Luke Martin, Statesboro Herald

Trailing by two goals with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Tormenta rallied for two late goals to tie the Charleston Battery 3-3 Saturday night before falling in penalty kicks.

The match, part of the Jagermeister Cup, uses penalty kicks to award an extra point in the group stage standings. Both teams got one point for the draw and Charleston earned an extra point by virtue of their 5-4 shootout victory.

“That’s two games in a row that we’ve come back from a deficit and that only happens if the culture is moving in the right direction,” Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron said, referencing their win on Wednesday against FC Naples when they trailed by one before rallying to win 2-1.

“That doesn’t happen, with the way the season’s transpired, if the appetite of the players and the camaraderie of the players isn’t there,” he said.

Tormenta now sits in fourth place in Group 6 with four points, only two behind group leader Greenville. Charleston, meanwhile, is in sixth place with two points.

Trailing in the 83rd minute, Tormenta’s Jonathan Nyandjo was able to wriggle free of a defender on the endline and send a cross into the box. Sebastian Vivas was able to head the ball by Charleston goalkeeper Christian Ganer at the far post to cut the lead in half.

South Georgia looked to tie the game minutes later when Naill Reid-Stephen was fouled in the penalty box, giving Tormenta a penalty kick in the 90th minute.

Vivas’ shot was saved, however, by Garner and the follow up attempt by Gabriel Alves was deflected high over the crossbar to keep the score 3-2.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time, however, Vivas would find Reid-Stephen down the right side. The ball bouncing, Reid-Stephen was able to volley it with his left foot past Garner to tie the game and bring Tormenta all the way back.

“He missed chances tonight, he knows that,” Cameron said. “But I think it’s a sign of our trust in him that we kept him on. We made four changes in the 60th minute and we didn’t change him because we felt that he still had one in him and he showed that at the end.”

“I’m really happy for him. He’s a great kid. He’s a really nice lad and when really good people get the fruits of their labor, that’s fun from a coaching side,” Cameron said.

Charlatan went first in their penalties, making all five of theirs. Tormenta was able to counter with their first four shooters converting, but Alves’ attempt was saved by Garner to give Charleston the extra point.

Despite not coming away with the win, Tormenta was pleased with their performance and how they were able to build on going forward.

“This is the type of performance we need every single game,” said Gabriel Cabral, who scored Tormenta’s first goal on a free kick from about 32 yards out that curled into the top left corner. “We just played, if not the best team in the whole of the USL, one of the best teams and we were better than they were for the majority of the game.”

“That just show the character, it shows the potential we have in this group to do something really special. There’s still a couple of things that we need to clean up, but today we showed a lot of people that we can do big things this season,” Cabral said.

Charleston jumped out to a lead early when Leland Archer was able to redirect a corner kick to the far post in the eighth minute.

Cabral’s goal in the 44th minute would tie the match going in to halftime.

“I had a free kick just a couple of minutes before that and it was a good hit, but it was a little bit over the top,” Cabral said. “So it was all about focusing and trying to calm down my breathing and just repeat the same routine that I did in training and, fortunately enough, I was able to replicate it.”

Tormenta nearly took the lead into halftime, but Reid-Stephen’s breakaway attempt was thwarted by Garner who deflected the shot wide.

Charleston would retake the lead in the 58th minute on a goal from Cal Jennings and then extend their lead in the 64th minute on Emilio Ycaza’s goal.

Tormenta outshot Charleston 21-6 on the night, including 7-5 in shots on target.

South Georgia also had four shots hit off either the post or the crossbar and not go in. Yaniv Bazini’s had one deflect off the post in the first half while Reid- Stephen, Vivas and Nyandjo each hit the post in the second half with none of them finding the back of the net.

Cameron certainly sees positives from his team in the previous two games and said the key is to continue working and improving.

“At the end of the day, we still tied. We could have and should have still won the game, probably. But there’s things we’ve seen in training, there’s things we’ve talked about that we know the group’s got, but it just hasn’t translated into matches. I’d say between the Naples game and tonight, you’re seeing more of that transpire on the field.”

Midfielder and player/coach Aaron Walker said he’s seeing signs that Tormenta is starting to play up to their capabilities.

“I think guys are getting a little bit more on the same page,” he said. “Unfortunately it’s taken longer than we wanted it to, and we’re still not where we want to be,” he said.

Walker said that even though they didn’t convert on the shots that hit off the post, there’s still positives to take away from that.

“The fact we’re creating is such a good sign and that’s something you can take into every week going forward,” he said. “We’re seeing it, and we haven’t seen it yet so it’s hard to believe it. But know we’re seeing it so I’m really happy with that.” he said.

Tormenta has one match remaining in group stage play of the Jagermeister Cup which will come at the end of July when they travel to face Miami FC. They return to League One action on July 6 when they travel to face Portland at 6:30 p.m.

Luke Martin is a correspondent with the Statesboro Herald.