Chattanooga capitalized on two defensive lapses from Tormenta and then used a suffocating defense to stymie South Georgia’s attack as they handed Tormenta a 2-1 loss Saturday night.

Tormenta possessed the ball for more than 75 percent of the match, but two defensive lapses were enough as Chattanooga was able to counterattack and convert to come away with the win.

The loss, the third in a row for Tormenta in league play, led Cameron to be introspective following the game about the style of play he wants from his team.

“It’s easier to counterattack. It’s easier to create chances that way. And we’ve got to have a wholesale look at if our game model is the right thing,” Cameron said following the match. “I’ve been pretty strident in the last few years that it is. I’ve been trying to teach the boys to control the ball, have a high percent of the possession, but the reality is at this level, you see it across the board, what when teams have 68 percent plus possession, I think tonight was probably 75 percent, then they rarely win at this level and it’s really frustrating and it’s a real challenge.”

Cameron said he and his staff will need to evaluate, going forward, the right approach to win games as they try to put an end to the losing skid.

“As a staff, we need to reassess and say ‘is that methodology  the right methodology?’ Do we need to be brave in this moment and stick with it and just get better or do we have to do wholesale adaptations?”

Cameron pointed to Chattanooga, who changed to a defensive, counterattacking oriented team that has found success in being undefeated over their last four matches, including three wins, as they sit fourth in the league. 

“Our model is one we’ve got to decide if it’s catered to this level or not,” Cameron said.

The Red Wolves started the scoring in the 12th minute with former Tormenta player Joshua Ramos raced down the right sideline, eluding a Tormenta defender before reaching the endline and cutting the ball back across the mouth of the goal. There it found an open Zahir Vazquez at the back post for an easy tap in to give Chattanooga the early lead.

Chattanooga nearly doubled their lead just before halftime. Following a Tormenta corner kick that was cleared, the Red Wolves raced out and were able to find Pedro Hernadez in the center of the field and found himself one-on-one with Tormenta goalkeeper Austin Pack. Hernandez’s shot got past Pack, but it hit the outside of the left post and rolled out for a goal kick.

Pack came up big minutes later following a long throw in from Chattanooga that was headed towards goal, but Pack was able to deflect it over the crossbar to keep the Tormenta deficit at one.

Early in the second half, Tormenta had a golden opportunity to equalize. Jonathan Nyandjo and Gabriel Cabral played some excellent passes together that eventually found Nyandjo inside the penalty box. He was fouled as he attempted to play the ball, giving Tormenta a penalty kick.

Yaniv Bazini stepped up for the kick and while his stutter step sent Red Wolves goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez diving to Bazini’s right, Bazini’s shot to the left sailed over the crossbar, keeping the score 1-0.

Chattanooga would double their lead in the 69th minute when Alhassan found himself onside well behind the Tormenta defense. His shot was saved by Pack, but Hernandez was in the right spot for the deflection and buried the ball in the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.

Tormenta would try to rally late with Handwalla Bwana scoring on a header off a cross from Taylor Gray, but it wouldn’t be enough as Tormenta couldn’t find the second goal they needed.

“Once you give a team a chance to lead and then a sloppy second goal, then it’s a really, really big mountain to climb,” Cameron said.

Tormenta was playing without Anatolie Prepelita who was brought in to anchor the central defense for South Georgia. He is out for the season following a knee injury.

“Our Achilles Heel is, we know defensively, we’re a wee bit deficient,” Cameron said. “Anatolie, our leader, our captain in the back, is out so then some guys have to find a way to step up. The two goals tonight I thought were poor defensive errors in those moments.”

Captain and midfielder Gabriel Cabral said the team was frustrated after possessing the ball as much as they did and not being able to take advantage of that.

“We have more territory. We have more of the ball. They go two times in our box and they score two goals. We came a lot in their box and we didn’t. We tried and we tried and we tried and we tried and we still couldn’t put the ball away,” Cabral said. “It’s a tough one for me to explain because sometimes football just gives you one one of those.”

Cabral said the frustrations come from knowing they could be better but aren’t seeing the results. 

“We need to take more pride in the 18-yard box both on our end defensively and attacking,” he said. “That’s what wins you games. No matter how many shots or chances you create, if you’re under the line and you don’t score, it doesn’t matter. So we need to take pride and put the ball away when we have the chances, and it’s a cliche, but not let them score.”

Cabral said Chattanooga’s game plan of playing defensively and then looking for the one long pass to get a goal worked for them.

“Sometimes, football, you don’t need to play beautiful to win the game. Sometimes the ugly wins you the game. They did it better than we did,” Cabral said. “I feel like we broke them down a couple of times, but the final piece is what we’re lacking right now.”

Cameron said he and his staff will evaluate what needs to happen going forward.

“Certainly some changes need to happen. Mindset and personnel changes have to happen. But how big? How drastic? We’ll see,” he said.