Triumph Triumphs over Tormenta

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC
The Unified Series team Saturday night in Greenville.

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season Saturday night in Greenville as Tormenta fell 5-1 to the Triumph, finishing the year at 10th place and on the outside looking in at the playoffs for a second straight season.

Lyam MacKinnon scored two more goals against Tormenta, bringing his total to seven in the four matches between the two if you include Jagermeister Cup games. The man is a menace and I hearby call on the Mayor and City Council of Statesboro to ban him from the city limits. Ok, that's a bit harsh for a guy who is just very good at his job. He scored in the 12th minute on an assist from Leo Castro and then converted a penalty kick in the 29th minute after drawing a foul. (I like when the person fouled in the box is the one to take the penalty and if I could make soccer worse by changing one rule, it would be that the person who is fouled in the penalty area has to be the one to take the penalty kick.)

MacKinnon ended up winning the Golden Boot with 16 goals for the year, one more than Juan Carlos Obregon Jr.'s 15. 

Greenville would add two more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to effectively put the game away. Tormenta would fight back however, getting a goal by Curtis Thorn in the 59th minute and then appearing to score a second one when Mason Tunbridge found the back of the net in the 71st minute, but Gabriel Rodriguez was ruled offside and the goal disallowed. 

The Triumph would add one more in the 88th minute for good measure, securing the fourth spot in the playoff field and guaranteeing themselves at least one home playoff game and, more importantly, securing the Peach States Derby trophy. 

There are some games where the stats don't tell the whole story. This is not one of those games. While possession was essentially equal (50.6% for Greenville), the Triumph clearly did more with their time on the ball. They outshot Tormenta 22-6 and 11-1 in shots on goal. That's, ummm... that's a lot of shots.

The loss wraps up Tormenta's season at 4-10-8. The eight draws were tied for second most in the league behind only Madison's nine draws (Knoxville also had eight), but the four wins were the lowest total in League One. Their goal differential of negative nine clearly isn't great, but two teams in the playoffs (Spokane and Richmond) also had identical goal differentials. It was just one of those years where things never quite clicked and the breaks didn't go Tormenta's way. That's sports sometimes. 

Following the USL League One Match, the Tormenta Unified Series team faced off against Greenville's team. Without hesitation, I can tell you the best night of the year, for me, at Tormenta Stadium was watching the Unified Series team play. Getting to share that experience with my oldest was a night I'll treasure.

While the outcome on the field isn't what I'd hoped for, I have a hard time complaining about this season. Every game I went to either my dad or my oldest was there with me. Usually it was both. Three generations of us getting together 15 nights or so to watch Tormenta is something I'll certainly take away from this season. A bad night at the soccer stadium is better than a good night in a lot of other places. My dad already has his season tickets for next year and we'll be ordering my son's tickets soon. And unless my media credentials get revoked, I'll be back at it next year to do it all again

Finally, a thank you to each of you who took the time to read anything I wrote this season, whether it was here or at StatesboroHerald.com. I certainly appreciate each of you. We'll have some posts throughout the playoffs and periodically throughout the offseason. Until then, take care of yourselves and we'll see you around these parts again soon.