Though the 2025 season has not gone to plan for Birmingham Legion, there has been one reprieve: the USL Jägermeister Cup.

After finishing as the top wildcard of the cup competition’s group stage, the Three Sparks quick off the knockouts tomorrow. They travel to Rhode Island FC in the tournament’s quarterfinal stage.

If Birmingham progress, they will be just two wins away from silverware. No prior Legion team can say the same.

“I think it’s huge,” Mark Briggs said. “We’ve put ourselves in a position that we’re playing in a quarterfinal. Not a lot of teams can say [that], so that’s a positive. So for us, it’s about going out and showing who we are and doing all we can to put ourselves in the next round.

“That’s what cup competitions are all about,” he added. “It’s about preparation. It’s about an understanding of the opponent. And it’s about the understanding of what you’re walking into. … It’s us or them that make it through to the semifinals, so let’s give ourselves the best possible platform for that to be us.”

After a disappointing outing against Hartford Athletic Aug. 9, Birmingham had a bye week this past weekend. Rhode Island had the same, so neither side will come in with a lenghtier break than the other.

What the mandated mental health break did provide Birmingham, however, was the time to reflect. According to Briggs, the break gave the team time to refocus, and the opportunity for “harsh words, conversations and realities” to be shared.

“There has to be a reset,” Briggs said. “I’m hoping we can use this moment, the pain that hopefully everyone felt and experienced in the little break they had off to galvanize us. To push on for a quarterfinal and for the last 10 games of the season.”

Stephen Turnbull said the Hartford result was “really disappointing” for everyone on the team, but that the side have now had the opportunity to regroup. He said that game can be a defining moment in how they react to it, starting with tomorrow’s trip to his former club.

The right wing-back got an assist in his previous return to Rhode Island earlier this season. But with two games against Rhode Island already played since joining Legion, he said the added weight of facing his former team is no longer the same. His focus is instead squarely on Legion and what his new side is looking to achieve.

“We’re very focused,” Turnbull said. “It’s a quarterfinal. It’s an opportunity to play a really meaningful game, a playoff-style game. There’s only eight teams left, and being one of those eight teams that are left is a positive for us.

“We want to go as far as we possibly can,” he continued. “We want to win this entire cup.”

After a performance such as that versus Hartford, many players want to get straight back on the field and put it behind them. Others prefer the opportunity, like Legion had, to get away from soccer a bit and forget all about it.

Turnbull said he has no real preference, but he is now eager to get back into action. Despite the losses and disappointing season, he said the team is still united and ready for a tough run-in.

“It’s all about just making the most of these last 10 games,” he said. “The belief in the group is really high, which is a really good thing because we’ve had a lot of adversity this year. So to have the energy as high as it is says a lot about this group.”

Standing between Birmingham and a semifinal spot is a Rhode Island team experiencing a similarly underwhelming season. Last season’s USL Championship runners-up are barely hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the East and have found goals hard to come by in recent weeks.

In their six games since they saw Legion last, RIFC have scored just three goals and been shut out four times. But the Three Sparks should still be weary of a team they have yet to beat in four attempts (1D 3L).

Despite the poor record, Briggs said there was a lot the team could take from their last meeting with RIFC, a game they would have won if they had finished their chances.

“The first game at home we were awful, but second game away was probably one of our best performances of the year,” Briggs said. “We should have won the game, but we only tied the game. That’s got to give us confidence going to a place where we performed extremely well. Going to an environment where we had our best performance, that’s got to give us confidence and got to make us feel good.

“But the reality is, it’s a completely different game,” he continued. “It’s a completely different time and it’s a completely different scenario.”

One positive going into the game is Legion’s bill of health. Other than Moses Mensah and Kameron Lacey, both likely out for the remainder of the season, the Three Sparks have a full roster to call from.

The team had a rough practice in the Alabama heat on Sunday where a few players complained of cramps and one needed IV drips after suffering “full body cramps,” but everyone was back on the training pitch Monday with nobody the worse for wear.

The team had a lighter session yesterday before flying out today, but did make sure to practice penalties. If the game ends in a draw, it will be decided on spot kicks, and both Legion and RIFC lost their previous penalty shootout in this year’s tournament.

Birmingham Legion face Rhode Island at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday at Centreville Bank Stadium. The game will be live on ESPN+ and WABM-MyTV locally.

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