An early two-goal deficit proved too much for South Georgia Tormenta FC to rally back from as they fell 2-1 Saturday night to Greenville Triumph SC.

The Triumph (8-6-4, 28 points) jumped out early, scoring in the fourth minute when Greenville’s Noah Pilato was able to play a perfect through ball to Leo Castro. 

Castro gathered the ball 15 yards out on the left side of the penalty box and was able to slide it past Tormenta goalkeeper TJ Bush to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Approximately 21 minutes later, Castro was again able to find the back of the net. This time on a cross from Allen Gavilanes that floated over the frontside defender for Castro to head to bottom right of the goal to double the Triumph’s lead.

“You go two-nil down against a good, organized team, then it always makes it really difficult,” said Tormenta Head Coach Ian Cameron. “If it’d been one, then I’d have fancied our chances to go on and win the game, but two makes it a big mountain to climb.”

Greenville nearly added a third goal just before halftime, but Bush was able to deflect away the Devon Boyce shot to keep the score 2-0.

Tormenta (6-8-3, 21 points) looked to cut the lead in half in the 60th minute. Defender Nick Akoto was able to dribble past a couple of Greenville defenders on the left sideline before crossing it to an open Pedro Fonseca in the middle of the box, but his shot sailed high over the crossbar.

Five minutes later, however, Tormenta would find the back of the net. Mukwelle Akale was able to evade the Greenville defense and fire off a cross near the Triupmh’s six yard box. Matheus Cassini beat Greenville goalkeeper Jared Mazzola to the spot and was able to chest the ball into the net to cut the lead to 2-1. 

In the 75th minute, Tormenta was able to create a chance to equalize. Kazaiah Sterling was able to create some separation from the defenders near the top of the 18-yard box. He was able to lay the ball off to Cassini who then crossed it to the back post. Akoto’s header from inside the six-yard box was just wide as Greenville maintained their 2-1 lead. 

 A minute later, Akale was able to shake free from the defense at the top right of the 18-yard box to fire off a shot, but Mazzola was able to make a diving save to push it wide.

Tormenta’s offense had been hot coming into Saturday’s game having scored nine goals over their past two games. Saturday they managed seven shots, with only two on target. Greenville, meanwhile, had eight shots, including three on frame.

“I think they just came out with a little bit more energy than we did,” said midfielder Chris Heckenberg. “They got the early goal and then they had a clear gameplan at that point to just sit back and absorb pressure. It’s always hard to beat a team that’s sitting as deep as that.

“We gave it our best but it just wasn’t our night,” he said. 

Tormenta ended the night with 68 percent of possession but struggled to find any open shots as Greenville played defensively for much of the night, especially following their second goal.

Cameron was again looking for better execution from his defense. Tormenta has conceded at least one goal in nine straight matches, with their last clean sheet coming on May 5 against Chattanooga. 

“We tend to have more of the ball so now, when other teams attack, they have more open space because they’re counterattacking so we’ve got to get better at not losing the ball in certain areas, make sure we’re tighter and that’s our challenge.”

Akoto echoed Cameron’s comments about needing to correct the defensive mistakes.

“I feel like we know what we have to do and obviously we’re going to get on the training pitch and work on it and just go from there,” he said. 

Tormenta now embarks on a two game road trip with a midweek matchup against Forward Madison on Wednesday followed by another road test on Saturday against Union Omaha. 

Madison currently sits at third place in the standings while Omaha is in sixth. 

“We just have to make sure we recover properly and then go again on the road,” Akoto said “We know we have tough games and we know we need to focus and just make sure we go game by game.”

Tormenta wins Inaugural Peach States Derby

Despite the loss, Tormenta was able to claim the first Peach States Derby by virtue of their season series over Greenville that saw both sides claim four points. The first tiebreaker was total goals scored. Cassini’s goal in the 65th minute was the deciding goal for the Derby and allowed Tormenta to claim the trophy.

Tormenta won the first matchup 2-0 in April and the pair tied 1-1 in early June. Saturday’s 2-1 win for Greenville left them one goal short of taking the trophy to South Carolina. 

“It’s cool for the two sets of fans,” Cameron said of the rivalry and the newly created Derby. “The history of the two clubs growing up together. Each have won a championship in the first four years of the league.

“These are two organizations that have really thrived in the USL1 structure since the inception (of the league.) I believe they were the first two organizations to start it as well, the first two to sign up for (the league),” Cameron said. “There’s a lot of history between the two clubs and it’s cool to start it.”