Stalemate in Madison and a programing note

Photo Credit: Conner Martin (Tormenta FC)

In front of a national television audience for the second time in the team's history, Tormenta and Madison played to a scoreless draw to end the Mingos' six game winning streak on ESPN2 Saturday afternoon. 

(If Tormenta is going to have a scoreless draw, can they at least do it in Spokane so I can use my "Scoreless Near Seattle" headline (Yes, I know Spokane isn't THAT close to Seattle.))

Madison dominated possession, controlling the ball for more than 60 percent of the match. But all that possession doesn't help a whole lot if you're not able to create chances and the Tormenta defense was able to limit Madison's opportunities. Forward Madison had just one shot (not on target) in the first half and ended the game with only one shot on target and that came very, very late in the match. 

Despite having less of the ball, Tormenta was able to create chances, getting six shots off in each half but obviously unable to find the final touch needed to break through the Madison defense. Tormenta's best chance came in the 18th minute when Mason Tunbridge found Pedro Fonseca running on to the ball at the top of the 18-yard box. Fonseca got behind the defense, but his shot to the left was saved by Bernd Schippman on a shot Fonseca would love to have back. 

Tormenta ended the day with just three shots on target as many of the shots they were able to get off ended up going high over the crossbar on the day. According to footystats.org, Tormenta won the expected goals battle 1.18-0.84, but games aren't played inside computers, they're played inside TV screens. 

The back line of Callum Stretch, Jake Dengler and Preston Kilwien were able to use their height advantage to limit the crosses coming in from Madison as the home side struggled to win ball in the air against Tormenta. 

The point they earned from the game keeps Tormenta in sixth place in the standings with 12 total, but Tormenta has now played 10 regular season games, the most in the league so far. Northern Colorado, in contrast, has only played five games. (How is that possible?) The good news for Tormenta is they are still one of just six teams with a positive goal differential (+2) and while they continue their Summer Road Trip this Saturday against Chattanooga, the team only plays on weekends (save for the Friday, July 5th game in Statesboro) for the rest of the season. They'll be playing on regular rest all season as well has having two bye weeks in September to keep them fresh going into the final month.

As mentioned, Tormenta will take on the Red Wolves Saturday in Tennessee. Chattanooga is currently 2-4-1 in regular season play, having lost on Friday to Charlotte 4-2 after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of that match. Kickoff for that one is set for 7:30. Good news, cord cutters, that game is available to stream on ESPN+. 

Also, a quick programing note. Starting Wednesday I'm off of my day job for at least 11 (and probably 12) days as I take some needed time off and we head to the beach for a week with my wife's college roommate and her family. It's an annual thing we've done for four years now and while if it were up to me we wouldn't go to the same place year after year for vacation, I'm not going to complain about a week at the beach even if I'd prefer we go to a different one each year.

Nevertheless, I'll be out for a bit. I will be at Wednesday's USLW match and should be able to write that up after the game and post it Thursday morning. As a mentioned last time, I am going to miss the USLW matchup between Tormenta and NC Fusion that could go a long way to determining if either makes the playoffs (though NC Fusion has a huge matchup with NC Courage to end the year that will also play a big factor.) That game is Sunday night and happens to be the first night at the beach, so we're not going to make it. 

While I'll also likely watch the League One matchup Saturday night with Chattanooga, I can't promise to get anything written about it. It probably depends on if I stay at home and watch or if I can convince some friends of mine who are not yet Tormenta fans to go out and watch the game with me somewhere. Finally, there's about a 95% chance I'm going to miss the following Saturday's game against Central Valley completely. If I do watch, I can tell you with absolute certainty that I will fall asleep on the couch watching it. I'll watch highlights the next day when I get home. 

However, I am currently planning to be at the regular season finale of the USLW season for Tormenta where, hopefully, a playoff spot will be on the line. Right now I'm scheduled to go back to work the next day (July 1), but it's looking more and more likely that I'll need that day to try to recover. Either way, I should be able to get you all a recap of the USLW game once all the playoff positioning is settled and we know if/when Tormenta will play again.

My plan is to write up some Power Rankings and schedule that to post in the early to middle part of next week just to have something go up here and who knows, if it rains and we're stuck inside at the beach, maybe I'll write some more. 

That's a lot to say that I'll be posting sporadically for the next two weeks. I'll be on Twitter more than I should be so you can always find me there. Stay safe everyone and we'll talk on here again soon.