The Week (and a little more) that Was

Photo Credit: Tormenta FC

I tried to unplug as much as I could last week while I was away, but it's a poster's life for me so I was still on Bluesky far more than I should have been while on vacation. Nevertheless, we're back now. (At least briefly, I've got one more excursion coming up over the July 4th weekend but then we should be back to normal around here.)

Let's go and hit the highlights of the week that was for Tormenta.

Way back on June 21, the League One guys traveled to Knoxville and came away with a 3-0 loss, extending their winless streak to six games in all competitions. Frankly, the less said about this game, the better as it was typical of what we'd seen from Tormenta up until that point. They dominated possession (65/35), outshot Knoxville (12/10) and were still shut out in the loss. It was not a fun game to watch.

Meanwhile, in better news Flavie Dube's hat trick led the W-League team to an 8-0 win over Wake FC on June 21. It was the sixth hat trick in Tormenta (League One or W-League) history with Azaad Liadi and Kazaiah Sterling pulling it off for the League One side and Amy Andrews, Carlyn Presley and Courtney Chochol recording a hat trick for the W-League. Presley and Chochol's hat tricks both came in the final game of the 2024 campaign.

On Wednesday both teams were back in action with the League One side squaring off against Naples in a game that saw the heat index well over 100 for most of the match. I've sat through some brutal weather for Tormenta games, but I was glad to miss that one as that heat is just brutal and draining. The fine folks over at The USL Show didn't give Tormenta much of a chance in this one (go to the 38:50 mark if it doesn't automatically take you there) but if we knew what would happen when the game started, no one would watch. Tormenta went down early and goalkeeper Austin Pack could have been sent off as he didn't make much of an effort to play the ball on his foul, but he was given a yellow card and Naples converted the penalty to go up 1-0. Tormenta would battle back with Jonathan Nyandjo and Taylor Gray executing a nice give-and-go in the box. Nyandjo's shot deflected off of former Tormenta great Jake Dengler and is officially credited as an own goal, but Nyandjo deserves all the credit. In the 81st minute, Niall Reid-Stephen would bury a shot to put Tormenta ahead 2-1 to give Tormenta their first win in League One action since April 12 against Portland.

Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, the W-League Team was back in action with Constance Agyemang scoring two goals in a 4-1 win over Wake FC. Agyemang tallied six goals on the year and would have been more had it not been for an injury midway through the season. Mad'y Soumare and Lina Jamie each added a goal for Tormenta in this one.

Finally we head to the weekend where in one of the more exciting matches Tormenta has played this season, they rallied from down two goals with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation to score twice against USL Championship side Charleston Battery in Jagermeister Cup action to tie the game at 3-3. While Tormenta would fall in penalties (5-4) and fail to claim the extra point, Manager Ian Cameron and the team seemed to think they may have finally turned the corner and are able to compete and play the way they say they're capable of.

After falling behind 1-0 in this one, Gabriel Cabral buried a free kick from more than 30 yards out into the top left corner of the goal to equalize just before halftime.

South Georgia would give up two goals in the second half, but Sebastian Vivas would head home one and then Reid-Stephen scored in stoppage time to bring Tormenta all the way back. Unfortunately for the home side, Gabriel Alves couldn't convert the fifth penalty kick after Charleston had made theirs and Tormenta fell 5-4.

Tormenta outshot Charleston 21-6 on the night and Cameron, Cabral and Aaron Walker all said the game showed the potential and the upside the team has. Now they have to build off that and not take any steps backwards. 

Finally, on Sunday night, the W-League team's finale was called off due to weather in the Charlotte area, ending the Tormenta season with a record of 6-4-1 on the season. Not the season they'd hoped for, but Manager Kian Brownlee didn't take over for Tormenta until March and that is late to have to start recruiting players. He told me a few weeks ago that he would like to start the process of building next year's W-League roster in August. 

I think that gets us all caught up on everything. The goal is to have another post either Thursday or Friday and when I get back into town next week, we'll try to get a more regular posting schedule here.