Orlando City B at South Georgia Tormenta FC: Preview and How to Watch

Orlando City B (3-6-3, 12 points) is coming off a tough loss Wednesday night but will look to rebound tonight as the team travels to take on South Georgia Tormenta FC (5-1-4, 19 points).

OCB came into Wednesday night’s game against FC Tucson with a three-game home winning streak and a four-game point streak. The game was decided in the final three minutes of the first half when the visitors scored twice. Head Coach Fernando Jose de Argila Irurita and defender Matheus Silva both chalked it up to a lack of concentration in those minutes that cost the team the game.

The Young Lions did respond well in the second half and pulled a goal back in the 59th minute when Leonardo Simas drew a penalty, which was slotted home by Thiago Souza. But it wasn’t enough as OCB fell to FC Tucson 2-1.

Tonight, the Lions will look to respond as they travel to Statesboro, GA to take on South Georgia Tormenta FC. While not particularly threatening going forward this season, Tormenta is stingy in the back, resulting in the second-best record in the league. The team is coming off three straight clean sheets against Forward Madison FC, Lansing Ignite FC, and Greenville Triumph SC. Tormenta has only conceded multiple goals twice this season: once on April 20 against the Chattanooga Red Wolves and again on May 12 against Toronto FC II.

Offensively, Tormenta FC is not a team you would predict to be near the top of the table. The club currently ranks fifth in goals with 13 (one fewer than OCB) and sixth in shots with 120 (37 behind OCB’s league-leading 157). Tormenta’s conversion rate currently places the team in fifth at 15%.

While goalkeeper Pablo Jara has been great this season, recording six clean sheets in 10 games, Tormenta is offensively led by William Antley, who leads the team in goals and assists with three. The most dangerous offensive player to keep an eye on will be Charlie Dennis, who has created a team-leading 22 chances and has a team-leading 16 shots.

Tormenta FC was supposed to play the Red Wolves prior to this game, but the match was postponed. Because of that, the team will be without midfielder Ricardo Gomez, who received two yellow cards in Tormenta’s 0-0 draw against the Triumph on June 1.

This will be the second time these two teams have faced off this season. The first meeting was at Montverde Academy on April 14 when it appeared that a goal by Ates Diouf secured the Young Lions’ first win of the season until a long free kick four minutes into injury time allowed Lars Eckenrode to equalize for Tormenta.

OCB has gained a great deal of confidence since that game, winning three of its last five games. Th Young Lions will look to get back on the right side of the scoreline tonight.

Most Recent Lineup

Orlando City B (6/12 vs FC Tucson)

Christian Herrera; Leonardo Simas, Matheus Silva, Nathan Simeon, Jordan Hill; Ates Diouf, Austin Amer, Serginho, Moises Tablante; William Bagrou, Tresor Mbuyu.

FC Tucson (6/1 at Greenville Triumph SC)

Pablo Jara; Michael O’Sullivan, Daltyn Knutson, Joshua Phelps, William Antley; Nil Vinyals, Ricardo Gomez; Alex Morrell, Lucas Coutinho, Marco Micaletto; Charlie Dennis.

How to Watch

The 8 p.m. kickoff from Statesboro, GA can be streamed on ESPN+ domestically or internationally on YouTube. For rapid reaction and live updates, follow @ManeLandSean on Twitter, as we’ll be live tweeting the Orlando Pride on @TheManeLand account.

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