On Saturday night, in front of 2,075 screaming fans at Eagle Field, Tormenta FC turned in the best performance of its young existence.
Unfortunately, the scoreboard counts more than the performance, and Tormenta suffered a tough-luck 1-0 loss at the hands of SC United Bantams.
“I thought there were periods where we dominated the play for an extended amount of time,” Tormenta coach Ben Freakley said. “In games like this, the longer you let a team hang around, the more likely it is that they’ll eventually hurt you. That’s what happened tonight.”
Much like Tormenta’s loss to Peachtree City a week ago, Saturday’s setback saw the game leaning towards a 0-0 draw until the final moments. This time, it was a header by Matthew Castellan off an Andre Streete corner in the 79th minute that narrowly evaded the dive of Tormenta keeper Anton Widen and served as the game’s decisive moment.
Some doubt about the legitimacy of the goal arose as a handful of Tormenta players indicated that the ball hadn’t fully crossed the goal line, but what-ifs weren’t on Freakley’s mind following the game.
“To lose that way (is tough),” Freakley said. “I’d like to see the replay, but we’re not going to be a team that looks to that as an excuse. We should have done more to win.”
Aside from the Bantams’ late strike, Tormenta thoroughly controlled the game.
Battling through a hot and humid night, Tormenta seemed quite comfortable. Emphasis was put on being able to finish attacks during the week and Tormenta players on all levels of the field showed early aggressiveness that continually gave the forward line opportunities to put the ball on net.
Tormenta held a 12-6 advantage on shots, earned six corner kicks to SC United’s one and easily won the possession battle.
Still looking for its first ever goal, Tormenta found the net twice, only to be turned away each time by the flag of a linesman. Nico Rittmeyer finished on a pair of shots, but both were wiped out on offside calls — the second of which came in the 63rd minute and seemed rather dubious upon replay.
Those two goal-scoring opportunities weren’t all for Tormenta as the first half and most of the second half were filled with well-constructed possessions that left players with open strikes. Multiple times, shots were able to beat SC United goalkeeper Jamie Cleland, but he was repeatedly saved by a twelfth defender in the form of a goalpost.
“I lost count of how many shots hit the post,” Tormenta defender Peyton Ericson said. “It had to be four or five. We felt really confident in our play, but just couldn’t get a goal. At halftime, we felt like a set piece was the only way they could score. They got that corner late, and that was the difference.”
“A lot of good looks aren’t enough,” Freakley said. “We have to finish. Those goals are going to come and we’re going to win. We just need to finish.”
With the loss, Tormenta drops to 0-1-3 in its inaugural season. Another shutout has now run the team’s goalless streak to a full 360 minutes.
Over 7,000 fans showed up to express overwhelming support during Tormenta’s three-game homestand, but if the club wants to get its first victory anytime soon, it will have to come on the road.
Tormenta will pay a visit to the Charlotte Eagles on Thursday before busing over to Greensboro for Saturday tilt with the Carolina Dynamo, which defeated Tormenta 3-0 in its home opener two weeks ago.
Tormenta FC Getting Closer And Still Looking For Our First Win
