpredictable. The 4-1-4-1 seems to be favored in league play recently, but various other formations have been used. Against Tulsa they played a 4-2-3-1, matching the opponent, which may be a clue. Against Chattanooga it was a 4-4-2 (they have yet to play in League One).
Stats-wise they have some work to do. In league play they are 13th in scoring (12 goals) and 11th in shooting for a conversion rate of 14% (8th). None of that’s too bad, but they have allowed 22 goals, 2nd worst. The primary scoring threat is Blake Bowen, who has 5 overall; no one else has more than 2 goals. He is mostly a left winger but also plays on the right occasionally. That’s a switch the Legion is very familiar with and so it should not fool the home team at all. He has historically been listed as a defender and most recently was captain of Huntsville SC in MLSNP. Other than Bowen, the best-known mae on the roster is probably center back Patrick Langlois, who was with Zayed at the Hailstorm and with Portland last year (who may have been especially motivated for last week’s win).
Between the sticks they have already used 3 different guys, but mostly James Talbot, who, like Zayed, is from Dublin. This is his first year playing outside the British Isles, most recently he was 7 years with Bohemians in the Irish Premier Division.
All told, Corpus Christi is something of an unknown quantity. They should be feeling pretty good after winning for the first time in League One last week, despite it being a somewhat lucky victory. They can score, although their only experience against a Championship side was a blanking. They do allow a fair number of goals, and that’s good. Then again, they held Tulsa to just 1 goal.
Finally, this is the only USL game being played tonight. There are two games tomorrow. One Knoxville hosts Chattanooga. That’s in Group 3, of course, and is somewhat irrelevant. If there is an outright winner tonight, both are eliminated before they even play. The final game is Greenville Triumph v. Loudoun United in Group 6. Neither can be eliminated (Greenville has played only 1 game so far).
