Stormwatch912

You can't spend all summer at soccer stadiums. It's Power Rankings time again. Will Richmond every let go of their stranglehold on the top spot? Why is Omaha where they are?  A quick refresher. We here at Stormwatch912 don't do Power Rankings like those other sites who try to tell you who is playing well or poorly and use fancy things like statistics and strength of schedule and goals scored or allowed to rank the teams. There are plenty of places that do that . (I mean, not a lot of places. You won't find it on ESPN or anything like that. But there are enough that the world doesn't need one more set of Power Rankings from me.) Instead, we take the road less traveled. Actually, more often than not, we have to create our own road because no one else is dumb enough to go this way, but it's the way we've started and I don't think we can stop now. But enough banter. You want the rankings. This month, with Summer vacations coming up, I enlisted my Special Ass

Watching Tormenta/Greenville on the big screen at Tormenta Stadium Hi friends. Sorry for the brief absence following the Charleston game. Sometimes you just need a break, you know. And with my wife out of town and my kids having end of the school year stuff, this took a back seat to other things. You all seem to have gotten along well enough with out me for a few days and are none the worse for wear. So lets get to it, shall we. Saturday night's Greenville game marked the third straight road game for Tormenta in eight days, all against some of the best teams USL has to offer. After falling to Omaha 4-2 the previous Saturday in League One play and then losing in heartbreaking fashion to Charleston on Wednesday in the US Open Cup, it was on to Greenville for the Jägermeister Cup against a Triumph team that defeated Tormenta 3-0 just a few weeks ago. As you likely know by know, Greenville, scored two second half goals to come back and claim the 3-2 win, capping off a week where, hones

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC This was always part of the deal.  We know this when we sign up. We don't like to talk about it. But it's always there. We focus on the other parts. The parts that excite us. The parts that make us hug and high five complete strangers in the stands. That's the appeal. That's what we watch for. The exhilaration that comes from your goalkeeper making back-to-back saves to keep your team in the game. The thrill that comes moments later when your striker gets in behind the defense and then waits to make a perfect pass to the oncoming forward who manages to tie the game in the final 10 minutes . The joy that comes from seeing a perfectly played through ball to a streaking forward who beats the goalkeeper and makes you start to believe that maybe this will be your night.  You've already looked ahead, because that's part of the deal too. You see what awaits with a victory that seems more and more possible. An unprecedented matchup with Goli

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC Tavio D'Almeida and Tormenta face off against Charleston on Wednesday night. So, ummmm...yeah. I guess the good news is that's the only time Tormenta has to travel to Omaha this season (at least until a potential playoff matchup, but that's way, way down the road.) Union Omaha scored two early goals and despite the stats looking fairly equal, Tormenta wasn't able to make the scoreboard equal as they fell 4-2. It was the first time Tormenta surrendered four goals* in a game since.... last October when they fell 4-0 to Omaha in the second to last game of the regular season.  Nortei Nortey opened the scoring with a blast from 40 yards out that found its way through the defense and took a bounce in the box that seemed to take goalkeeper Ford Parker by surprise as it bounced past him for the game's opening score. Four minutes later, Omaha would strike again. This time off a corner kick, they had a shot riccochet off the crossbar and eventually c

Tormenta's W-League season starts really soon. Well that got here quick. The Tormenta USLW team starts training this week and while there are still signings to announce according to Head Coach Jim Robbins, there have already been several members of the team named so far.. Practice started Wednesday and there's not a lot of time between then and the first game, which will be just two weeks when they travel to face the Fayetteville Fury. From there it's a sprint as the team will have 12 games in six weeks as they try to reclaim the title they won in 2022.  I may have missed some signings, but I tried to update this as they came in to provide a bit of background on the players announced so far. I can't stress enough how enjoyable the games are and if you have the chance to go, you absolutely should make it to a game and see for yourself.  The first home game for Tormenta will be Sunday, May 26 when they host the NC Courage U23 team at 6 p.m. (Programming note: I'm goin

Photo Courtesy: Tormenta FC Sebastian Vivas celebrates after scoring goal against Charlotte this past Saturday. We're going to get to Omaha. I promise. But before we look forward to Saturday night's matchup, we need to look back. And not looking back at Charlotte and the Jagermeister Cup game this past Saturday. We need to go back almost two weeks to Tormenta's 3-0 home loss to Greenville. It goes without saying that Tormenta's performance that night was not great. You don't lose 3-0 if you played really well for 90 minutes. There were stretches they played well, but then there were more stretches when they didn't and the end result is what it is.  Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron was quite frustrated after the match. Some quick context for you. Usually after the game the team huddles for a quick debrief and the players and coaches walk over and give high fives or take photos or sign autographs for the fans before either going to the locker room or coming to talk to