Tormenta falls to Madison before stunning Miami

A 2-1-0 road trip for Tormenta

After their win agains Union Omaha last weekend, Tormenta would play 2 more games this week on the road against Forward Madison FC in league play before heading to Miami for the final match of USL Cup group stage.

Madison would begin the game with possession to start the game to include an early chance in the 9th minute that would go just wide of goal during a pressured header. Not to be out-done, Tormenta would get an early chance of their own 2 minutes later when Bazini would attempt to continue his roll on a shot that would hit the cross bar before being booted out by Madison. The build up from Tormenta on this would look good, even Bazini would make a nice move to create space before his shot. However, a bad pass in the 28th minute would end up costly for Tormenta as Gebhart would intercept the pass before laying it off for Lucca Dourado to put it just out of reach of Sam Jones’ hands. Tormenta would come close in the 5th minute of stoppage for the first half but a nice stop on a shot from Jimenez would be all she wrote in the first half. Tormenta would control most of the second half with Jimenez and Bazini coming up just short as Madison would hold on to a 1-0 win.

This was a game that Tormenta did so much right that 1 little miscue would cost them on a game where the opposition did not get many chances. Tormenta controlled possession for 62% of the game while having 87% pass accuracy and taking 11 shots with 3 on goal. Sometimes, though, you just come up unlucky in these kinds of games. This was another strong performance from Tormenta showing some second half life that could be key during the stretch.

In the final match of group stages for the USL Jagermiester Cup, Tormenta would go to sunny Miami to take on Miami FC of the USL Championship. Miami is currently sitting just outside of the playoffs in 9th place in the and they are having an ok season. Miami would try to score early in this one as a shot by Blanco would just go over the top of the net where Sam Jones would just get to it. Jonathan Nyandjo would get a great feed from Vivas but his shot would find the chest of Miami’s goalie. In the 41st minute, Miami would get on the board off a corner kick that Kevin Hoyos would just head home. In stoppage time, again Tormenta would get close to scoring when a set piece from Turnbridge would just find the hands of Miami’s goalie and he would push it just wide as the half came to an end.

However, Tormenta would show that hunger and determination that got them into penalties against Charleston last month during their Cup draw. Mason Turnbridge would find the back of the net in the 54th minute from a very sharp angle to tie it up, even showing off some great footwork to get past his man. Vivas would find a loose ball in the top of the box in the 59th minute and would try to drive it home just to have Miami’s goalie make a good save on this shot. Not even a minute later, a shot by Nyandjo would ricochet off the goalie and right to Connor Doyle, who would bury it. Nyandjo came up just short in the 71st minute when a shot would hit the post and roll across the front of the net untouched. Tormenta again controlled the second half of this one as they would hold one to win 2-1 over Miami. Unfortunately for Tormenta, it would not be enough as Greenville Triumph would end up winning the group and Tormenta would finish tied at 7 points with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Tormenta, since that 3-0 loss to Knoxville back on 21 June, has gone 2-2-1 in league play while losing in penalties to Charleston (remember they were down 3-1 with less than 10 minutes left to play to tie it) and then winning against Miami in Cup play. Tormenta has been playing a lot better since that game and will look to continue this trend when they face Greenville at home on August 2nd. This is sure to be a tightly contested match-up as Tormenta will look to get within striking position of playoffs. Until next time, Vamos Tormenta.