Don't Call It a Cupset

Photo Courtesy Tormenta FC
Tormenta Defender Preston Kilwien during Wednesday night's game.

Well that was fun.

Tormenta advanced to the round of 32 in the US Open Cup last night with a 4-2 win over Miami FC down in south Florida as they overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit with three unanswered goals in the second half to be one of three USL League One teams on to the final 32.

Tormenta is now 4-0 in their professional history against USL Championship teams in the Open Cup, defeating Charleston and Birmingham in 2022 and Rio Grande Valley in 2023. You can add Miami FC to the list of USL Championship teams Tormenta has defeated in tournament.

As I'd mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't able to catch most of the first half as my son's soccer team played in the first round of the state playoffs (Congrats to Chamblee on the win over Statesboro). I was finishing up my article on the Statesboro game in the car while waiting for the team to be dismissed when Jake Dengler put Tormenta ahead 1-0 on a header. I was standing in line at Cookout waiting to pick up dinner when Miami FC tied it up.

I got home just in time to see the Miami FC goal keeper get a red card following a collision with Tormenta's Gabriel Rodriguez (seriously, it took forever at Cookout, we don't live that far from there) and then saw Miami take a lead late in the first half to send Tormenta to the locker room down 2-1 at the half.

I can pretty much only go by what the announcers said about the first half, but according to them, Tormenta was outhustled and outworked in the first half. I can't say if that's true, but that was the impression the broadcasters had of the first half. Like I said, I saw maybe 10 minutes of the first half.

The second half, however, was completely dominated by Tormenta. Playing with a man advantage, they were able to maintain possession for large stretches. More importantly, they were able to continue pressing their advantage to create opportunities going forward and had Miami on their heels for much of the half as it looked like Miami's only plan was to sit back, hope to hold their lead and maybe spring a counterattack if the chance was there.

In the 69th minute, Conor Doyle found the equalizer on a shot that deflected off a Miami player and into the goal.

Callum Stretch would get his first professional goal in the 88th minute following a reset off a corner kick. Mason Tunbridge's cross to the back post was headed back across goal and Stretch was able to get the ball across the goalline to put Tormenta ahead 3-2.

Sebastian Vivas would ice the game moments later as Miami pressed forward and he was able to score a relatively easy one to put the game away for Tormenta.

South Georgia joins Charlotte and Omaha as USL League One teams who advanced to the fourth round. Both Charlotte and Omaha advanced after winning penalty kick shootouts after their games were tied at the end of regulation and extra time.

The draw for the round of 32 will be this afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern with the games scheduled for May 7th and 8th. 

Meanwhile, Tormenta returns to League One action on Sunday as they face Greenville at 7 p.m. at Tormenta Stadium.