Player Ratings: El Paso Locomotive 1-3 Birmingham Legion

The Legion more or less cruised to the 3-1 win in El Paso despite giving up a goal and having only 16 players dressed for the trip. Of those only reserve goalkeeper Brock Marlow did not see the field. Here are the various player ratings:

GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 7. Matt guessed right on the goal by Justin Dhillon but couldn’t quite get his hand high enough to stop it. Other than that he made two saves but they were both entirely routine. 52.2% accuracy rate on 23 passes, which is low even for him.

LB: A.J. PATERSON – 8. The move to left back has been good for AJ. In this game he recorded 4 tackles, 2 clearances and 3 interceptions and won 6 of 11 duels. Pretty good. He connected on 30 of 37 passes as well. He also got a shot on target and was credited with creating 2 scoring chances. And the small matter of the game-winning assist…

CB: PHANUEL KAVITA – 7. Phanny was partly to blame for the Dhillon goal, being well out of position on the play. He was also uninvolved in the attack at any point. Otherwise just 3 clearances and 1 of 4 in duels.

CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 7. Alex didn’t get overly involved in the attack; the Legion had just 2 corners in the entire game. Defensively, he racked up 8 clearances and an interception but lost both his duels. He did let Tumi Moshobane to get by him to start the scoring El Paso play, though. A solid 86% accurate on 35 passes.

RB: DEREK DODSON – 8. Derek was not going to be outdone by his former Battery teammate on the other side. 4 tackles, 2 clearances, 2 interceptions. 7 of 12 in duels. 84% passing accuracy on 32 attempts. 1 shot on target, 1 successful cross. 3 chances created. He and AJ are going to be epic if this continues. That’s good enough for Man of the Match.

LDM: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – 7.5. Dawson’s first Legion goal was a sneaky one but looked for all the world like a planned play. Nice. He created one other scoring chance and connected on a very healthy 89% of 28 passes. 3 of 6 in duels and 2 tackles to shore up the defense. Stiffed himself a tad with a yellow card late in the first half.

CDM: KOBE HERNANDEZ-FOSTER –7. Kobe was not really tested on the defensive side this week. He had just 1 duel – which he won – and 1 tackle, 1 clearance, 1 block and 1 interception. Rather tidy, that. 34 of 43 passes connected; not all that great. But one that did connect was the assist on Tyler Pasher’s goal. He attempted 3 shots, two off target and 1 blocked.

RDM: JAKE RUFE – 7. We are watching the remaking of Jake Rufe in real time. He is acting for all the world like he is Enzo Martinez. All over the pitch and causing chaos. This week he had just one shot off frame and one chance created, but his passing was a valuable 86% on 28 tries. 6 of 13 in duels to go with 2 tackles, 3 clearances and 3 interceptions.

LW: TYLER PASHER – 8. All three players up top were involved in the scoring this week. That’s exactly what you want. Ty’s goal was a rocket from moderate distance that slammed into the rear upright. He took 5 shots in total, one more on target, two off and one blocked. Can’t really ask for much more.

RW: PROSPER KASIM – 7.5. Regaining the lead just 4 minutes after the equalizer and right before half-time is perfect Hollywood scripting. Prosper had 3 other shots, all off target. He got a relatively rare yellow card though.

FWD: ENZO MARTINEZ – 8. No goal but that assist was brilliant. He didn’t even bother to look. Just one shot off target, although he knew he should have done better with it. Still a great performance.

SUB: MIGUEL PEREZ – 7. 21 official minutes for Miggy. He connected on 6 of 9 passes, not too great. He had one shot on target though. An OK showing.

SUB: DIBA NWEGBO – 7. Nothing flashy from Diba in 11 official minutes. Perfect on 5 passes, he won 3 of 5 duels and made 1 tackle and 1 interception. Good cleanup work.

SUB: MOSES MENSAH – 7. 6 minutes in which he recorded just 1 successful pass. Not exactly a taxing evening.

SUB: PRESTON TABORT ETAKA – 7. Also 6 minutes. Good on 2 of 3 passes. That’s all.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 8. Tommy had limited manpower options this week, it seems. But he had the opponent’s number big time. No defensive adjustments to make but the attack looked much more threatening.