Storming in to the Queen City

Look, sometimes you get tired of looking for a photo
 and go with the ESPN graphic.

I trust we've all recovered from the Charleston game as Tormenta now turns its focus back to League One action this week. For those of you just joining us, Tormenta topped Portland 2-1 last Saturday in regular season action and fell to Charleston 4-0 in the third round of the US Open Cup on Tuesday.

So now we look ahead to Charlotte and the rare (for Tormenta) Sunday afternoon tilt up in North Carolina. Later on in this post we have another generous soul who gave us a look at Charlotte. This blogging thing is easy when other people do the writing. 

Manager Ian Cameron returned from his time at Wales working on his coaching license requirements to be on the sidelines for the Charleston match and should be on the sidelines against Charlotte.

Wingers Taylor Gray and Jonathan Nyandjo have missed time recently with injuries and while South Georgia put up two goals against Portland, they missed the duo against Charleston. The third winger in the trio, Niall Reid-Stephen, played 20 minutes against Portland and scored the game winning goal and also looked good against Charleston (in the parts I was able to watch) and drew a penalty kick during the match. Gray told me last week that he hoped to be ready to go against Charlotte, though how many minutes he'll see is obviously to be determined. 

(I can't speak for other teams, but it's cool when Tormenta players who aren't suiting up sit in the stands with the fans for the game. Gray came by and sat behind me for the second half of the Portland game. I asked him a few questions about his health and his thoughts on the first half, but mostly left him alone as he had two other people he was watching with. He did say Pack's penalty save was the most impressive penalty save he's ever seen.)

Defensively, Tormenta will be without center back Anatolie Prepolita who will be serving a suspension following his two yellow cards against Portland. Jackson "Simba" Kasanzu was hurt in the Portland match and was on crutches following the game. Unfortunately, my day job has kept me from being able to get out to practice to see how he's doing. Forced to guess, I'd say... wait a minute, I'm not forced to guess. I can just say "I don't know" and go from there. But if I had to guess, assuming Kasanzu is out, we'd see some combination of Thabo Nare, Callum Stretch, Gabriel Alves and Oscar Jiminez in the back with Joseph Perez on the bench. 

Despite the fact that it goes without saying, I'm going make the bold claim that missing your two starting center backs is, in fact, bad and should be avoided whenever possible. Be sure to come back next week for my hot take on if scoring goals is a good strategy.

As I mentioned, we have a Charlotte expect here to break down the Independence leading up to this weekend's match. @LvlUpLuke is the co-host of the Queen City Soccer podcast covering the soccer scene in Cincinnati, errr... Seattle. No? Ummm, Clarksville, Tennessee? Look, Wikipedia tells me there's more than three dozen cities in the United States alone claiming that moniker (including Spearfish, South Dakota, population 12,193) so I'm just saying there may be some confusion when it comes to calling yourself the Queen City. The Queen City Soccer podcast does, in fact, cover Charlotte soccer and he's offered to help me out here. Give him a follow on BlueSky and check out his podcast.

A preview of Charlotte Independence in two paragraphs? Hmm, where to start...

Well, as you know, in the offseason Charlotte lost the 2023 USL1 Goalkeeper of the Year, Austin Pack, to you lot in South Georgia. Congrats, I guess. We're definitely not mad about it.

Thankfully, his understudy Matt Levy has stepped up to the line like John Abraham! There you go, that's my one contractually obligated Falcons reference as a sign of good faith.

With Levy in goal, Independence has conceded just two goals in four USL1 games to date. With two Clean Sheets already, Levy is showing that his successful, although brief, 2024 time covering for Pack (0 GC in 129 mins played) was not a fluke.

Meanwhile, in the US Open Cup, Charlotte allowed five goals in two matches without Levy between the sticks. Independence crashed out of the USOC against NCFC on Tuesday night with their backup keeper conceding three goals in six minutes, late in the contest.

What impact will a blown lead in a 2023 USL1 National Championship rematch Dogwood Derby have on their upcoming match? Speaking to a few players after the game, I was told that the passion was high and they simply ran out of gas. The outfield lineup was mostly unchanged from the league match four days prior (1-1 home draw v Forward Madison), so there may be some residual fatigue on short rest for Coach Mike Jefferies' starters. Whichever side can power through their respective Cup letdown and last the 90 will likely be your winner. Hot take, right?

The biggest struggle for Independence in this early season has been offense. In the offseason, Charlotte lost over half of its 2024 G+A from USL1 Golden Boot runner-up Juan Carlos Obregón Jr, Joel Johnson (both to Westchester), and club legend Gabriel Obertan (now Assistant Coach).

Your Player to Watch Out For (PWOF? Is that a thing? No, it sounds terrible. Whoever thought of that should stick to something lowbrow, like podcasting) is the returning creative threat, Luis Álvarez. He has stepped up big time in 2025, opening his campaign with two goals and an assist. He will be a key factor in any meaningful possession in the attacking third. Bonus fact: Álvarez been carded in four of six total matches this season 👀

Anyway, if we're doing blazing 4/20 match predictions then assuming either team can light up at all, I got Charlotte rolling this one up 2-0 and hotboxing with the Meck Reserves in the tailgate lot. For legal reasons, that is a joke and is not intended as medical advice. Cheers and #UpTheJacks!

I'm @LvlUp_Luke, Co-host of the Queen City Soccer Show (@QCSpod)

Find us wherever mid podcasts are sold and sorry about the wordcount.

Look, I'm never going to complain about a wordcount when someone is wanting to write and share their knowledge about their team. 

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on Easter Sunday and can be streamed on ESPN+. Plenty of time for you to wake up from your big Easter lunch to also get a nap before the game starts. 

News and Notes:

I don't usually do this, but I had a couple of posts I wrote that I liked this week. This one, on my friend who knew next to nothing about soccer attending last week's game with me. And then this one on the 60 seconds that all but ended Tormenta's Open Cup run.

Goalkeeper Austin Pack was named to the USL League One Team of the Week.

Joshua Duder over at Protagonist Soccer had a good look at the early season success of Naples. 

Alex Ashton over at Southeast Soccer Report has a look at Knoxville's quest to set the USL League One attendance record. (Longtime readers know I had my own suggestion, but it appears it has not been acted upon)

Also at Southeast Soccer Report, Ryan Altenbach recapped the Charleston/Tormenta game. 

And here's Forrest Wimberly's recap of the Charleston/Tormenta game.

Former Tormenta (and apparently not retired) goalkeeper Ford Parker signed with New Mexico.

Always read John Morrissey for tactical breakdowns and other news. And here's Morrissey with his recap of Round Three of the Open Cup, with a bonus history lesson on the Dogwood tree in Japan that you didn't know you needed. 

Portland unveiled Moxie the Moose as their mascot, but you can't tell me that's not the Seattle Mariner's Mariner Moose in a Portland jersey. 

Have a good weekend and enjoy the game.