Tormenta Squares Off With Second Place Lansing Ignite
Major Playoff Implications On The Line With Only 9 Points Left On The Table
Lansing, MI– Well Tormenta Nation, here we go. Only three more matches left in the inaugural USL League One season. A season that has been, needless to say for Tormenta fans, a roller coaster. We have seen Tormenta go from sitting in 1st or 2nd place consistently, to the steady decline in form leading to the team’s current 5th place standing. Tormenta fans have seen the team struck by the injury bug in the worst form. Starting with Micah Bledsoe before the season started, to Lars Eckenrode, to Nil Vinyals, to Lucas Coutinho, and more. If one word could describe Tormenta’s squad this season, it would be resilient. This team does not quit. When it seems that everything is going wrong, Tormenta stays right in the mix of it all. Resilient is exactly what Tormenta needs to be these last three weeks. The 5th-place squad is fresh off a tough 2-1 loss to 1st place North Texas. There is no rest for Tormenta who now finish their season versus 2nd place Lansing, a hard to beat at home Toronto FC II, and 3rd place Greenville (who lead Tormenta 2-1-1 across all competitions). Tormenta always knew it would be a fight in this new league, but these last three matches will all be wars.
Home Sweet Home: On Saturday, Tormenta travels to Lansing, Michigan to take on a Lansing Ignite squad that is a force to be reckoned with at home. Through 12 matches at home, LIFC has won 8, drawn 3, and lost 1. On top of being impressive at home, Lansing is currently on an 11-match unbeaten streak and a 6-match win streak. Lansing has not dropped points at home since July 13th. This streak comes with impressive wins along the way. A 2-0 win versus Chattanooga, 3-0 versus OCB, 4-1 versus North Texas, and 4-3 versus Chattanooga. Tormenta won’t go into this match expecting Lansing to roll over simply because they have clinched a playoff position. Lansing will be motivated to hold onto their #2 spot and have a home match in the first round of the playoffs.
Firepower: Not only is Lansing deadly at home, but their offense has been nearly unstoppable. Lansing has scored 48 goals, second-most in the league (NTX in 1st with 50). LIFC has scored 20 more goals than Tormenta and a lot of that is thanks to the deadly Tumi Moshobane. The midfielder has bagged 10 goals for himself while adding 4 assists to the mix. On top of being a goal-scoring threat, Moshobane leads the team in chances created with 39. No matter where he is on the pitch, Moshobane is a threat. Tormenta’s midfield will have to pay close attention to Tumi throughout the whole 90 minutes. Moshobane is not the only threat that Tormenta will have to deal with, Pato Botello Faz has added 7 goals, Rafael Mentzingen has added 6, and Nick Moon has scored 5. These four threats have matched Tormenta’s total goals scored by nine players throughout the season. Keep an eye on these four to add significant pressure to Tormenta’s defense all match.
Capitalizing Early: A positive thing for Tormenta over the last few matches is how early they found the back of the net. In two of their last three matches, Tormenta has found the back of the net in the first five minutes. Both these goals have come off class set pieces that seem to catch the opposition off guard. Yes, both times Tormenta has lost after the final whistle blows, but there are positives in this. Through the first 10 to 15 minutes in both these matches, Tormenta looked like a different team. We see Tormenta capitalize very early, press hard, and create more chances. The issues come when Tormenta takes their foot off the pedal and allow for the opposition to catch their breath and equalize off a mistake. If Tormenta wants to feel comfortable in the match, adding two goals early will allow them to focus on what they are built on, defense. Relying on the strong midfield and backline to lockdown and frustrate their opponents is what Tormenta found their success in early in the season. Tormenta has never seemed comfortable as the team that is playing end-to-end, trying to put up three or four goals. Teams like Lansing and North Texas are built to do that, but Tormenta needs to get a decent early lead and frustrate their opponent for the remainder of the match.
Match Facts:
Lansing Ignite FC (12-5-9) v. Tormenta FC (8-8-9)
Cooley Law School Stadium, Lansing, Michigan
Saturday, September 21st. 7 PM.