Two for the Show

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC

So it's been a little while since I've gotten to write here. The W-League season is a sprint and when Tormenta had like five home games in 16 days, well, I was just trying to keep my head above water in addition to my day job. Add in a couple of League One games and it was a lot. All of those stories from the W-League home games can be found at StatesboroHerald.com, but if I could sum them up, Tormenta created a lot of chances, didn't capitalize enough of them and other than the home game with the Carolina Ascent, they didn't do enough and didn't come out on top.

Currently the W-League team sits at 4-4-1 (13 points)on the year. The four losses are the most the team has had in a season in its four year existence and nearly matches the total they had over the three years combined. That's not a knock on this year's squad, which has some talented players and play an entertaining style of soccer, but more of a commentary on just how good the program was in its first three years under then head coach Jim Robbins who now is the head coach for the Virginia Military Institute women's program. Robbins was 22-5-9 in his three regular seasons here and won the 2022 title.  

The W-League squad, thankfully for everyone involved, has more than a week off now. Their game last Wednesday was postponed to Thursday due to weather (they fell 2-0 to NC Courage) and they don't play again until this Saturday. Manager Kian Brownlee gave the team three days off to recover and just rest. He said the full week of training this week will give the staff a chance to look at some players who haven't played as much just due to the schedule that gave enough time to recover and do match prep work but not a lot else over a three week stretch. 

Technically the W-League team is still alive for a playoff spot, but it would likely require the North Carolina Courage squad (7-0-0, 21 points as of Monday afternoon) to all suddenly get really into to photography or surfing or something and just quit the league. Otherwise, they look like they'll cruise to the playoffs as champions of the South Atlantic Division to defend their title. 

Tormenta return to action on Saturday when they host Wake FC in the final home game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

League One guys draw with Texoma

The League One guys, meanwhile, snapped their four game losing streak with a 2-2 draw at Texoma on Saturday night.

Among the good takeaways from that game is the fact Tormenta scored first and scored multiple goals. This is the first time since April 26's Jagermeister Cup win over Greenville that Tormenta scored multiple goals in a game, a span of five games. Gabriel Alves opened the scoring and had an assist on Tormenta's second goal in which he played a perfect ball to Aaron Walker. I don't know if I've written it before and if I haven't, that's my fault, but Alves plays a pretty ball from his outside back spot. 

Stop me if you've heard this before, but Tormenta dominated the stat line again, with 58 percent possession, outshooting Texoma 12-6 (4-2 in shots on target), won 60 percent of the duels, attempted 24 crosses to Texoma's seven and the list goes on and on. But, alas, they didn't prevail in goals scored.

Now for the bad takeaways. Despite all the statistical advantages, Tormenta twice took the lead and then twice gave up goals to Texoma. The first goal was the result of a mis-hit from Tormenta's Alon Drey in the box. The deflection fell right to William Perkins who found the open net to tie the score at one.

Texoma's second goal by Luke McCormick was set up by former Tormenta player Ajmeer Spengler's assist. He found a seam in the Tormenta back line and set up McCormick who left South Georgia goalkeeper Austin Pack with no chance as he tied the game at 2-2 just before halftime. In general, I'm in favor of people named Luke doing well, but I was willing to make an exception this past weekend. 

Neither team was able to break the deadlock in the second half as the draw stopped Texoma's three game winning streak.

Somehow this is only South Georgia's second draw on the season, tied with Omaha for the fewest in the league. I have no idea if that means anything. Last year Central Valley and Chattanooga both had three draws as the fewest in the league and they were at the bottom of the table. But Omaha also only had three draws and they were the best team in the league. Forced to guess, I'd say it's just statistical noise, but I'll hope the guys over at League One on the Rocks do a deep dive into what, if anything, a low number of draws means on the season. 

Prior to the game, Tormenta announced the signing of defender Makel Rasheed, who subbed into the game in the 63rd minute, playing center back. Rasheed will add some depth defensively as Anatolie Prepolita is out for the year with a knee injury. Callum Stretch has been the swing man, playing both in the middle and outside as needed. 

Tormenta travels to Knoxville on Saturday to play, assuming Knoxville's goal has been fixed. The good folks at RiverCity93 have confirmation that the broken goal, not the weather, is why the Knoxville/Richmond game was postponed.  Goalkeeper Austin Pack has the chance to do the funniest thing on Saturday.

Kickoff for that game is set for 7 p.m. so you can toggle back and forth between that game and the W-League match.

Programing Note: My hope is to have something here Friday before the weekend games. 

Saturday I leave for a week at the beach with my family. The last two years we've been we've seen a car with a Charlotte Independence decal on it at the place we stay, but I've yet to run in to those people while there and apparently it's weird to just stalk out a car in the hopes that they want to talk USL League One soccer so I haven't met them yet. Maybe this is the year. 

Anyway, as much as I enjoy running this blog, I enjoy sitting on a beach or by a pool with a drink in my hand a whole lot more. I'll still probably post on Bluesky I can't quit this posting life and I'll never log off, but the actual blog posts here will be minimal. I'm working on trying to get a guest post or two while I'm away, but that will depend on the kindness of strangers (or at least internet acquaintances).