Coming up empty: Sporting Club Jacksonville men's soccer dropped its fifth consecutive loss in USL Championship men's soccer, 1-0 to Birmingham Legion FC, in an Oct. 14 game played behind closed doors at Hodges Stadium.
Paterson nets winner: Birmingham (5-11-11), already eliminated from the playoff race, scored its winner in the 37th minute. Samuel Shashoua directed a shot through traffic, and although Sporting Jax goalkeeper Jake McGuire parried it away, AJ Paterson put away the rebound.
Why no crowd?: Originally scheduled for Oct. 10, the game was first rescheduled as an early-afternoon closed-door game Oct. 10 at the University of North Florida's auxiliary turf field due to Hurricane Isaias. When lightning postponed that game, the closed-doors
restriction remained in place for the make-up game even though the storm's remnants had passed by during the weekend.
Quick free kicks: The goal differential for Sporting Jax (3-20-5) fell to minus-42, worst in the 25-team league. … Sporting Jax attempted 10 shots, but only two were on target. … Sporting Jax defenders Harvey Neville, Ventura Alvarado, Edgardo Rito and Antonio Gomez all received yellow cards.
Up next: Sporting Jax plays its last home game of the season at Hodges Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 against Louisville City.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Jax men drop fifth consecutive game in USL soccer
