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On Saturday night, in front of 2,075 screaming fans at Eagle Field, Tormenta FC turned in the best performance of its young existence.
    Unfortunately, the scoreboard counts more than the performance, and Tormenta suffered a tough-luck 1-0 loss at the hands of SC United Bantams.
    “I thought there were periods where we dominated the play for an extended amount of time,” Tormenta coach Ben Freakley said. “In games like this, the longer you let a team hang around, the more likely it is that they’ll eventually hurt you. That’s what happened tonight.”
    Much like Tormenta’s loss to Peachtree City a week ago, Saturday’s setback saw the game leaning towards a 0-0 draw until the final moments. This time, it was a header by Matthew Castellan off an Andre Streete corner in the 79th minute that narrowly evaded the dive of Tormenta keeper Anton Widen and served as the game’s decisive moment.
    Some doubt about the legitimacy of the goal arose as a handful of Tormenta players indicated that the ball hadn’t fully crossed the goal line, but what-ifs weren’t on Freakley’s mind following the game.
    “To lose that way (is tough),” Freakley said. “I’d like to see the replay, but we’re not going to be a team that looks to that as an excuse. We should have done more to win.”
    Aside from the Bantams’ late strike, Tormenta thoroughly controlled the game.
    Battling through a hot and humid night, Tormenta seemed quite comfortable. Emphasis was put on being able to finish attacks during the week and Tormenta players on all levels of the field showed early aggressiveness that continually gave the forward line opportunities to put the ball on net.
    Tormenta held a 12-6 advantage on shots, earned six corner kicks to SC United’s one and easily won the possession battle.
    Still looking for its first ever goal, Tormenta found the net twice, only to be turned away each time by the flag of a linesman. Nico Rittmeyer finished on a pair of shots, but both were wiped out on offside calls — the second of which came in the 63rd minute and seemed rather dubious upon replay.
    Those two goal-scoring opportunities weren’t all for Tormenta as the first half and most of the second half were filled with well-constructed possessions that left players with open strikes. Multiple times, shots were able to beat SC United goalkeeper Jamie Cleland, but he was repeatedly saved by a twelfth defender in the form of a goalpost.
    “I lost count of how many shots hit the post,” Tormenta defender Peyton Ericson said. “It had to be four or five. We felt really confident in our play, but just couldn’t get a goal. At halftime, we felt like a set piece was the only way they could score. They got that corner late, and that was the difference.”
    “A lot of good looks aren’t enough,” Freakley said. “We have to finish. Those goals are going to come and we’re going to win. We just need to finish.”
    With the loss, Tormenta drops to 0-1-3 in its inaugural season. Another shutout has now run the team’s goalless streak to a full 360 minutes.
    Over 7,000 fans showed up to express overwhelming support during Tormenta’s three-game homestand, but if the club wants to get its first victory anytime soon, it will have to come on the road.
    Tormenta will pay a visit to the Charlotte Eagles on Thursday before busing over to Greensboro for Saturday tilt with the Carolina Dynamo, which defeated Tormenta 3-0 in its home opener two weeks ago.

STATESBORO, Ga. — It’s been less than a month since Tormenta FC — Statesboro’s brand new minor league soccer franchise — has played its first match. In that short time, the club has left no doubt that it can play top-notch soccer while drawing a loud, numerous and supportive crowd.
One of the few boxes left for Tormenta to check off is a win.

Tormenta played to a 0-0 draw in its first ever match, but has dropped its last two. Tonight, Tormenta will try to burst into the win column as it welcomes SC United Bantams for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Eagle Field.

Along with a first win, Tormenta is also seeking its first ever goal. Hitting the back of the net for the first time will likely be a relief to the squad, but that small barrier won’t cloud the larger overall direction of the team.

“We expect to put multiple goals away in every game,” Tormenta coach Ben Freakley said. “The body follows the most dominant thought in the mind. I want our dominant thought to be that we’re going to possess the ball and score goals.”

Tormenta is the only team in its division without a win this season, but has also played just three matches while many in the group are more than one-third of the way through the 14-game season. After having less than two weeks of team practice before its season opener, Tormenta is now working on three consecutive weeks of constant training without a road trip to interrupt the process.

“Our focus this week has been on attacking,” Freakley said. “We’ve spent more time this week practicing in the final third. Before we can get that first win, we need our first goal.”

Like Tormenta, SC United notched a draw in its season opener — coincidentally, also a 0-0 result against the Tri-Cities Otters. From there, Bantams defeated the Peachtree City club that defeated Tormenta last week and has posted a 1-1-1 mark in its other three matches.
A few costly defensive lapses have been the difference in Tormenta’s losses. The back line will have its hands full tonight as it will have to keep tabs on Joseph Vyner and Davis Bryan, each of whom as scored a pair of goals for SC United this season.
As Tormenta continues to train and settle into its new place in the Premier Development League, they are also constantly endearing themselves to their new hometown.

Freakley cited his squad’s enthusiasm and near-unanimous participation in community events since they arrived in Statesboro at the beginning of May. This week, the team gave back as it pulled back the curtains to its operation a bit in order to give fans a behind-the-scenes look.
Earlier this week, Tormenta coaches and players joined fans at Carmike Cinemas for a film session of sorts. During the event, a replay from last week’s match was played as Tormenta members talked with fans and highlighted bits of film in order to further explain the goals and strategies of the team.

“I can’t say enough about what this club does to reach out to the community,” Freakley said. “Darin (Van Tassell) and Heidi (Jeffers) epitomize what the ‘Good Idea Fairy’ is. They continue to involve the community and give us so much support.”
Freakley says he doesn’t think Tormenta has even scratched the surface of what the new franchise can do to integrate and endear itself to the community.

More events and festivities are sure to be in the works, but for now, a first Tormenta win is what everyone is pulling for.

During the first home game in Tormenta FC franchise history, just about everything went perfectly.

Well… Everything but the final score.

Tormenta dropped a 3-0 decision to the Carolina Dynamo to drop to 0-1-1 in their inaugural season, but an overflowing crowd of 3.105 seemed to treat the outcome as a growing pain for the brand new team rather than a letdown.

“I’m so impressed and appreciative of everyone who came out and made this such an exciting night,” Tormenta coach Ben Freakley said. “Our guys are disappointed in the outcome and I know they’re especially heartbroken that they couldn’t do better for such a great crowd.”

Brandt Bronico scored following a defensive miscue by Tormenta in the ninth minute and the Dynamo poured in two second half goals to run away with the win.

Bronico capitalized after a seemingly harmless ball played to Tormenta’s backline was mishandled. Bronico gained possession just outside the 18-yard box with only Tormenta goalkeeper Anton Widen in front of him and was able to find the left side of the net for the opening strike.

Tormenta played with more urgency in the second half and was able to create some scoring opportunities, but an aggressive Carolina defense and constant leaping breakups by Dynamo keeper Ryan Cretens kept Tormenta off the scoreboard for the second straight match.

“(Carolina) had a very big back line,” Freakley said. “When you play direct at a defense like that, you aren’t going to get many breaks. We have guys that can serve the ball in well and we were able to start playing wide to them, but weren’t able to break through.”

The Tormenta defense shored up over the final 45 minutes, save for a pair of quick strikes that put the Dynamo over the top.

Bronico victimized Tormenta again in the 62nd minute with a perfectly placed corner kick that was headed into the goal by Daniel Mucuna. Carolina put the finishing touches on its win in the 86th minute when Tah Brian Anunga turned on a shot from 20 yards out and sent a low, hard shot bounding across the box and into the lower left corner of the Tormenta goal.

“They were just able to create more opportunities,” Freakley said. “When they got on the ball, they were tough and always moving forward. They definitely deserved everything they got.”

Tormenta played hard until the end and the hometown crowd followed their cue. Even additional seating brought into Eagle Field wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone who passed through the gate, but hundreds of fans were content to stand along the sidelines and end lines, even creating a few chants to spur on the club.

Live music before the game welcomed fans into the stadium while Tormenta gear was flying out of the merchandise tents and ‘VIP’ season ticket holders took advantage of food, drinks and up-close spectator spots behind the south goal.

Members of Savannah’s Storm Soccer Academy – the youth affiliate of Tormenta – also showed up en masse and were paraded in front of the capacity crowd at halftime.

Even Mother Nature did her part as a passing pregame storm – the English word for tormenta – cleared before kickoff while leaving behind a rainbow backdrop as the teams hit the field.

With the emotions of the first road and home matches in franchise history now in the past, Tormenta has two weeks to gear up for its next test – a home date against fellow Georgia club Peachtree City.

“We know what we have to do to improve,” Freakley said. “We talked about not letting one game – good or bad – define us. We want our process to define us. We’ll get back at it and be ready for the next game.”

Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9408.