8U squad pours it on in both second halves at Charleston Spring Classic Tourney
Charleston, SC – April 21, 2024 – Both of the Tormenta FC 16B IBIS GA games were coin tosses at the half, but, despite the heat, the players found another gear and finished the day with a pair of Wins, leading them to the semi-finals of the Charleston Spring Classic season finale, with more than 150 teams in attendance.
The semi-finals will be played on Sunday, April 21, and if they reach the finals, that too will held later on Sunday afternoon. Tormenta FC will now face South Carolina’s Oconee United 2016B Main A1.
On Saturday morning, the Charleston FC 16/17 Navy 2 team took a 1-0 lead into halftime despite a scrappy effort from Jaxon Stephens and continued annoyances caused by Knox Eaddy, stifling the opponent’s attempted transitions. The threesome of Xavier Pope, Logan Burnett, and Eaddy kept them off the front porch while Brooks Nein disrupted a breakaway, and Ian Javier De la Cruz blocked a hard shot that came suddenly from a scrum in front of the net. Keeper Lucas Mendoza Porras made a pair of excellent saves from a pair of scary corner kicks.
Offensively in the first half, Brian Elias Chavarria, who can weave through traffic like an ambulance, showed endless hustle and made a rush across three-quarters of the field, but his shot just missed wide right.
Head Coach Brad Nein, assisted by Karson Leake, reminded his team at the half to “find a target,” in other words, instead of simply forwarding the ball, find a teammate or a spot in the net to aim for.
The team began the second half like a shot out of a cannon, dominating possession and getting numerous scoring chances. De la Cruz, who has a passion for painting, tied the game as he faced a one-on-two down the right side. He somehow squirmed through the defenders, and he “painted” the left corner of the net, his shot going off the inside of the post into the strings.
Shortly after, De la Cruz, from Savannah, found himself in the middle of a crowd in front of the net and shot towards the left corner again, but the keeper made a good save crouching down, but before he could recover, De la Cruz fired the rebound over his head to give Tormenta a lead that it would not relinquish. He credits much of his practice to his brother Marco, a goalie for the Tormenta 2015 IBIS 1 team. Marco declares that he will play soccer until he is 50 years old!
Mendoza Porras gave Tormenta some valuable insurance when he, Pope, and Kai Helmig set up to block a free kick and succeeded. Pope crossed the ball over to Mendoza Porras, and he blasted a goal right by the keeper. Shortly after, Chavarria stole a left-side throw-in and fed it through two opponents to Mendoza Porras, who capitalized with a low goal into the right corner, closing the scoring.
“We found our targets,” summarized Brooks Nein. “We heard what the coach told us to do, and we actually did it.”
In its afternoon game, Tormenta FC found itself squared at zero against Charleston City FC U8, thanks to solid defense and keeper Knox Eaddy’s stellar performance. Tormenta outshot its opponents 20 to 10 but couldn’t find the back of the net.
They charged out as they did in their earlier game and put on big pressure. Brian Chavarria shot from the middle of the box, but it was saved; Lucas Mendoza Porras scooped the rebound and fed Chavarria, but he bulged twine to open the scoring.
Shortly after, Chavarria controlled the ball for more than half of the field and shot to the left side, but the save caromed to Chavarria, who quickly deposited to create a two-goal lead.
Xavier Pope had a fabulous series of four consecutive shots but was stoned by the opposing keeper.
Eaddy made a key save on a penalty kick to hold the two-goal margin.
Ian Javier De la Cruz put in the insurance marker near the end, thanks to Logan Burnett and Brooks Nein intercepting a mid-field pass and setting him up to close out the scoring at 3-0, earning the team a berth in Sunday’s semi-final.
“Our second-half endurance was impressive today, but I credit the kids being good athletes more than anything, as we mainly focus on balls in play and foot skills in our practices,” said head coach Brad Nein.
Founded in 2015, Tormenta FC is a professional soccer club based in Statesboro, Georgia. Tormenta FC competes in the professional USL League One and the pre-professional USL W League, under the United Soccer League (USL), and has also established a thriving academy system throughout South Georgia and the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
