Crognale's late goal puts Legion back on top of Eastern Conference table

Things were not looking good for the Birmingham Legion during the first half of its clash with Hartford Athletic Sunday afternoon at Protective Stadium. The visitors had a one-goal lead and it could have been more without a little bit of help from the woodwork.

Birmingham took advantage of its second chance and made the most of the final 45 minutes, coming from behind twice before Alex Crognale scored the game-winning goal in injury time to give the Legion a 3-2 victory. It was the second time this season Birmingham has defeated Hartford, both wins coming by a single goal.

"One of our worst halves ever. We had a harsh talk inside about our character and making sure we know we are,"Legion coach Tommy Soehn said after the game. "We had an opportunity to get to the top of the table and understanding what it means. I didn't quite say it that nice, you could imagine, but at least it motivated us to come out in the second half. They offered us the ability to stay in the game by only being down one, that gave us a chance to come back and credit to the guys that they did."

It was Crognale's second goal of the season, his first since the season opener against Pittsburgh. The game winner came off an assist from Enzo Martinez who also provided two goals of his own in the victory.

"We kept battling and kept fighting," Martinez said of the comeback win. "That's the quality that we have in this team that can make those things happen."

The Legion has now won two consecutive league games and the team has moved back into first place in the Eastern Conference table, sitting on 16 points through eight matches. Birmingham, which is tied with for the league lead with five wins, sits one point clear of Charleston.

"The feeling is good but as a coach, you also look at how you can finish off a game a lot sooner," Soehn said. "A game is not 45 minutes, it's 90 minutes. We need to start putting together better performances especially at home. While it feels good and we'll look back and all we care about is the points, it's still a good learning lesson."

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Hartford, who sits in 11th in the East and has just one win in seven league matches, came out of the gates with revenge on its mind after losing to the Legion just over a month ago. Birmingham goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg was called into action for his first save in the 18th minute but that was just the beginning of the pressure from Hartford's attacking line in the first half.

In the 27th minute, Prince Saydee nearly opened the scoring with a free kick from just outside the box. His left-footed shot beat the wall and the keeper only to strike the inside of the far post and bouncing across the face of goal before Birmingham's Matthew Corcoran cleared the ball to safety for the hosts.

Hartford found the breakthrough just over 10 minutes later with an attack down the right wing, dribbling into the defense with ease before sliding a pass into the center of the box. The ball came through to Jeciel Cedeno who fired a low shot toward the goal. Spangenberg quickly got his foot out to kick the ball but he did not get enough on it to keep the shot out, as it trickled into the bottom right corner to give the visitors the lead.

Andre Lewis nearly doubled the lead two minutes later, striking a shot from the top of the box only to see it hit squarely off the crossbar and bounce back into play.

Spangenberg was called upon again just before the break, making a save against Antoine Hoppenot from close range. The veteran forward got a second chance when the rebound bounced back to him but his second shot attempt was well wide of the mark, leaving Hartford's lead at just a single goal with teams going into the locker rooms.

Collin Smith came on for the Legion to start the second half and Birmingham quickly looked more threatening with the ball. The Legion created its best chance of the game in the first five minutes after the restart with Juan Agudelo dribbling into the box and drawing contact before sliding a pass to Martinez. But the Uruguayan couldn't connect cleanly with the shot, clipping it wide of the goal.

Martinez would eventually get the equalizer after finding himself unmarked on a corner kick in the 65th minute. He got on the end of Prosper Kasim's delivery and volleyed the ball into the goal from the edge of the six-yard box.

"We talk about how the tactics don't matter if you don't have the energy and enthusiasm behind it," Soehn said. "Once we had that, the tactics became important again and I think it showed because we were able to break them down."

However, Hartford quickly recaptured the lead when Saydee played a through ball to give Kyle Edwards a 1-on-1 opportunity against Spangenberg. Edwards slid a shot to the goalkeeper's right and into the back of the net to put the visitors back in front in the 67th minute.

"We need to realize you're not going to score three goals in a row," Soehn said. "You're going to score one at a time and I think we were gambling a little too much, trying to go forward to win the game. We set ourselves open for a counter."

The back-and-forth affair continued when Kasim connected with Martinez again less than 10 minutes later. Agudelo played Kasim down the left side and the latter played an early cross just out of the reach of a sliding Hartford defender and into the path of Martinez at the back post. Martinez calmly slotted his first touch into the net to level the score once again.

"I guess today it was just me," Martinez said. "Two weeks ago, it was Neco, the week before that it was Gabriel. It's always someone in the team that steps up at the right time when we need it. That's the good thing about this team. We have players that can do that at any moment."

Birmingham continued to put the pressure on in the final moments and the winning goal finally came in the 93rd minute when Martinez sent a corner kick over the Hartford goalkeeper and on to Crognale's head. The defender easily finished his header into the empty net to secure all three points for the Legion.

Tyler Pasher made his first league appearance since the last win against Hartford five weeks ago. He played 20 minutes, providing one key pass and completing two dribbles.

"You see the minute he comes in the game, he adds a lightning bolt to the team," Soehn said. "Not only does he put the other team on their heels but he makes other players around him better and I think he showed that the minute he came in. We do miss him and it's important to get him back but also it was important to make sure he's coming back in a way that he's going to stay there and not hurt himself again."

A busy stretch of games continues this week as Birmingham hits the road for a midweek match against Miami before returning home Saturday to face the Oakland Roots.