It hurts to lose in the opening round of any tournament at any level. It hurts even more when you give up a lead in the final 15 minutes.

At home. To your rival.

But that’s exactly what happened to the Mutiny this past Wednesday as Rooby Dalusma’s 56th minute solo effort was cancelled out 20 minutes later by Tormenta FC. The Georgia PDL side put the Mutiny to bed just six minutes later with a stunning free kick (that may have taken a deflection) by Jordan Walshaw.

Now that the Mutiny’s hopes of advancing in the Cup and taking on the Charleston Battery next week are dashed, the team can focus on defending its South Atlantic Division title. Their first stop on the title defense? To Charlotte to take on the defending PDL champion Eagles.

The Eagles didn’t have a great first round Open Cup match either, falling 6–1 to Inter Nashville FC after trailing 5–0 at the half.

This should be an interesting matchup on Saturday with both teams coming off a tough loss.

The Mutiny will need to capitalize on their opportunities. They had very little offense compared to the number of chances Tormenta FC had, and they were only able to come away with a single goal.

Myrtle Beach also needs to be able to remain strong and confident in the final stages of the game, much like they did in an exhibition against Asheville City SC last week, where they pulled out a 3–2 win.

However, Mutiny fans need to give this team time. I think having two games under their belt will allow coach Kyle Timm and the Mutiny staff to see what needs to be worked on ahead of Saturday’s match against Charlotte.

Game info

Myrtle Beach at Charlotte Eagles, 2 p.m. May 12 at Matthews Sportsplex.

I’m excited to see the team bounce back. If you can make it to Charlotte for the game, tickets are available here.

For all our previous coverage of the Mutiny here at SNST, you might want to check out this link. Chris Davis and Ben Goshorn also discuss all things PDL on the Soccer ‘n’ Sweet Tea podcast “Amateur Hour.” (Subscribe here.)

We’ll be trying to cover all things Myrtle Beach soccer here at Soccer ’n’ Sweet Tea throughout the 2018 season. Want to help us? Let us know!

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