Photos by St. Louis Digital
It was a wonderful weekend for soccer in St. Louis as the Lou Fusz Soccer Club presented its annual “Fall Invitational” tournament. This year over 200 teams attended the event; bring quality soccer experience from all over the Mid-West. This year several clubs were represented from several different states including Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Kentucky. With 32 competing flights in this event and over 330 total games played it was easily one of the biggest local tournaments of the fall.
Lou Fusz SC teams had a huge showing in this event and ended up with 10 total first place finishes, in addition to 10 total second place finishes. We saw Lou Fusz teams take on each other in the finals of 5 divisions, a huge accomplishment.
Division Summaries
Here is a brief recap of some of the action from the weekend as Lou Fusz teams competed in championship matches:
Girls:
U10 Red Division saw one of the titan matchups of the weekend as LF Phillips/Stahlschmidt took on LF Stdko/Slivinski. The long time rivals both went undefeated in group play, and in the end Phillips/Stahlschmidt took the advantage with a 3-1 victory in the final
U10 Blue Division was conquered by the LF Walsh/Noonan team. These girls went undefeated in group play and only conceded 2 goals the entire tournament leading up to their 1-0 victory in the final.
U11 Blue Division was made up for 4 teams playing in a round-robin format. The LF Lawrence girls ended group play with 2 wins and 1 loss. They went on to the championship match and were narrowly defeated 1-0. They plan on coming back to take the gold next year.
U12 Red Division saw what was arguably the best championship match up of weekend as undefeated LF Carbol girls took on the undefeated and unscored upon LF Geerling girls. This final ended with Geerling being crowned champions, remaining undefeated and unscored upon.
U13 Red Division was the battle of the ‘Smiths’ as LF Smith took on LF Smith/Shoults in the final, after a great weekend of group games by both teams. Ultimately, LF Smith was able to shutdown the high powered offense of LF Smith/Shoults in the final with a 2-0 victory.
U14 Blue Division was one of the most difficult and evenly matched brackets of the tournament as most of the games in group play ended in low scoring draws, or 1 goal victories. The LF Ward Blue girls went into the final with 2 wins and 1 draw and played admirably in the final but unfortunately came up just short of the gold medal.
U15 Blue Division played witness to a brutal group stage as LF Senter emerged from the ‘group of death’ with 1 victory and 2 draws to clinch a berth into the championship match to face the undefeated and unscored upon LF Klinge/Phillips girls. Both teams played a great final that ultimately ended with Klinge/Phillips edging out Senter in the end. Another 1 and 2 finish for Lou Fusz teams. Great job girls!
Boys:
U9 Red Division played host to 8 very competitive boys teams and ended with the LF Nolan 08 boys making their way to the finals. The Nolan team went 3-0 in group play and were narrowly defeated in the final. Nolan’s boys plan on returning next fall to claim the gold.
U9 Blue Division saw the LF Avenvoli boys score a group leading 13 goals during the initial round of the tournament leading up the finals. They played very well in the 7v7 format league and were able to take the silver medal overall.
U10 Red Division saw another Nolan team take the gold as the LF Nolan White 07 boys defeated Kansas City side Northeast United Saints in the final. Both teams went into the championship showdown undefeated and played to an epic 2-1 Lou Fusz victory in the end.
U11 Red Division was the battleground for yet another all Lou Fusz final! This division was headed by great play from both the LF Weber 06 boys and the LF Dragicevic White 06 boys. These two teams were the leading scorers of their respective brackets with a combined 38 goals while conceding only 4! In the end LF Weber was able to overpower LF Dragicevic White 5-2 in the championship match.
U12 Blue Division witnessed LF Sorice run the table with 3 wins and no defeats through the group play matches. The LF Sorice boys took home the gold with a 6-0 victory in the final match.
U14/15 Red Division was the stage for the homecoming of the LF King boys as they battled through the group phase of the tournament scoring 6 goals and conceding 0. LF King was able to take down tournament giants and out of town rival Kentucky Fire in the championship match posting a closely contested 1-0 victory.
U14/15 Blue Division saw yet another LF Phillips take the gold as they scored the group leading 20 goals during the initial stage of the tournament and conceded 0. They faced off against out of town rivals Overland Park Rebels in the championship match and ended with a 3-2 victory.
U14/15 White Division was the heavyweight group with teams ranked very highly at the state level and national level of the 2002 age group. New kids on the block, LF Carotenuto Blue boys went 2-1 in their first 3 games of the group stage and were able to automatically clinch a berth into the finals where they faced 2015 Missouri State Cup champions, and regional runners up, Sporting JB Mann. After 60 scoreless minutes the deadlock was broken as Mann’s boys got the opening goal. The game remained closely contested and ended in a 2-0 defeat of the LF Carotenuto boys.