Well rested and fresh off a two-week break, Tormenta takes the pitch versus Forward Madison for the second time this season. When the two teams met back on May 18th, Tormenta squeaked out a 1-0 win after Conner Antley was in the right place at the right time on the corner. Going into the mid-May match, both teams were riding decent streaks. Forward was riding a three-match unbeaten streak and Tormenta won their last two matches following their only loss of the season versus Chattanooga.
Ahead of this Saturday’s match, Tormenta is riding a two-match win streak and still has not lost since that April Chattanooga match. Just as impressive as the win streak, Tormenta has not been scored on in 504 minutes. That streak stretches back to the 36th minute of the Toronto match on May 12th. Forward Madison, on the other hand, has been on a rollercoaster over the course of this season. The ‘Mingos went on to lose their next three matches and slid to the bottom of the league table following the loss to Tormenta. Over their last three matches, Forward is 2-0-1 including a shocking 4-1 drumming of North Texas and a hard-fought point versus Toronto FC II on the road.
With both teams riding hot streaks this match will be an intriguing one, to say the least.
What To Watch For:
Hard Teams To Score On: All season we have spoken about how hard it is to score on Tormenta. How Tormenta has more clean sheets than goals conceded, how Pablo Jara is almost always up for save of the week, how he has the lowest goals allowed average in the league, etcetera. Forward Madison is quietly the 3rd lowest scored on squad in the league, only seeing 16 goals scored against them. To add to this interesting stat, Forward only has one clean sheet all season (4/27 0-0 vs. Greenville). Forward has been averaging 1.2 goals allowed per game to Tormenta’s .58. These two teams are built on their defenses and Saturday’s match will pit them against each other.
Midfield Battle: Nil Vinyals and Ricardo Gomez have been praised for their work all season. The two have been lockdown defensively and assisted offensively for Tormenta. The pairing will meet strong competition in Forward Madison’s midfield three this Saturday. Forward has many options when it comes to their midfield including Josiel Nunez, JC Banks, Brandon Eaton, even sliding centerback Eric Leonard up to the midfield. The versatility of Madison’s midfield players could potentially cause issues for Tormenta because they can slide back to centerback if needed, some can slide out to the wing as a number 7 or 11 and add width to an attack, or up to the number 9 position and act as a striker (such as JC Banks).
Forward’s New Loanees: To make the roster confusion even worse for Tormenta, Forward Madison brought in two new loanees that are available to their roster for this Saturday’s match. Forward signed Louis Bennett and Oliver White from USL Championship-side Memphis 901 FC. The two play midfielder and striker respectively and bring another level of competition to a side that is fighting to stay in the playoff race.
Match Facts:
Tormenta FC (7-1-4) v. Forward Madison FC (4-6-3).
July 6th, 8 PM.
Erk Russell Park, Statesboro, Ga.
Small Business Saturday.
