Needing at least a draw to keep their playoff hopes alive, South Georgia Tormenta jumped out to an early two goal lead, but a second yellow card to midfielder Daniel Steedman late in the first half turned the tide as Omaha scored three times in the second half to take a 3-2 win and eliminate Tormenta from playoff contention.

The Tormenta loss, combined with Richmond’s win over Chattanooga, put the playoffs out of reach for South Georgia in 2024.

Omaha’s win also gave them the Players’ Shield as the top regular season team in USL League one with one game remaining.

“It was win or go home and unfortunately it didn’t go our way,” said Tormenta defender Preston Kilwien. 

Tormenta wasted little time taking the lead, scoring just 90 second into the match when Aaron Walker took a deflected cross and blasted a shot into the top right corner, giving Tormenta a 1-0 lead. 

South Georgia would double their lead in the 36th minute. A long ball played to Steedman was controlled by Omaha, but Steedman’s pressure forced a bad pass attempt back to the Omaha keeper that hit off the post and into the net for an own goal, putting Tormenta ahead 2-0.

Steedman, who was issued a yellow card in the 21st minute, was given a second for a hard foul in the 40th minute resulting in a red card and forcing Tormenta to play down a man for the remainder of the match.

Tormenta was able to maintain their lead going into halftime, but the second half saw South Georgia come out in a defensive posture as they tried to cling to their lead.

“I think when you’re down a man and you have a lead, especially against a team that is fighting for the Players’ Shield, it’s a bit hard to come out and keep that attacking style of football going,” Kilwien said. “Inevitably it’s going to happen in the flow of the game. I just think we have to manage it better.” 

“We had a game plan going in and obviously it was working for the first 20 or 30 minutes,” said Tormenta captain Conor Doyle. “Danny’s been unbelievably important for us the whole season. He’s a workhorse in there and he’s great on the ball. We lost a big piece of what we were trying to do.” 

Omaha was able to create pressure, earning three corner kicks in the first seven minutes of the half and creating chances, but were unable to break through. 

Finally, in the 63rd minute, Omaha was able to get on the board on a cross that deflected off Tormenta defender Curtis Thorn and off the bottom of the crossbar and in to trim the Tormenta lead to 2-1.

Three minutes later, a cross from the right found Zeiko Lewis who struck it first time through the Tormenta defense and into the goal to tie the score at two.

With the score tied, Tormenta made some more offensive minded substitutions, trying to find a game winner. 

“You try to be as proactive as possible in those scenarios, but it’s not easy,” Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron said. “You try to hold on to what you have until you don’t have it anymore and then you chase it a little bit and I was hoping to manufacture one or two more chances when it was 2-2.” 

Lewis nearly put Omaha ahead in the 71st minute when he was able to fire off a shot from 15 yards out, but a diving Ford Parker save kept the game tied. 

Minutes later, Parker was forced to make another diving save, pushing the ball off the post from an Omaha shot as they continued to press their man advantage.

In the 87th minute, Sebastian Vivas picked up his second yellow card of the night, one of eight Tormenta were issued, sending him off and forcing Tormenta to play with just nine men for the final few minutes of the match.

Two minutes later, Pedro Dolabella touched in a corner kick at the back post to give Omaha their first lead of the night.

Tormenta’s Jake Dengler would pick up his second yellow card of the night in the third minute of stoppage time, leaving Tormenta to finish the match with just eight players as Omaha held on for the win.

Doyle spent the 2021-2023 seasons with Omaha before joining South Georgia this season and was hoping to prevent his former team from celebrating a regular season title.

“I knew the scenario going in and it was the one thing I was hoping to prevent,” Doyle said. “A lot of those guys I’m good friends with and we went through a lot of trials and tribulations over the last two or three years so it’s good to see them still being successful, but obviously it hurts.” 

Saturday’s game was the second consecutive game that Tormenta jumped out to a 2-0 lead at halftime but weren’t able to maintain the lead. Last week Richmond scored in second half stoppage time to earn a draw.

“Last week, we were the architects of our own downfall,” Cameron said. “This week we got a bit hard done by, but we all have to take stock and appreciate the fact that tonight’s bad call against us is not the reason the whole season not being as successful as we want. So we’ve got to do a whole root and branch analysis to say what do we have to do to make sure this community is given something a bit more special than we’ve given them this year.” 

Tormenta has one game remaining next week in Greenville. While it won’t affect Tormenta’s postseason chances, Greenville will be fighting to finish in the top four of the league and earn a first round home playoff game. 

“We have three guys suspended who have played a lot of minutes for us this year, so that’s going to present some opportunities for other guys,” Cameron said. “It’s my job and my staff’s job to make sure they have concentrated minds and they go to Greenville with the passion and the heart to put on a good performance and represent Tormenta the way they should be represented.”