Niall Reid-Stephen scored twice Friday night to lead Tormenta to a club record sixth win in a row as Tormenta continued their push for a playoff spot in the final month of the regular season. 

Tormenta (11-11-5, 38 points) jumped out early on Westchester in the 11th minute. Near midfield, center back Makel Rasheed stepped up to take a clearance from the Westchester goalkeeper. His pass found Reid-Stephen at the top of the 18-yard box as he took a touch and sent a shot past Westchester goalkeeper Enrique Facusse.

“I’m going to leave that to you guys to debate that,” Rasheed said on whether his header was meant to be a pass to Reid-Stephen. “But well done by Niall. He did really well to finish and he’s been a tough guy for us since the beginning of the year.”

“As soon as I saw the ball coming, I just say ‘yeah, go,’” Reid-Stephen said of his first goal of the night.

The lead would be short lived, however, as Dean Guezen of Westchester (4-15-8, 20 points) would find some space on the left and fire a shot through the Tormenta defense that found the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1 in the 20th minute.

“We got caught out once tonight, which is not the end of the world, but it’s definitely educational. And there’s lots of learning happening from those moments,” said Tormenta Manager Mark McKeever. 

The game would remain tied until late in the first half when Yaniv Bazini took a throw on the right side. He was able to split two defenders to get to the endline. From there he found Conor Doyle open near the six-yard box and Doyle needed just one touch to redirect the ball to the far post for his first goal of the season to put Tormenta ahead with a 2-1 lead.

Tormenta nearly scored again just before halftime as Tormenta forced a Westchester turnover deep in their territory. Mason Tunbridge sent a pass to the penalty spot for an open Gabriel Cabral, but his shot sailed high as Tormenta would retain a one goal lead at halftime.

While Tormenta didn’t capitalize on the opportunity just before halftime, the wouldn’t waste any time starting the second half to extend their lead. Mason Tunbridge forced a turnover in Tormenta territory just 36 seconds into the half and pressed forward immediately. He found Reid-Stephen open on the right with nothing but green grass in front of him.

“As a fast player, you want to get in open space,” Reid-Stephen said. “And from the time you see open space, you just keep going, you keep going,” he said. 

Reid-Stephen cut towards the middle of the field at the 18-yard box and blasted a shot past Facusse to extend the South Georgia lead to 3-1 on his 12th goal of the year and his fourth in the past two games.

“I’m happy to score for the team and help the team get some wins. And I have more coming, to be honest,” he said. 

Tormenta would stifle any attack of Westchester, who currently sit in last place in the league, and not give them any opportunity to get back in the game. For the game, Tormenta outshot Westchester 16-11 and 7-4 in shots on target. Tormenta won 11 corners on the night compared to just two for the visitors and held possession for nearly 57 percent of the game.

Even with the win, McKeever feels there’s still another level that his team can reach going forward.

“Even though I’m really happy, I feel as thought there’s a better performance out there for us to go and grab,” McKeever said. “So we’re happy, but we’re not ecstatic, and we want to keep pushing.”

The win, combined with Charlotte’s loss to Spokane Friday night, have Tormenta currently in seventh place in the standings and four points ahead of Charlotte who sit in the eighth and final playoff spot.

The six-game winning streak, and seven wins in their last eight games,  isn’t something Rasheed envisioned when he joined the team midseason. 

“Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to happen,” he said. “I knew we had the talent to do it and now that we’re doing it, I’m just super grateful. I’m glad to be sharing the pitch with these guys and give thanks to the Lord always,” he said. 

Even with the club record winning streak, McKeever is trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

“It just feels like three points, you know?” he said. We talked originally about getting the five (wins in a row). The club had never done five. I know they’d never done six.

“We’re not talking about creating history anymore. We’re talking about creating a legacy and the legacy is longevity. And what can we do over a longer period? Can we make the playoffs without coming back under the playoff line? And then another  objective is going to be there if and when we get to the playoffs.”

McKeever said they went into Friday’s game wanting to be ruthless, relentless and resilient and he felt the team achieved two of those three in the win.

“I feel as though we were relentless. We kept working hard, we kept trying,” he said. “I feel as though we’re resilient. When it went to 2-1 we didn’t concede another goal”

“In terms of ruthlessness, I feel as though, again, probably we can put the ball in the back of the net (more) and probably we can make a little bit less unforced errors,” he said. “I think we’re always aiming for that perfect performance. We know we’re never going to get it, but we’re going to keep striving for it.”

Tormenta returns to action next week when they travel to face Spokane.