South Georgia Tormenta FC earned its first-ever win in the USL League One Playoffs after a 2-1 win against the Charlotte Independence.
Kazaiah Sterling's brace sealed a second-half comeback for the home side, which obtained its second home win at Optim Sports Medicine Field at Tormenta Stadium. With this result, South Georgia now heads to the USL League One Semifinals, presented by Hisense.
Tormenta FC travels to Greenville, South Carolina, to take on the Greenville Triumph this Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
South Georgia found itself trailing for the first time at its new home. An early goal from the Independence gave them the comfort to pace the first half to near perfection, as the visiting team left South Georgia reactionless. However, in the final 10 minutes of the first half, South Georgia was able to create opportunities, finding its danger man, Kingsford Adjei, who had multiple shots go just wide.
South Georgia found the equalizer minutes into the second half with no time to waste. Sterling struck the ball just outside the box, finessing it into the far post from outside the penalty area to even the scoreline.
With all the momentum for South Georgia, a counterattack saw Sterling head-to-head with the goalkeeper. However, a last-man foul saw the Independence's Hector Acosta be shown the red card after grabbing Sterling, who was moments away from scoring his second of the night.
With the Independence down to ten men, the South Georgia winner came in the 77th minute after Sterling converted a match-winning penalty kick.
Tonight’s Player of the Match, presented by Galactic Comics and Games, is Kazaiah Sterling. With tonight's brace, Sterling reached sixteen goals in all competitions for Tormenta FC. Tonight, Sterling proved to be a warrior on the field, helping defensively and showing up at the most crucial moments for South Georgia. Sterling's first goal of the night helped South Georgia set the pace for the remainder of the second half. Sterling's game-winner sealed South Georgia’s ticket to the Semifinal for the first time in club history.
