Mason Tunbridge scores pair to lead Ibis
The cloudy, cool and breezy field at the Atlanta United Training Ground served South Georgia Tormenta FC just fine, as they took a 2-0 lead into the half, and finished with a 5-2 victory in a preseason friendly over Atlanta United 2.
Shortly after the kick-off, a pair of crisp passes led to Niall Reid-Stephen scoring the match’s opening goal. Vivas brought the ball down and played a through ball to Reid-Stephen, who beat the goalkeeper one-on-one and fired the ball into the top right corner.
Almost 30 minutes later, Vivas earned his second assist when he set up Aaron Walker’s strong right leg, doubling the lead when Walker blasted a shot from outside the 18 that flew between two defenders into the back of the net. Tormenta goalkeeper Austin Pack maintained a clean sheet in the first half with his defenders’ help, making it difficult for Atlanta United to penetrate. Sam Jones played in net for the Ibises in the second half.
As the second half opened, Reid-Stephen quickly slithered through traffic and fed Vivas, who punched his first goal along the ground to make it 3-0. Mason Tunbridge took the spotlight after an Atlanta United goal, as he chipped their keeper to make the score 4-1. Late in the game, after Atlanta United 2 scored another, Tunbridge answered the bell again with a penalty kick into the right corner, to close out the scoring at 5-2.
“Every goal gives our team an advantage, and when everyone else seemed to give up on that high bouncing ball in front of their net, an opening cleared, and my instincts told me that I could beat their keeper to it,” said Tunbridge, who begins his second year with the club.
Tormenta FC co-owner Darin Van Tassell was pleased with the performance.
“Atlanta United and Tormenta are the only two professional soccer teams in the state of Georgia, and we are thrilled at the cooperative relationship we share. Our matches have always provided the opportunity to get better in the preseason, enabling us to see the players on both teams move the ball well, get a lot of organizing concepts established, and see where we are as a club. We had a lot of bright moments in today’s game,” noted Van Tassell.
“In a friendly, you can pick up things that you don’t see in practice, putting strategies in to real-time against highly talented opponents, while trying out systems and combinations of players. No team ever walks away from a game thinking that we can’t get better at some things, but I thought the effort and desire was there today. We certainly improved our discipline on the field, and that’s an important step for any squad to experience.”
Tormenta will host UPSL side Athletico Atlanta at 11:00 a.m., Friday, Feb. 14, in their third preseason match before the 2025 regular season begins on March 8.
