BIRMINGHAM, AL (Sept. 26, 2020) – Birmingham Legion FC fell in its final home match of the season on Saturday night, 2-1 versus Group G rivals North Carolina FC. BHM held on to first place in Group G after Memphis knocked off the Charlotte Independence, and still needs one more point to clinch a spot in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs.

North Carolina struck first, in the 7th minute of the match. An NCFC corner kick was not quite cleared, midfielder Ben Speas swung it back into the far post, and forward Manny Perez volleyed it in the back of the net.

NCFC grabbed their second on the evening in the 26th minute, courtesy of a Dre Fortune penalty kick, after an NCFC player went down right on the edge of the box.

Birmingham Legion FC fought back and created multiple chances in the second half that could have proven to be the equalizer. The team’s lone goal came off the foot of midfielder Jaden Servania, who expertly redirected a Bruno Lapa cross past the NCFC ‘keeper in the 67th minute.

“We started off slow, but in the second half we came out ready to play,” said Legion FC midfielder Jaden Servania. “I was fortunate to get out there and score. We got going, but next time we have to come out quicker and be ready to play.”

[Next week at Memphis] we have to do the same thing we’ve been doing all year, come in and take care of business. Everyone’s hungry and ready to get back at it.”

“I don’t know why we started so flat,” said Legion FC Assistant Coach Khano Smith. “We’ll have to figure that out, why we just didn’t start well. I think we started growing into the game after we went down 2-0, and sometimes at this level that’s too late. So, I think we need to start better. Going to Memphis, they’ve got nothing to lose, and they did us a favor tonight and beat Charlotte, so that means we still control our own destiny, so we’ve got to quickly forget about this one, figure out why we’re starting so slow, and take care of business in Memphis.”

Box Score:

Goals:
NC – 7’ - #2 Manny Perez (assisted by #17 Ben Speas)
NC – 26’ - #8 Dre Fortune (P)
BHM – 67’ - #17 Jaden Servania (assisted by #8 Bruno Lapa)

Lineups:
BHM – #1 Matt VanOekel ©; #5 Mikey Lopez, #21 Alex Crognale, #3 Bolu Akinyode (88’ - #7 Brian Wright), #30 Razak Cromwell (37’ - #6 Anderson Asiedu); #24 Jonny Dean, #12 Eli Crognale (63’ - #17 Jaden Servania); #10 Prosper Kasim, #8 Bruno Lapa, #9 JJ Williams; #11 Neco Brett

NC - #24 Paolo Pita; #27 DJ Taylor, #4 Alex Comsia, #20 Conor Donovan, #30 Akeem Ward; #16 Graham Smith, #7 Pecka, #8 Andre Fortune (83’ - #5 Sam Brotherton); #17 Ben Speas (64’ - #92 Hadji Barry), #2 Manny Perez (83’ - #21 Daniele Proch), #9 Marios Lomis (72’ - #11 Robbie Kristo)

The last match of the regular season is scheduled for Saturday, October 3 vs. Memphis 901FC. For live match updates, follow @bhmlegion on Twitter, or tune in as the match will air live on My68 and ESPN+.