RICHMOND, Va. – South Georgia Tormenta FC entered Saturday night’s USL League One clash with Richmond Kickers searching for a third straight win. After a largely defensive battle, TFC edged out the Kickers securing a 1-0 win, the club’s second straight clean sheet.
Play for a large part of the first half was mostly neutral as both teams aimed to hold the ball and dominate possession. Eventually, Tormenta FC had heavy control of the midfield and was able to distribute to the wings with ease. In the 34th minute, Brazilian Pedro Fonseca headed the ball just wide of the goal, from a cross courtesy of right back Nick Akoto.
Jackson Khoury made an impact in the 40th minute by beating two defenders before drawing a foul just outside the penalty area. The following free kick however, would result in an easy catch by the Richmond goalkeeper, Will Palmquist. The score would stay at zero a piece for the remainder of the first half.
Tormenta FC came out in the second half looking to take the lead; however, the Kicker’s goalkeeper made multiple unlikely stops, such as a diving save from a Kazaiah Sterling half-volley that was aimed at the bottom left corner of the goal in the 60th minute. The squad kept up the pressure nearly scoring another Mukwelle Akale banger in the 67th minute, but was unfortunately, yet again, thwarted by the gloves of Will Palmquist, Richmond’s last line of defense.
In the 68th minute, the constant attack from South Georgia paid off as Ryan Sierakowski, former Tormenta FC forward, fouled center back Daltyn Knutson on a scoring chance inside the penalty area. In the resulting penalty kick, Kazaiah Sterling stepped up and slotted home a calm shot into the left side netting, giving the away side the lead. This was Sterling’s 13th goal of the season and 6th goal in his last 6 starts.
Richmond responded with an all out attack that nearly resulted in a Puskás award-worthy goal by Matthew Bentley in the 71st minute. The Richmond striker’s shot hit off the right woodwork keeping the match in favor of Tormenta FC.
In an attempt to seal 3 points, substitute John Murphy Jr. ripped a shot from 20 yards out in the 83rd minute, destined to find the bottom right corner of the goal. Nonetheless, the Kicker goalkeeper was able to get just enough glove on the ball to prevent the squad from going up 2-0.
From then forward, the 11 on the pitch from South Georgia focused fully on defensive efforts, desperate to leave Richmond with a win. Their defensive efforts proved successful as the club is now just 2 points out of the final USL League One Playoff spot.
Tormenta FC now turns its attention to the squad’s final home match of the season as they take on Union Omaha at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Tormenta Stadium (ESPN+).
