Player Ratings: Birmingham Legion 3-1 Indy Eleven

It’s been way too long since we last did one of these, and it’s pretty late considering we’re just 2 days from the playoff game, but…well, reasons, let’s just leave it at that. Anyhoo, here are the ratings on the last game of the regular season.

GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 8. MVO only faced 3 shots on goal all night. The 2 he stopped were solidly fielded though, and he was left out to dry on the sole Indy goal. He only made 16 passes all evening, which shows just how far upfield most of the play was.

LB: JAKE RUFE – 7. Jake went the full 90 at left back, not necessarily his best position. Most of the Legion attack was down the right side, possibly as a result. He attempted a surprisingly low 34 passes, of which 29 were good and had a shot off target. Defensively, he won just 2 of 9 duels and made 2 tackles.

CB: PHANUEL KAVITA – 8. 93.2% accurate on 44 passes. Won 3 of 6 duels. 1 tackle. 4 clearances. A chance created. A more than respectable night’s work from the team captain although he was hardly tested much.

CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 8. Alex doesn’t get the Man of the Match award. But he also doesn’t get an Oscar. As it turns out, there’s isn’t one for stunt men. Such is life. Other than getting Neveal Hackshaw sent off in righteous revenge for his 2 goals last time out, Alex made a whopping 71 passes, connecting 891.7% of the time. He won all 7 duels and made 2 tackles and 2 clearances.

RB: JONNY DEAN – 9. Jonny was incredible all evening. Aside from the assist on Enzo’s beautifully constructed goal, he had a shot on goal himself (which he really should have finished) and created a total of 4 chances. He was the winner in 7 of 8 duels, made 1 tackle, 2 clearances and 1 interception. It was close, but Jonny gets the Man of the Match honors.

LM: ZACH HERIVAUX – 8. Zach spent an inordinate amount of the game on the ground, eventually leaving after 66 minutes. But in that limited time he made 51 passes, finishing all but 5 and had 2 shots, 1 on and 1 off target, with 1 chance created. On defense he won 5 of 8 duels and made 3 tackles an 1 interception.

RM: ANDERSON ASIEDU – 6.5. Ando picked up a yellow card in the 55^th minute and was wisely yanked just 7 minutes later. He spent most of the game hanging around the center circle and overall did not have his best game. Just 24 passes with an 83.3% accuracy rate and 3 shots, none on frame.

LAM: MARLON SANTOS – 8. Guess what? There also isn’t an Oscar for dance or choreography. Someone needs to complain to AMPAS. Marlon is apparently now the penalty taker of choice. He was also the season’s 2^nd most fouled player, collecting 83 calls (Memphis 901’s Phillip Goodrum had a massive 95). Rested after 77 minutes, he finished with 2 shots, both on goal and was even significant in defense, winning 10 of a lofty 15 duels and making 6 tackles, 1 block and 1 interception.

CAM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 9. In addition to the 2 offside goals (correctly called this time), Enzo was offside 2 more times and spent a significant portion of the game inside the Indy 6-yard box. He did have 3 legitimate shots on goal, including of course the goal. No hat-trick then, but an all-round excellent performance from the Legion’s premier playmaker.

RM: PROSPER KASIM – 8. Prosper, who spent almost all his time on the right side, not switching much with Marlon, got the eventual game-winning goal. He had 3 more shots on target and another 2 off. A very strong outing.

FWD: JUAN AGUDELO – 8. Juan and Enzo pretty much played in each other’s positions. Juan had 2 shots in the game, 1 on and 1 off target, but made a total of 30 passes, finishing 26 of them. He racked up 4 scoring chances created.

SUB: MIKEY LOPEZ – 7. Mikey replaced Ando right after the 3^rd Legion goal, when the game was already more or less over. He wasn’t tested defensively at all, but connected on all 18 of his passes and had a shot off frame.

SUB: MATTHEW CORCORAN – 6. Matt came on for the ailing Zach Herivaux and unfortunately ended up the guilty party on a poorly executed header that allowed Stefano Pinho to score, much to MVO’s annoyance. Possibly his last appearance of the year and not a good way to finish.

SUB: BRUNO LAPA – 7. Came on for Enzo and in 14 official minutes had 1 shot on goal. Other than that, not much.

SUB: RYAN JAMES – 7. 13 official minutes in clean-up duty. Good on 9 of 10 passes and won 1 of 2 duels. Hardly a difficult assignment.

SUB: SADIK BALARABE – 7. Strikers don’t usually come in to finish out games, but Sadik kept the ball deep into Indy’s right corner, even putting in a cross although it didn’t find a target.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 8. Did Tommy hold back against San Antonio to play all his cards on this game? Maybe, but in any event he had the team come out firing on all cylinders and completely overpowered the opposition.