Martínez' return, Torres' growing presence, Damus' efforts and a mentality shift
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points after their 1-1 draw against Louisville City FC in Sunday's USL Championship matchup
Many fans were worried heading into Birmingham Legion FC’s second game of the season against Louisville City FC. The team had looked sloppy and disjointed in their first outing — a 3-1 home loss to Loudoun United — and now had to face last season’s Player’s Shield winners, a team that beat them 5-0 and 4-1 in their two matchups of 2024.
To make things worse, Legion lost three players to injury in the buildup to the game, adding on to the already sidelined duo of AJ Paterson and Tyler Pasher. Danny Trejo, the club’s marquee offseason signing, exited last week’s game with a concussion, while captain and defensive stalwart Phanuel Kavita went down injured in training late in the week to prompt a last-minute reshuffle.
Despite all this, the Three Sparks put in a determined performance to earn a 1-1 draw and emerge with their first point of the 2025 USL Championship season.
Enzo’s importance
If there was one thing the Black and Gold could look to with hope heading into Gameweek 2, it was the return of Enzo Martínez. The Uruguayan midfielder missed the season opener due to a suspension picked up in the final game of the 2024 season, but showed just how important he is to the team on his return.
Playing as the deepest midfielder in a shifting 4-2-3-1/4-1-4-1 formation, Martínez kept the team ticking as the conductor of the Legion attack. He completed 36 passes — third only to Kobe Hernandez-Foster (40) and Jake Rufe (39) on the Black and Gold — with a 61.1% accuracy and was constantly on the run to offer up an outlet or drag players out of position.
On defence, he showed his fire early on by committing two fouls and picking up a yellow card just 10 minutes into the game, but he remained disciplined the rest of the game to avoid any more fouls while making three tackles, four clearances and winning five duels.
“Having Enzo in that midfield is a really, really important piece for us,” Roman Torres said. “He’s our little dog in midfield. He brings a lot of energy and a lot of experience and a lot of composure that we need.”
At 34-years-old, Martínez has yet to show signs of slowing down and remains just as instrumental as ever to this Legion team.
Roman’s role
The 25th overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft following a collegiate career with Iowa Western Community College and Creighton University, Roman Torres joined Legion on loan from Minnesota United late in the offseason. Despite a limited preseason with the team and no previous professional experience, the young midfielder was thrown straight into the fire with back-to-back starts and did not disappoint.
Torres went off injured around the hour mark against Loudoun last week but showed no signs of it Sunday, completing the full 90 minutes and picking up already his second assist in as many games.
“I’m having a good run of games right now, so hopefully I can keep that up and keep contributing to the team in as many ways as I can,” Torres said.
Just like against Loudoun, Torres’s assist came from a beautifully hit set-piece from the left-side of the opposition’s box. Last week, it was Jake Rufe who headed it in, this week it was Ronaldo Damus.
“We have a good understanding of what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t be doing [on set-pieces],” he added. “So I think as the season goes on we’re just going to keep nailing them.”
In addition to his set-piece deliveries, Torres has shown his importance to the team through his positional versatility in the middle of the park. Last week, he started as the 10 but later dropped into the pivot alongside Hernandez-Foster. This week, he was once again trusted as the furthest forward of the midfield three and even found himself alongside Damus on the front line on multiple occasions as the team defended in a 4-4-2 shape.
Torres was lively throughout the game, no matter the role asked of him, and ended the night with two tackles, five clearances, one interception and an outstanding 11 duels won for just two lost, the highest number across both teams. On offence, he completed 33 passes with a 78.8% accuracy, won six fouls, and created on chance in addition to his assist.
“He’s a buck ten, he competes hard, he opens the game for us, so I give him a lot of credit for the amount of work he does,” Soehn said. “He puts in a good shift.”
With just two professional games under his belt, Torres is already establishing himself as a key cog of the Legion midfield. He said the biggest learning curve has been the physicality of it all, but with every practice he feels more comfortable with the challenge ahead.
He also said he’s grateful for the trust placed in him and cannot wait to kick on even more.
“It feels really good,” Torres said. “I know Tom has a lot of expectations of me, and I came here with the expectation of being as best as I can. Whether that’s an impact player or a role player, I just want to do the best I can for the team.”
They say to never fall in love with a loan player. If he keeps to this trajectory, Torres might just make that hard on the Legion faithful.
Damus off the mark
It’s fair to say Ronaldo Damus did not have the start he would have wanted in his first game for the Black and Gold, but the second was a stark contrast.
The striker did not attempt a single shot on target against Loudoun and struggled to get in the game, misplacing half his passes in the offensive half of the field. But against Louisville, he showed exactly why he was so crucial to last season’s USL championship-winning team.
Damus was a constant threat on the shoulder of the Louisville defence, harassing center backs and providing and out ball to relieve pressure for the Legion defence.
He opened his Legion account with the tying goal in first-half stoppage time, making a perfectly timed run to meet Torres’ free-kick and power a header past the Louisville keeper. He should probably have had a second early in the second half as the team went on a fast-break following a Louisville corner, but the ball got caught in his feet after he had done the hard work of getting beyond the defensive line.
Still, the forward ended the night with the all-important equaliser, two additional shots, three fouls won and four duels won.
“He created a lot of havoc,” Soehn said. “He was a handful for their backs, especially balls in the air. … There’s a lot more to come from him, but I love the way he competed up there. He made it really hard for their center backs.”
Hungry for more
You would think that netting your first goal for your new team, a crucial one in the contest at that, would be cause for celebration. Yet Damus did not stick around long as fans came onto the field for the Legion’s traditional end to home games.
That reaction and frustration at the result was a reflection of a wider mentality shift from the Legion players and staff, many of whom were not satisfied with the singular point.
Despite producing a stellar display between the sticks with five crucial saves, Matt van Oekel’s post-game assessment of his performance focused on the one he let in in the 31st minute.
“I let a goal in in the first half, not too happy about that,” van Oekel said.
This comes against a team that put nine past the Legion in 2024, scored 86 across the season (an average of 2.5 per game) and ran away with the regular-season title. The Legion, in contrast, conceded 51 in 2024 (1.5 per game) while missing out on the postseason entirely.
All of that is in the past, however, and the Black and Gold have set their sights high for the future.
“It’s a good bounce back from obviously the ‘24 season, but all we care about now is the ‘25 season,” van Oekel said. “Last year is last year, this year we just care about making sure we are way better than last year.”
Louisville City are a perennial heavyweight of the league. The team won 24 out of 34 regular season games last season to claim the Players’ Shield, finished regular-season runners-up in four previous seasons and made it to the playoff semifinals every single year since their founding in 2015. In spite of all this, The Three Sparks seemed to view the result as two points dropped rather than one gained.
“I don’t think you’re ever satisfied with a tie,” Soehn said. “You always want to win those games. I think finishing is a big component, but as the season goes usually that’s the last thing that really comes along.”
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to put the game away when we had our moments,” he added . “But we still created those moments and we’ll look to continue to grow.”
That mentality bodes well for the Legion’s future as the Three Sparks head on the road for a crucial fortnight that could set the tone for the rest of the season. It all starts Wednesday with a trip to Arizona in the U.S. Open Cup, where the Black and Gold will take on the Little Rock Rangers at 7 p.m. CT.