Three (games) is the magic number

Tormenta's W-League team will be looking
for their third consecutive win on Saturday.

So it's another busy weekend in Tormenta World with the USLW team playing in North Carolina while the League One squad faces Greenville. We also have the Unified Team in action as they're going to play Sunday night following the game against Greenville. (The academy team plays too this weekend, but there are only so many hours in the day and as much as I'd like to, I can't add coverage of them to my plate, sorry.) There's a lot to get to, so let's dive in.

Tormenta USLW

The women play on Saturday, so let's start with them. They'll face Carolina Ascent FC again, a team they defeated this past weekend 3-2 at Tormenta Stadium. Currently Tormenta sits in fifth place in the South Atlanta Division with 10 points (2.0 points per match). But let me tell you, the South Atlantic Division appears to be the toughest division in all of USLW. 

Not all divisions have the same number of teams as some have as few as five while the South Atlantic Division and a few others have eight, but of the 12 divisions within the league, only the South Atlantic has more than half of the teams averaging 2.0 points per match or more, as NC Courage U23 (2.5), Carolina Ascent FC (2.0), NC Fusion (2.0), Wake FC (2.0) and Tormenta (2.0) all clear that bar (as of Thursday morning). 

The Great Lakes and Heartland divisions both have three out of seven teams at 2.0 PPM or higher, but for now, the South Atlantic can be said to have the toughest set of teams in the league.

Following their initial shutout of the Fayetteville Fury, Tormenta has not been able to get a clean sheet, giving up eight goals in four games, including four in their only loss of the year to the NC Courage. However, despite giving up two to Carolina Ascent, South Georgia Head Coach Jim Robbins felt his team had the capability to shut them out in their rematch on Saturday.

"I honestly think we can shut them out so I think that's going to be our goal and our mindset going into next week's game," he said following their win this past Sunday. "Can we defend a little bit better, a little bit cleaner so that we don't really give them any looks at goal? I think we'll get ours, but it's just a question of minimizing theirs."

Offensively, Tormenta has been led by Elis Nemtsov's three goals, while Alice Bussey, Momo Nakao, Courtney Chochol, each have two goals. Eight different players have scored for Tormenta so far this season in a diverse attack that Robbins said creates problems for opponents as they aren't able to key on just one player. I'm not sure anyone, including Briana Eads herself, expected for the defender to be one of the scorers for Tormenta, but she managed to score from beyond midfield on Sunday. 

Carolina rebounded from their loss on Sunday with a 7-0 win over Fayetteville on Wednesday. Poor Fayetteville sits at the bottom of the standings and have yet to score a goal in their seven games this season. 

Tormenta has already played the NC Courage twice, and Sunday will be their second against the Ascent. I don't know why, but Tormenta only plays NC Fusion and Wake FC once, while they have three remaining games against the bottom two teams in the league. They have two games against the Charlotte Eagles and their -12 goal differential in their six games and a season ending game against Fayetteville and their -26 goal differential. While no game should ever be assumed to be a win, based on what we know so far, the odds seem to be in Tormenta's favor for those three, so their remaining four games against the rest of the division will go a long way to determining if there's another title run in Tormenta's future. 

Kickoff for Tormenta and Carolina is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. If my wife is willing to drive home from our quick trip up to Charleston on Saturday, I'm hoping to be able to watch. Either way, we'll have a recap Monday right here.

Tormenta USL League One

The League One team, meanwhile, plays on Sunday night as they will meet up with Greenville Triumph for the third time this season, with Greenville having won the first two, a 3-0 victory in April and then a 3-2 win in May.

Tormenta will look to turn the tables on Greenville and, in doing so, get their first win the Jägermeister Cup play this season. A win would go a long way to getting Tormenta back in contention in the Group 1 standings. Currently Greenville leads with six points, Richmond (5) and Charlotte (3) are all ahead of Tormenta and their one point. 

Greenville's Lyam MacKinnon leads the team with seven goals across regular season and Cup play in 2024, including a brace against Tormenta on April 21 and another on May 11 in Greenville.

South Georgia has had a rough go of it since their 3-0 win against Lexington back on April 6. Since that time they've won just once (a 4-0 win over Chattanooga) while losing four times and drawing twice (both against Charlotte.)

Greenville, meanwhile, in addition to sitting on the top of Group 1 in Jagermeister Cup play, is currently second in USL League One standings, currently tied with Omaha, though the Owls have played two fewer games. Since their last meeting with Tormenta, Greenville has struggled offensively, scoring just two goals in three games. They managed to go 1-1-1 in those three, including a draw in Cup play that saw them earn the extra point with a 5-4 penalty shootout win. 

Offensively, Tormenta has been led by Sebastian Vivas' six goals across League and Cup play. Niall Watson has added three goals for Tormenta, all in League play. Tormenta has scored 19 goals in Cup and League play combined.

Sunday's match is the last home one for Tormenta until they return home on July 5 for a matchup with Knoxville. That Knoxville match is the only home game in July for Tormenta, who will have six of their next seven games on the road following the Greenville game. There will be two trips to Fresno as well as a trip to Madison among those games away from the familiar confines of Tormenta Stadium. The Madison game is on ESPN2, but we'll get to that next week.

For now, Tormenta needs to find a way to right the ship if they want to get back into the hunt for the Jägermeister Cup knockout rounds. A loss in regulation to Greenville would put the Triumph up to nine points and leave Tormenta at just one and while not insurmountable, that would be a very, very tough mountain to climb with only four games remaining in group play. 

If you're a Tormenta fan (and presumably most of you are if you're reading this), it feels like the ideal outcomes this weekend for Group 1 would be a Tormenta win in regulation and Charlotte and Richmond tying with Charlotte winning on penalties. 

Kickoff is set for 7:30 at Tormenta Stadium. Come on out and let's have a good time at the stadium.

Tormenta Unified Team

Immediately following the League One match, Tormenta's Unified Team will make its debut as it will face the Unified Team from Greenville in the first of two matches this season.

The Unified Team is composed of adults with cognitive of physical disabilities who will play with able-body players on the same team. Tormenta is partnering with EmployAbility for the team as EmployAbility is providing transportation to and from training sessions and the games themselves.

"It's a big honor for us to grow the club," said Co-Owner Darin Van Tassell to WJCL TV out of Savannah. "And this is that one missing piece, we think, to that large organization."

Alex Wagner is the Tormenta Unified Team head coach and is very excited for the team.

"One of the main goals as a club is to elevate the presence of soccer in all communities across South Georgia and the Lowcountry, so to have the opportunity to do so through our Unified Team is really special," Wagner said. 

The game will be only slightly different than the typical 11v11 match, with a smaller field and teams being 7v7. 

"Our Unified Team players have gone through all the steps that our other players have to get to this point," Wagner said. "From signing and media days to practice sessions. The players will be fully outfitted in match day kits and ready to battle against our opponents."

Wagner, who also serves as Tormenta's Director of Fan Engagement (as well as an assistant coach for the Statesboro High School boys' soccer team) said it was an honor to be the head coach for the Unified Team and the experience is something that he'll always remember.

"When you have the opportunity to work with such talented, fun-loving individuals, it makes each moment particularly exceptional," he said. "We began this team with a hope that we would positively impact the lives of our players, but what I can say now, for myself and the rest of our coaching staff, is that they have been the ones to have a positive impact on us."

The two teams will meet again in October in Greenville.