South Georgia Tormenta felt they knew what to expect from Union Omaha going into their match Saturday night and as the game unfolded, they were correct in assessing their opponent’s game plan.

But knowing that game plan and stopping it are two different things as Omaha would score twice in the second half to pull away en route to handing Tormenta a 3-1 defeat.

“We knew the game plan. It was long balls all the time from them, second balls and crosses early and that’s what they did,” midfielder and captain Gabriel Cabral said. “They had a couple of lucky ones and they got the result, but I think we had a big fighting spirit.” 

“It’s just an annoying one because we knew the game plan, they did exactly what we trained for and somehow they still managed to win. It’s a little bit frustrating,” he said. 

Tormenta (1-2-0) nearly struck in the opening minute against  the defending USL League One champions, but Yaniv Bazini’s shot just 34 seconds into the game went just wide of the post.

Omaha (1-1-0) would settle down after the opening scare from Tormenta as South Georgia goalkeeper Austin Pack was forced to make a couple of early saves, including a header in the fourth minute from Josue Gomez that Pack was able to deflect over the cross bar.

Nine minutes later, Pack again was called upon to keep Omaha out of the net, but that was of his own doing when Omaha pressed him on a pass back to him in his goal box. Pack had the ball stolen, but was able to dive back to deflect it over the endline for a corner kick but keep the game scoreless.

Omaha appeared to score in the 15th minute when Gomez’s shot from eight yards out beat Pack, but after a short delay, the assistant referee signaled he was offside and negated the goal.

In the 26th minute, Pack once again came up with a big save as Sergio Ors found himself open on the left side of the box. Pack was able to once again deflect the shot away.

Ors would finally put Omaha on the scoreboard in the 34th minute. Omaha’s corner kick was played to the far corner of the penalty box where Charlie Ostrem headed it towards the middle of the goal. Ors headed it just over the goal line to put Omaha ahead 1-0.

Tormenta would equal the score six minutes later on a corner kick of their own. Oscar Jimenz’s corner kick deflected off Omaha’s Samuel Owusu and into the net to tie the score at one just before halftime.

The second half, however, would see Omaha score twice in the first 20 minutes of the half to put the game away.

In the 55th minute, Ostrem’s cross from the left found a streaking Dion Acoff at the back post where he struck it out of the air into the net to extend Omaha’s lead.

“The back post goal that Acoff scored, we were prepped for that, we knew that,” Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron said. “But knowing it and knowing that’s how they arrive, that’s one thing. But taking the actions to stop it, that’s another thing.”

Omaha would add a third goal in the 64th minute when Max Schneider curled a shot from 18 yard out to the far post to double their lead.

Defender Oscar Jiminez said there were mistakes and mental lapses that Tormenta needs to correct going forward.

“I think the difference was little letdowns. Mental letdowns of not stopping crosses,” he said. “That was probably the key is just mental letdowns all over the field that caused the goals.”

Tormenta struggled to win the second balls all night and also found it difficult to maintain possession and break through the Omaha defense. 

“We didn’t move the ball quite well enough. We didn’t arrive and put them under pressure,” Cameron said. 

“To be honest, I’m disappointed in the group,” Cameron said. “We had a game plan. We had awareness of what those things (they were trying to do) were. The group can’t walk off the field and say they weren’t prepped for set pieces or they weren’t prepped for arrivals in the box.”

Despite the loss, Cameron said they should be able to compete with Omaha in their next matchup.

“I don’t think there’s a massive difference between the two teams,” he said. “I think when we go play them again, there’s going to be a confidence that we can go toe-to-toe with them and that’s the best in the league.” 

“It should have been a draw,” he continued. “I don’t think we did enough to win the game today. I don’t think we put them under enough pressure or created enough chances to win it.” 

Tormenta has a quick turnaround as they host Foro FC in the second round of the US Open Cup on Tuesday. While there will certainly be a fatigue factor having played a game Saturday, Jiminez said having another game so soon can also be a good thing as it forces the team to focus and be prepared for another game rather than focusing on what went wrong all throughout the week.

Likewise, Cameron said they team will meet Monday to prepare and he’s confident in the leadership on the team that they’ll be ready for Tuesday.

“I think this group are still hungry,” Cameron said. “We’ve got a game Tuesday. We’ve got the right personalities in there to rebound.

Cameron said the focus will be on learning from this game, but moving past the frustration and disappointment as they get ready for Tuesday.

“We have a meeting on Monday. We’ll recap the game, wipe our hands of it and focus in on Tuesday, try to get a positive result on that and get into the next round of the Open Cup and then go to Chattanooga (next weekend) with a bit of momentum,” Cameron said. 

Tormenta will host Foro FC at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Tormenta Stadium