South Georgia Tormenta FC earned its first-ever win in the USL League One playoffs with a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Independence Saturday night in Statesboro.
Tormenta now heads to the USL League One semifinals on the road to Greenville, S.C., to take on the Greenville Triumph Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Kazaiah Sterling's two goals sealed a second-half comeback for the home side, was its second home win at Optim Sports Medicine Field inside Tormenta Stadium.Tormenta found itself trailing for the first time on its new home field when an early goal from the Independence allowed the visitors to control most of the play in the first half. However, in the final 10 minutes of the half, Tormenta was able to create opportunities, as an aggressive Kingsford Adjei had multiple shots go just wide.
South Georgia tied the score minutes into the second half. Sterling struck the ball just outside the box, finessing it into the far post from outside the penalty area to even the game, 1-1.
With all the momentum for Tormenta, a counterattack saw Sterling head-to-head with the Independence goalkeeper. However, a last-man foul saw the Independence's Hector Acosta shown a red card after grabbing Sterling, who was moments away from perhaps scoring his second goal of the game.
With the Independence now down to 10 men, Tormenta got winner in the 77th minute when Sterling converted a match-winning penalty kick.
