Needing a win, or at least a draw and penalty kick shootout victory, to stay in contention for the group stage of the Jagermeister Cup, South Georgia Tormenta fell behind early but were able to answer quickly to be tied going into halftime. 

Two late goals from Lyam MacKinnon, however, were enough to lift Greenville past Tormenta by a 3-1 margin in the fourth game of this year’s Jagermeister Cup and in doing so, put Tormenta in a pretty big hole if they want to make it to the knockout round of the tournament.

Greenville sits atop the Group 1 standings with nine points through four games. Charlotte (six points) and Richmond (five points) are ahead of Tormenta who sit at the bottom of the group with just one point with four games remaining in the group stage.

“The (last) two goals were scored by Lyam MacKinnon and he’s having a hell of a season and performing really well and scoring goals,” said Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron. “So they have an asset up top whose production is really, really good.”

“MacKinnon’s a star player in the league and we’ve not dealt well with him in the games we’ve played against them and he’s probably been the difference,” Cameron said.

In their three matchups this year, MacKinnon has scored five goals, including four in the 80th minute or later to put the games away for the Triumph.

The late goals conceded is something Cameron spoke to his team about before the game and was frustrated that there seems to be something missing with the squad in games that are close late in the match.

“In the games where it’s really tight and you go into the second half and it’s what we call the ‘fifth set in tennis.’ We made that metaphor today where the game’s going to be decided from 70 onwards. That’s where we’re not showing competency. Whether it’s fitness, whether it’s mental endurance, whether it’s know-how and maturity or leadership. It could be a bunch of things, but those are the games we’re not winning.”

Tormenta came out strong early in the match as the combination of Mason Tunbridge and Austin Wehner, the latter getting his first professional start, were able to work together to create an opportunity just 85 seconds into the match, but Wehner’s shot was parried away by Greenville goalkeeper Gunther Rakenburg.

Minutes later, following a corner kick, Greenville’s Leo Castro would punch in a rebound following a Drew Romig save to give the Triumph an early 1-0 lead.

Tormenta wouldn’t take long to respond. In the 12th minute, a tipped pass from central defender Preston Kilwien found a streaking Josh Ramos along the right side. Ramos would see his centering pass deflected but go straight to a waiting Wehner, who would fire it on his first touch past Rakenburg to tie the score at one. 

“I’m super honored to be able to have represented Tormenta tonight in my first start,” Wehner said. “Super blessed to have gotten my first goal. I’ve been working really hard in trainings and I’m blessed to have gotten a goal today and I’m happy with that, but aside from the goal, there’s places for me to improve and I’m going to go into this week’s training and improve on the areas I need to improve on and hopefully we can put together a full performance next time and be a little bit sharper.”

South Georgia looked to take the lead midway through the half as Ramos found some space in the middle of the field, but his leading pass to Pedro Fonseca was just a hair too far as Greenville was able to subdue the attack.

Greenville nearly took the lead in the 32nd minute as Nate Shultz found himself open about 25 yards out. His low shot forced a diving, punching save from Romig to keep the score level.

Coming out after halftime, Tormenta pressured Greenville. Early in the half, Tavio D’Almedia was able to intercept a Greenville pass and found an open Wehner, but he was just offside, negating the chance.

Minutes later, Ramos was looking for Fonseca again with a cutback pass from the endline, but they couldn’t quite connect and a foul would eventually be called on Tormenta to end the threat.

Perhaps Tormenta’s best chance in the second half came when a Ramos pass near the top of the box was called for a handball. The referee ruled the infraction occurred just outside the penalty area. While there is no replay review in USL League One, the television replay would show the handball took place just outside the penalty area.

On the ensuing free kick, Aaron Lombardi’s shot would sail high and end the threat.

In the 80th minute, Greenville’s Ben Zakowski was on the right side of the penalty area and was able to get a shot off. It was deflected by the Tormenta defense right to MacKinnon who slotted it past Romig for his 10th goal of the season across all competitions  and gave Greenville the 2-1 lead.

Nine minutes later, with Tormenta pressing to find an equalizer, Zakowski would find a streaking MacKinnon wide open in the middle. He would find himself one-on-one with Romig and was able to beat the Tormenta goalkeeper to put the game away for Greenville.

“They were sharper than us today and I think they took advantage of their chances better than us,” Fonseca said following the match. “The bottom line is we have to continue to work to get better at those details because a lot of games we have played well and have stayed in games, but we’re giving up goals at the end so we need to clean that up.”

Wehner was one of several changes made to the Tormenta lineup, some through necessity as both Conor Doyle and Jake Dengler were dealing with injuries. Doyle didn’t play and Dengler was a substitute in the final 20 minutes of the match.

“The staff rolled the dice with the changes and hoping they’d make the difference, and didn’t go that way. So we have to analyze and say ‘ok, was that the wrong tactics?’” Cameron said. 

Tormenta will return to League One regular season play on Saturday when they travel to face a Forward Madison team that is the lone undefeated team in league play and has won six consecutive matches. That game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

“It’s big for our organization and huge for the USL,” Wehner said of the national broadcast. “It’s a big opportunity to be seen nationwide and I hope we use that energy and making history like this is huge for our program. We’re going to go on the road and put in a shift and we can show everyone across the nation what Tormenta is and what we’re all about.”

Kickoff for that game is Saturday at 3 p.m.