It looked like another bleak outing for Birmingham Legion 30 minutes into their encounter with Phoenix Rising.
Yet as the final whistle blew in Arizona, the 3-3 draw felt more like two points dropped than one point gained.
The Three Sparks conceded twice in the opening half-hour to trail the hosts 2-0. But barely 30 game minutes later, Birmingham had turned the game on its head with a 3-2 lead, courtesy notably of a Sebastian Tregarthen masterclass down the right flank.
It was the young right wing-back’s audacious shot that fell to Tyler Pasher for Legion’s first. The Uruguayan then became even more directly involved, scoring the second and assisting the third as the Three Sparks completed an unlikely comeback.
The Black and Gold could not see out the advantage, however, conceding a late equalizer to split the points in Phoenix.
Phoenix Rising came into the game as one of the USL Championship’s highest scoring teams. It took them just 17 minutes to get on the board, slicing through the Legion defense far too easily before Emil Cuello fired it in at the near post.
Not even 10 minutes later, the hosts doubled the lead.
This one came off an unfortunate moment for Legion-debutant Maliek Howell, who slipped as he went to clear a simple chip forward. The ball fell instead to a Phoenix player, who knocked it back to Hope Avayevu to curl home from the edge of the box.
A minute after the second goal, Edwin Laszo picked up a yellow card. It was the final straw for Mark Briggs, who substituted the defensive midfielder on the half-hour mark.
With Sam McIllhaton coming on, there was a clear desire to retain possession better in the middle of the park. Briggs also adjusted the formation to drop Samuel Shashoua into a deeper, more central position while Pasher pushed higher up the pitch as a second striker.
The switch paid off in the 38th minute when the Canadian halved the deficit.
Enzo Martínez sent Tregarthen down the side with a lofted through ball. With the goalkeeper expecting a cross and cheating in that direction, the wing-back tried to surprise him instead with a shot from an acute angle.
Though the goalkeeper saved, the parried ball made its way to the edge of the box for Pasher to drill into the bottom corner.
Phoenix still led 2-1 at the break, but Legion nearly levelled things right out of the gates as a wide free-kick was headed just wide of goal in the 47th.
They didn’t need much longer, as Tregarthen leveled the tie with an exquisite volley in the 54th minute. After Shashoua did well to put a cross in, the ball went all the way to the wing-back on the opposite flank. His first-time hit smashed off the crossbar and into the goal, evening the score and making it two assists in two for Shashoua.
Ten minutes later, Tregarthen turned provider. The Uruguayan sped down the right flank once more before cutting it back for his countryman Martínez. The connection was not the best, but the veteran midfielder did enough to bundle the ball over the line.
From 2-0 down, Birmingham suddenly led 3-2.
Phoenix immediately started throwing bodies forward and would have equalized just five minutes later if not for a terrific double save from Fernando Delgado.
As is often the case when defending a lead away from home, Birmingham retreated further and further as the minutes ticked on. Whether due to the Arizona heat or the effort put forth to get back in the game, Legion players looked exhausted heading into the final minutes, and Phoenix made them pay.
The hosts thought they had equalized in the 86th minute, but after some controversy and confusion, the goal was ruled out for a foul. It made no difference as the Rising got the leveler four minutes later. A Charlie Dennis cross from deep went all the way through, surprising Delgado and nestling into the side netting.
The referee added nine minutes of stoppage time in the wake of the equalizer. Phoenix looked the most likely to add to their tally, but Birmingham held firm to return home with at least one point.
Birmingham Legion return home next week, hosting Hartford Athletic at 7 p.m. August 9 at Protective Stadium.
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