On the Road Again

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC

It's been a while since Tormenta has had a regular season League One game. 

The last time the team played in the regular season, team co-owner and president Darin Van Tassell was a year younger.

The last time Tormenta played a regular season game a stamp only cost 73 cents.

The last time South Georgia took the field in a regular season game, Joe Biden was still president.

The last time.... you know what, this bit isn't all that funny. It will only be 26 days thanks to two bye weeks sandwiched around the final group stage of the Jagermeister Cup. I'll do better.

When Tormenta last left the field in a regular season game, they'd tied Northern Colorado 1-1 to remain in the final playoff spot. That's the only League One game the Hailstorm haven't won dating back to July 27. Despite the time off, Tormenta has managed to hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot as none of the teams chasing them took advantage of games in hand to overtake them.

South Georgia will return to action Saturday as they take their longest trip of the season out to Spokane for the first time in team history to take on a Velocity team that tied 3-3 in Statesboro back in August in the "Brunch in the Boro" game played on a Sunday morning due to inclement weather delaying the game from Saturday to Sunday.

Spokane, in its first season, has been on a nice little run recently, going 3-0-2 in their last five games to get 11 points in that stretch and put themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt. They currently sit in a 3-way tie with Northern Colorado and One Knox with 25 points through 15 games, trailing league-leading Charlotte by just four points.

Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron said the team is looking at the Spokane game Saturday and Charlotte next week as a two-game series (as they'll have another bye week for the Jagermeister Cup final following that). 

South Georgia will look to get their offense clicking as, outside of Spokane, they have struggled to score goals. As John Morrissey of @USLTactics wrote of Tormenta, "South Georgia can keep the ball, but using it is a problem." 

In his article, (which I strongly recommend you read for a breakdown of Tormenta's scoring struggles) he posits that Tormenta's struggles are a result, in part, of the team being too cautious and risk averse when in possession. He points to a league leading 86 percent pass completion percentage since August started (obviously good) but an average of only 5.1 vertical yards per pass (not so good.) 

This isn't news to Cameron and his staff. Following their game with One Knox earlier this month, Cameron said they need to put more pressure on goal, and everybody is involved in making that happen.

With only six games remaining in the regular season (I know, I can't believe it either), Cameron said it likely takes four wins to clinch a playoff spot.

"If you win four of six, you're probably in. If you don't, you don't," he said following their last regular season game against Northern Colorado. "Sometimes when you're in the middle of the season, it seems far away. But it's now or never," he said. 

That would put the target point total for the playoffs at 29 points, or about 1.31 points per game, which is pretty much in line with historical averages for League One. 

Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. (thank you Spokane for 6 p.m. local kickoffs, helping out us East coasters with small kids who probably couldn't make it to midnight to see the end of the game.)