A shot at glory (part 1)
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We wish him well, this Tormentor of Tormenta. |
The "he" here is Lyam MacKinnon, who, if my math is correct, scored 15 goals against Tormenta in their four games last season. (He actually "only" scored seven goals across the regular season and Jagermeister Cup games). He's at Orange County SC now, far, far away from Statesboro. We at Stormwatch912 wish him the best in his future endeavors and the therapy sessions are helping as the nightmares we still suffer from his performances are less frequent.
It's Jagermeister Cup time again as Greenville (without MacKinnon) comes calling in the first of four Cup games before the knockout rounds. As you likely know, things are a little different this year for the Jagermeiser Cup. The USL Championship has joined in the fun this year, as the 24 teams from that league join USL League One, with the teams being split into six groups.
The six group winners and two wild card teams go on to the knockout stage. It took some digging and asking around as they didn't make it easy to find how the Wild Cards are determined, but here's how I'm pretty sure it works. The top non-group winners who earn the most points advance to the knockout stage. If there is a tie among points for the top non-group winners, the first tiebreaker is goals scored.
As you would expect, Tormenta is in what is essentially the Southeast Group with the three Florida teams (Tampa Bay, Miami FC and FC Naples) and the two South Carolina teams (Charleston and Greenville). Because there are only four games in the group stage, Tormenta misses out on playing one of the teams in their group. In this case, we're missing out on a game with FC Naples, but don't worry, we'll see them twice in the regular season.
Last year's Jagermeister Cup and only be described as disastrous as South Georgia went winless in its eight Cup matches, losing in four of them and drawing in the other four. The did manage to get the extra point in two of the four draws, giving them six on the campaign, but it did not go well. The less said about it, the better.
This year's quest starts tomorrow with a Greenville side that has been inconsistent to start the year. Following a 1-1 draw with Westchester to open the year, they made a statement with a 3-0 win over Omaha. However, they followed that up by taking a thumping from Spokane, losing 4-0. Their last three games have seen them play three consecutive 1-0 games, with a win over Charlotte, but losses to Chattanooga and Knoxville.
Leo Castro leads Greenville with goals (three) and shots (10) on the year. And other than the Spokane debacle, the defense has been strong, surrendering only three goals in their other five matches in League One.
Tormenta, meanwhile, comes in with an identical 2-3-1 record but have gone about it in a different way. They are third in the league in scoring with 11 goals on the year, but have conceded a league worst 13 goals on the year. On the one hand, it's good that Austin Pack is second in the league with 16 saves. On the other hand, being forced to stop that many shots is a sign that the defense is surrendering a lot of shots on goal.
Mason Tunbridge leads Tormenta with five goals this season, which currently has him tied for the league lead at this point in the year.
As mentioned, Greenville is the only USL League One team Tormenta will play in the Jagermeister Cup group stage, while Greenville will play both Tormenta and FC Naples. Naples also only plays one League One team in group play and, like South Georgia, will face the three USL Championship teams in the group.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 and can be streamed on ESPN+. I'll have a full recap online at StatesboroHerald.com on Sunday.
Sorry for the lack of news and notes. It's been a week, my friends, and I was happy to get this post together.
One last thing. I was on the excellent One League Under the C podcast talking all things Tormenta this week. Check it out, or at least click it and let let play in the background to give them the old #Stormwatch912 Bump.
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