Riders on the Storm

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC
Aaron Walker and Tormenta will face Northern Colorado
for the first time in 2024.

I have low-stakes hatred for Northern Colorado. 

When I was kicking around the idea of starting this blog and trying to come up with a name, I settled on StormWatch and was excited about getting started. But then I looked again and realized StormWatch wasn't going to be specific enough. Was Stormwatch a Tormenta blog or a Hailstorm blog? Or was it some weird collaboration where we'd cover both teams in an effort to capture the subset of people who were just fans of weather-related lower league soccer team names that also shared directional state names. 

Figuring there wasn't enough of an audience for that group of people, I settled on making it only a Tormenta blog. But to distinguish it, I needed something. Thus was born the 912 suffix on the title to represent the area code of South Georgia. All because they are the Hailstorm.

Clearly I don't let that mild annoyance affect my outlook. After all, this blog did name Hailstorm Manager Eamon Zayed the USL League One Most Handsome Manager title, so there's no real hard feelings towards our friends from Northern Colorado. (Pay no attention to where they were ranked for vacation destinations. 

Between the Jagermeister Cup and regular season, Tormenta has played 22 games so far and yet, somehow, they still have both of their games with the Hailstorm remaining. Saturday is in Statesboro and they'll head out to Colorado on October 5 to close out the season series. 

Speaking of the Cup and regular season, Northern Colorado has had an interesting season between the two competitions. In the regular season, they've managed a 5-4-3 (W-L-D) record despite averaging a little more than a goal a game (14 goals in 12 games.) They've given up 12 goals on the year in regular season play for a +2 goal differential. 

In the Jagermeister Cup, the Hailstorm have been an offensive juggernaut, averaging three goals a game as they have run away with the goals scored lead in Cup play with 21. The next closest team is Omaha with 13 goals through the seven games. Bruno Rendon has scored a third of those goals on his own. In Cup play, Rendon has nearly outscored Tormenta, who have eight goals combined in their seven Cup games. 

Unsurprisingly, Rendon leads the Hailstorm in regular season goals as well, with four of their 14 goals so far. (He's also got an interesting story of defecting from Cuba.)

Not bad for a guy who played outside back for the 2023 edition of the Hailstorm.

Either in Cup play or in regular season play, Northern Colorado's defense has been stellar, giving up just 22 goals in 19 combined games. Goalkeeper's for the Hailstorm have only had to make 25 saves through 19 games for the Hailstorm as Northern Colorado has only given up 53 shots through 19 games. Tormenta, meanwhile, has surrendered 103 shots through their 22 games. 

Since the calendar has changed to July, the Hailstorm are 3-3-1 in both regular season and and Jagermeister Cup games, but they come in on a two-game winning streak, defeating Richmond on August 3 and Spokane this past Tuesday by identical 3-1 scores.

Tormenta comes in to Saturday 1-2-3 since July, most recently drawing against Richmond on Saturday in Jagermeister Cup action before falling 6-5 in penalties. 

Kickoff is set for 7:30 at Tormenta Stadium and can be streamed on ESPN+. I'll have a recap of the game at Statesboroherald.com sometime Sunday.

News and Notes:

Saturday is Community Heroes Night at Tormenta Stadium.

Defender Jake Dengler was named to Round Seven Jagermeister Cup Team of the Week.

Tormenta brought is defender Curtis Thorn, reuniting him with the team where he played in League Two in 2019 and the League One squad from 2020-2022.

More former Tormenta W-League players signing pro contracts.