Parker's heroics save Tormenta

I don't know how anyone plays goalkeeper.

Scratch that.

I don't know why anyone plays goalkeeper.

Presumably you've all watched soccer before. You've seen how fast and strong these guys are. And you've seen how hard the fire shots off, even under pressure. We're talking, what, somewhere between 40 to 60 miles per hour on shots, if the internet is to be believed. 

And yet, there are people who willingly fling their bodies around with reckless abandon and willingly put their bodies in front of shots from all angles. What would possess someone to do that?

On Saturday night in Spokane, Tormenta was glad that, whatever the motivation, Ford Parker made that choice as he (along with the help of his defense) made some tremendous early saves to keep the Velocity* off the board as Spokane and South Georgia played to a 0-0 draw in the conclusion of the two teams' meetings this year.

Early on, Tormenta was under tremendous pressure from Spokane, almost from the opening kick. Four and a half minutes in, Parker had to punch away a blast from the Velocity's Andre Lewis. Ninety seconds later, Parker found himself in some trouble of his own making as he took a split second too long to clear the ball and a Spokane player was able to steal it, immediately playing it back to an open player. Central defender Jake Dengler, however, was quick to react and a sliding tackle lodged the ball loose into the hands of Parker to escape the second major threat in the first six minutes of the game.

Less than three minutes after that, Azriel Gonzalez found himself open streaking down the left side. Going one-on-one with Parker, Gonzalez pushed his shot wide right as Parker had come out to severely cut down on the shooting angle available to him.

In the 17th minute, Spokane had another excellent opportunity as they were quick on the counter attack where Josh Dolling's cross from the right found the head of Ismalia Jome, but he was unable to put it on target and his header sailed wide left.

Fast forwarding to the 35th minute, the Velocity again had a chance on a counter attack as this time Lewis was sprinting down the left side. He eluded a sliding tackle from Dengler, but by then Parker had again come out to close the angle down and Lewis's shot hit off Parker and Dengler was able to control the loose ball and carry it out of danger.

Tormenta's best chance of the half would come just a minute later as Pedro Fonseca found himself at the corner of the 18 on the left, cut towards the middle and then blasted a shot back towards the left that Velocity goalkeeper Brooks Thompson was able to save.

Spokane nearly found a goal on a 40th minute corner kick, but Marcelo Lage's header drifted over Parker's outstretched hand and onto the top of the net for a goal kick. 

Eight minutes into the second half, tempers flared during a corner kick and when the dust settled, Spokane's Ahmed Longmire was shown a straight red card for violent conduct, giving Tormenta a man advantage for the final 35 minutes of the game. 

Following the Longmire dismissal, Tormenta, as you might expect, started attacking more frequently. A Callum Stretch cross in the 63rd minute was just ever so slightly too high for Sebastian Vivas, who was open at the far post, but he couldn't do any more than get a head on it and deflect it out.

A minute later, Jackson Khoury had himself a go from 25 yards out, forcing Thompson to make a save.

Minutes in to stoppage time, with Tormenta still searching for a winner, Preston Kilwien got free on a corner kick, but his header was just over the crossbar as the game would end 0-0.

As would be expected playing with a man advantage for much of the second half, Tormenta had the decided possession advantage, keeping the ball for 56 percent of the game. They outshot Spokane 15-8, including 4-2 in shots on target. 

For his efforts, Parker was voted as player of the game.

With their third consecutive draw, South Georgia remains in the final playoff spot with 18 points through 17 games. However, Richmond closed the gap with a 1-0 win over Charlotte Saturday, moving them up to 16 points, tied with Chattanooga and just two points behind Tormenta. 

South Georgia will be back in action at Tormenta Stadium on Saturday when they host the aforementioned Charlotte Independence. We'll take a look at that game on Friday.

*Saying "the Velocity" doesn't sound right. Neither does just saying "Velocity." And I was not about to write Spokane every time I referred to the team. Apologies to Spokane if I got it wrong throughout.