31 Annual (2015) Winter Tournament

 31st Annual (2015) Winter Tournament: Men’s Open Division The 2015 Mockingbird Valley Sports Complex (MVSC) Adult and High School Indoor Soccer Tournament, was a huge success for MVSC. The annual event hosted January 2-­‐4, 2015 marked the 31st Annual Indoor Soccer Tournament at MVSC, which is the longest running indoor soccer tournament in the nation! MVSC worked very hard to improve the tournament from years past to enhance the competition, atmosphere, fun and overall enjoyment for all participants and fans that had the privilege of watching some of the highest quality soccer that Louisville has to offer. The 2015 Tournament featured a few new additions which include: a new Division of competition (Men’s Over 40 Division), as well as being a sanctioned tournament for the National Indoor Soccer Championship in Palatine, IL in March (2015). Additionally, the 2015 Tournament featured appearances throughout the weekend from Louisville’s Newest Professional Soccer team: Louisville City FC (LCFC) with Head Coach James O’Connor in attendance throughout the event to scout talent, and make trophy presentations to each Division’s runner-­‐ups and champions. As is the case each year, this tournament featured teams from around the Region, including teams from Louisville (KY), Elizabethtown (KY), Goshen (KY), Richmond (KY), Westerville (OH), Henryville (IN), Mason (OH), Columbus (OH), Indianapolis (IN), Fort Wayne (IN), New Albany (IN), Georgetown (IN), and Maize (KS). The part of the tournament that is the most heralded is the Men’s Open Division, which featured teams from all over the Region. It was one of the most exciting tournaments in this event’s history of 31 years. One of the most talked about teams of the tournament was “AAFC”, a team from comprised of players from as far West as Kansas. Another team that was highly regarded coming into the 2015 event, and even captured the attention of Louisville City FC’s Head Coach, James O’Connor, was “Louis Villa” who featured players from all different levels of play including former UofL’s Men’s Soccer Team, the Associate Head Coach for the UofL Men’s Soccer Program, (Mario Sanchez), former professional indoor players for the Louisville Lightning (Frank Peabody, Simon Bird, Nick Staggs, JT Murray and Charlie Campbell) and three EX-­‐MLS players. The Men’s Open Division consisted of four groups all created from a blind draw that was recorded and watched by many. During group play, the competition was stiff, only the top two teams from each group advanced to the Quarter Finals, hosted Sunday, January 4th. In the Quarter Finals, Adam Boyer’s “LSA” team would match up with Justin Robbins’ “Super Smash Bros” team, Jay Schneider’s “Cincy Swerve” team would compete against Kent Weyland’s team and defending Champion, “Jive Turkey”, Buck Tufty’s “Louis Villa” Team and Cole Page’s “Outlaws” would go up against each other and Bobby Poursanidis’ “BPNPSS” and Isad Merzihic’s “BMW Auto Sales” would go at it. Through many hard fought, competitive, and high intensity games, four teams advanced to the semifinals. The most exciting part of the night was the Men’s Open Semifinals that featured talent that would cost money to go see if it were anywhere else. The Men’s Open Semifinals highlighted an Adam Boyer “LSA” team that was the 2014 Men’s Open Runner-­‐Up versus a Kent Weyland “Jive Turkey” team that was the 2014 defending Champions in one semi-­‐final, while the other semi-­‐final featured was a Buck Tufty “Louis Villa” team that featured multiple ex-­‐professional athletes and a Bobby Poursanidis “BPNPSS” team that had been named tournament champion 12 times in the past 30 years. LSA and Jive Turkey competed extremely hard for 40 minutes straight, looking like another championship match. Aware that only one team could surface as the victor, both team dug in and battled to the absolute end, where Adam Boyer’s “LSA” team edged out the defending champions to advance to the finals for their chance to claim the crown. At the same time that LSA and Jive Turkey were competing, another championship caliber match-­‐up was underway with Buck Tufty’s Louis Villa team, and Bobby Poursanidis’ BPNPSS team. Determined to have a shot at the championship trophy and with a lot on the line, these teams went at it hard. This was an exciting match up that ended regulation with a 4-­‐4 tie. Heading into a golden goal period, Louis Villa was afflicted with injuries to Nick Staggs (who left the game for a short period with an apparent knee injury) and goalkeeper, Frank Peabody, who suffered an ankle injury towards the end of regulation, but showed his tenacity playing through the pain to finish the contest. Both teams survived the golden-­‐goal overtime period without conceding a goal, and the match progressed to a shootout to determine a winner. With BPNPSS having two of their five attempts saved by an injured, Frank Peabody, “Louis Villa” defeated BPNPSS 5-­‐4 in penalties to advance to the finals. After a grueling match up in the semifinals, we were unsure if the competition could get any better. However with a “Louis Villa” versus “LSA” match-­‐up we got exactly what we bargained for in a very competitive and entertaining contest for all who were at MVSC to witness. Due to the severity of the injury suffered in the semi-­‐final by “Louis Villa” goalkeeper, Frank Peabody, the team would see a substitute in the goalkeeper position for the final match. Former MLS Standout and Louisville Lightning Head Coach, Scott Budnick, who showed by no means is any lesser of a player than starter Frank Peabody. With Nick Staggs back in action for the final, but several other key team members out for the finals, “Louis Villa” was nearly at full strength, with exception to the exhaustion of playing 5 previous high caliber games to advance to the Championship. “Louis Villa” narrowly held on to clench the title of 2015 Tournament Champion and advancement to the National Indoor Soccer Championship in Palatine, IL in March, with a 3-­‐2 victory over a very high caliber “LSA” team that once again claimed the Tournament Runner-­‐up title for the second consecutive year.