Tormenta mounted a second half charge, but a stellar goal from Charlotte midway through the half provided the final difference as Tormenta fall 3-2 against the Eagles, dropping them to 4-2-1 on the season.

“The Eagles had a great game plan,” said Tormenta manager Kian Brownlee following the match. “The sat off us, they didn’t press and they stayed organized. I knew from game one that they’re very industrious. All their players work incredibly hard the entire game.” 

Tormenta had chances early in the match to take the lead, including in the eighth minute when a cross from the right found Flavie Dube open eight yards from the goal. Charlotte’s goalkeeper was able to get a glove on the ball, tipping it over the crossbar and keeping the game scoreless.

“Their keeper had an incredible save on Flavie Dube,” Brownlee said. “That’s the difference in the game right there. That could put you up one to nothing and then you’re playing with a bit more freedom and the opponent has to come out.”

“Us not scoring (in the first half) has to do with some of our decisions, but it also has a lot to do with the effort the opponent put in the game,” he said. 

Tormenta controlled much of the early part of the game and were able to get behind the defense at the endline for cutback opportunities, but the Charlotte defense was always where they needed to be to frustrate South Georgia.

“They did an incredible job of getting numbers back in the middle of the box between the six and the 18 in the service zone for us,” Brownlee said. “It always seemed like there was a deflection or they had somebody behind the ball or they were getting a foot on it. That just comes down to their defensive effort more than us being, maybe, a little bit unlucky.” 

Charlotte would open the scoring in the 24th  on a shot that goalkeeper Madison Vukas was able to dive and get a hand on, but she wasn’t able to keep it out of the net as Charlotte would go up 1-0.

The Eagles would double their lead just before halftime, scoring on a blast from 20 yards out to give Charlotte a 2-0 lead at the break.

Tormenta responded early in the second half following a throw in deep in Charlotte territory. The cross would find Natalia Santangelo who was able to get a shot through the Eagle defense and cut the deficit in half.

The Eagles, however, would respond just seven minutes later when a shot from roughly 25 yards out caught Vukas off her line as the ball floated over her and into the net to make it 3-1.

“Their third goal was just incredible,” Brownlee said. “I’d like to ask her to strike that one again and see how many she gets out of 100. But it was a fantastic third goal for them.”

Five minutes later, in the 67th minute, Tormenta found themselves in a position to cut the lead to one with a free kick just outside the penalty box. Katie Russo’s strike found the top left corner of the goal to trim the Charlotte lead to 3-2.

“I just knew that I needed to curve it top left,” Russo said. “I saw her cheat a little to the right and I knew that I was going to curve it at the top right, but I was was like ‘well, maybe I’ll give it a shot.’”

The loss puts Tormenta two games back in the loss column behind South Atlantic Division leaders NC Courage in the playoff race as Friday’s defeat puts them in a must win situation from here on out.

“We know that we have to win basically every game. We knew that coming in to this game. It’s not going to change, in terms of urgency, for us because it’s such a short season anyway,” Brownlee said. “We know that every game, every single game matters. We can only control what we can, and that’s win the next one against (South Carolina United) Bantams, win against the Courage and then hope somebody else knocks  off the Courage and maybe they drop a point somewhere else.”

Despite the loss, Brownlee was extremely proud of the effort his team put in Friday, especially as they face this part of their schedule that sees them play five games in 11 days, including games Friday, Sunday and Wednesday.

“I think our schedule was probably the most treacherous in all the conference,” he said. “We have tired bodies, tired legs and it showed a little bit tonight. Our main focus now is just recovering (Saturday) and see if we can after the Bantams on Sunday.” 

Russo said the only thing the team needs to do Saturday and Sunday is rest to be ready for Sunday night.

“It’s exhausting,” Russo said of the number of games in such a short time frame. “But Tormenta has great people and resources for us to recover and have our treatment so we’re in good hands here.”

Tormenta will be back in action Sunday night at 7:30 when the host South Carolina United.