South Georgia Tormenta’s quest to become the first USL League One team to win two championships will kick off Saturday night at Tormenta Stadium when they welcome Central Valley Fuego FC for the opening night of the USL League One season.

Tormenta is coming off a 2023 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs by a single point. Manager Ian Cameron spent the offseason retooling the squad that will see only six returners from that 2023 squad.

Central Valley Fuego, meanwhile, is coming off a disastrous 2023 season that saw them go 6-21-5 on the year. Fuego brought in former United States National Team player Jermaine Jones to coach the team and recently announced the signing of former Tormenta midfielder Chris Heckenberg who spent three seasons with both Tormenta’s League Two and League One teams.

Cameron has said he wants to play an attacking style of play this season.

“They’re going to be super aggressive, they’re going to be really high tempo, they're going to try to score the most goals in the league. We’re going to go at teams,” he said earlier this year at a season-ticket holder event last month.

That offense is expected to be led by Seba Vivas, Naill Watson, Jackson Khoury and Pedro Fonseca, among others, as Tormenta looks to replicate the success of the 2023 team that scored 53 goals. 

Watson joins Tormenta from Southport FC in England and has said there are some aspects of life in the United States that have taken some time to get adjusted to.

“The weather, for starters,” he said. “The lifestyle as well but I’m settling in. The lads have been great with me and I’m really enjoying my time here.”

Watson said playing in America was always a goal of his. He’d had the chance earlier to come over from England and go to college here, but he turned it down to sign a professional contract. 

“Not many people have the opportunity to come to America and to get it twice, I think it was definitely something I couldn’t turn down. I think I definitely made the right choice.”

Watson scored 33 goals during his time at Southport and has seen time on the wing for Tormenta this preseason.

Vivas joins South Georgia from Argentina where he played for Dock Sud. There he started 32 of 33 games last season and tied for the league lead in goals with 13. Vivas netted Tormenta’s lone goal against USL Championship’s Charleston Battery this past Saturday in South Georgia’s final preseason match. 

Khoury, USL League One’s Young Player of the year in 2023, returns following a year in which he scored seven goals and had a team-leading six assists on the season. Fonseca, meanwhile, tied Khoury with six assists and scored six goals. 

In addition to Khoury and Fonseca, The midfield for Tormenta will see several new faces, including Conor Doyle, most recently from Union Omaha, Tavio D’Almeida from Fort Wayne FC, Daniel Steedman from North Carolina FC and Mason Tunbridge from the University of San Diego. 

Defensively is where Tormenta will see the most continuity from last season. Central defenders Jake Dengler and Preston Kilwien return as well as outside defenders Nick Akoto and Collin Mocyunus. That quartet will be bolstered by the additions of Aaron Lombardi from the Chattanooga Red Wolves, Callum Stretch from Loyola Marymount University and Alsadiq Hasan from Southern Illinois University. 

Dengler is the lone holdover from the 2022 title winning team for Tormenta. He said it was difficult to compare that team to the 2024 edition of Tormenta.

“The guys seem like we’re clicking very well early on, but it’s hard to compare the two teams, obviously, because it’s two different dynamics and Ian is offering a different style of play this year,” he said. “I love the way we’re playing this year. The year we won we had a very defensive mindset and I think that’s why we had six shutouts early on. I think this year we’re going to have more offensive minded play and so I’m excited just based on what we’ve seen in preseason so far.”

Stretch spent 2023 with Loyola Marymount where he was teammates with Bradyn Knutson, the brother former Tormenta defender Daltyn Knutson who signed with Miami FC after the 2023 season. 

“When I spoke to Ian I liked how he wanted to play and it’s a nice change from the west coast,” Stretch said of his decision to sign with Tormenta. 

“It’s definitely been a bit of a culture shock for sure,” he said. “Small town living is not what I’m used to. I’ve only been in big cities but it’s nice. I really like the pace of life and the biggest thing I would say is the people are really, really nice.”

In goal, Tormenta will be without mainstay and team leader Pablo Jara who signed with Richmond in the offseason and TJ Bush, who signed with Lombardi’s former team in Chattanooga. In their place, Tormenta brought in Ford Parker from New Mexico United and reunited with Drew Romig, who played for the Tormenta League Two team in 2021 and most recently spent two seasons with Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship.

“I think the team’s going to be a good one this year,” Parker said. “We have a clear idea of how we want to play and I think that’s all you can ask for going through the preseason and so we move forward and I think the boys are really excited to start the test of the regular season.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Tormenta Stadium with the game also streaming on ESPN+.

U.S. Open Cup

Tormenta’s first round opponent for the U.S. Open Cup was recently announced as South Georgia will host FC America CFL Spurs at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 19 at Tormenta Stadium. Tormenta has had success in recent years in the Open Cup, including defeating USL Championship teams like Charleston Battery in 2022 and Rio Grande Valley in 2023 during their tournament runs.

FC America CFL Spurs, on the other hand, are making their U.S. Open Cup debut after qualifying from the United Premier Soccer League. 

This year the U.S. Open Cup will have a different feel as only eight Major League Soccer teams are participating in the Cup as the league had sought to have their team’s MLS NextPro teams play instead of their top level teams. 

“The U.S. Open Cup is a time-honored, esteemed tradition in the American soccer community. The tournament marks many firsts for our club, including the first goal scored by our club’s all-time highest scorer Kazaiah Sterling against Inter Miami in 2022. While Tormenta FC is disheartened to see changes for the 109th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, we choose to participate this year to represent our fans, our community, and players on the national stage,” Tormenta Co-owner and President Darin Van Tassell said in a statement.

Broadcast Deals

CBS and ESPN will spit the broadcast rights to USL League One and USL Championship matches this season with the majority of games being in ESPN+. For League One, only the Richmond/Madison game on July 3 and Spokane/Omaha game on September 4 will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network with all other matches appearing on ESPN+. The USL League One championship game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. There will be 32 USL Championship games on CBS Sports Network and ESPN2 with the championship game airing on CBS.