Soccer Teams From Seven States Return to Action After Two Year Delay
Though Saturday had been most teams' first tournament play in two years, 11-year-old Luke Bertsch of the Greenfield, IN, Hot Shots was the first player in the door for the Power Soccer Hoosier Thaw Invitational at Turnstone’s Plassman Center. Bertsch was an hour early but couldn’t stop pushing the ball around with his chair by himself.
“I love power soccer, playing, and getting for the team makes me happy,” he said, sporting a green-colored Mohawk haircut and designer tennis shoes decorated with his jersey number and team logo. “I love to celebrate even when we lose. I like to play other teams, to watch how they do it and learn from their skills.”
Bertsch’s enthusiasm and energy perfectly exemplified each of the 13 teams from seven states who participated over the weekend. After sitting out two years due to the pandemic, everyone was very eager to play! The invitational presented some outstanding efforts, lots of smiles, and tons of amazing sportsmanship over the two days as everyone played at least three games.
Lots of first-time players – and some teams – earned their first major competition experience, and some of the veterans restored their reputations as national players. Everyone got reacquainted with old friends and made new ones.
Amazingly,12 of 13 teams earned at least one victory, and each team endured at least one loss. Seven of the 26 matches were decided by one goal, three ended in ties and 6 games had a two goal differential.
This invitational included six of the top ten teams in the nation which was almost a toss of the coin for the winners in each match. Of this group, the RHI Sudden Impact squad from Indianapolis had the best record at 3-1. Their solo 1-2 loss came from their neighbors, Circle City Rollers from Greenwood, IN. The Rollers went 2-1-1 with their only loss was to the host team, Turnstone Flyers, 0-1.
Turnstone ended up going 1-2-1 where they won their final game vs the Rollers 2-0. The marquee game for Turnstone was played against Sudden Impact which included two former athletes: Luke Labas and Lexi Heer. Luke played his first game against Turnstone which is coached by his brother Sam Labas. Turnstone came out with an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 10-minute mark. Lexi tied the game 7 minutes into the second half. Three minutes later, Jordan Dickey closed out the match with Ginny Munson getting the assist on both goals for a 2-1 victory.
The team that traveled the furthest (about 10-hour drive), the Sting from Atlanta, GA went 1-1-2. Their first two matches ended in a tie 1-1 and 0-0 vs Turnstone and Rollers respectively. The Sting had a close 2-1 loss to Sudden Impact and took care of business with a 4-0 vs GLASA Fire from Lake Forest, IL. GLASA went 2-2 with their key Premier Cup 1-0 victory over the DASA Cyclones from Florissant, MO. The Cyclones went 3-1 with two of their victories over the two cup divisions (Champions & Presidents) just below Premier with a 4-2 win over the Warriors from Madison, WI, and 5-0 vs ASPO Force from Wooster, OH.
With the Warriors being the only team in the Champions Cup they played 3 tough matches vs teams in the Premier Cup with a 7-0 win vs the Force who's in the Presidents Cup. The Force was in a similar position being the solo cup team had two uphill battles vs the higher cup teams and found success in both their wins in the Founders Cup: 6-1 vs RHI Inferno from Indianapolis, IN, and 4-2 victory over the Hot Shots from Greenfield, IN
The Founders Cup included 5 teams nationally ranked between #31-38. The Hot Shots took control of this level of play by going 4-1 with their tightest game being a 2-1 victory over the DASA Firecrackers from Florissant, MO. The Firecrackers went 2-1-1 with a high intensity 1-1 tie vs Inferno.
Turnstone's second team, Turnstone Furious Flyers went 1-3 with their lone 3-2 victory over the Mary Free Bed Overdrive from Grand Rapids, MI. This was the Overdrive's very first tournament in power soccer; however, the Mary Free Bed program is a long-time rival vs Turnstone as both organizations have been competing against each other in numerous sports since the 90s. This rivalry is strong in healthy competition as Turnstone provided Overdrive with a majority of their soccer sports chairs to get this team started.
All-Tournament team:
Kenzie Damon of the Wisconsin Warriors
Christian Prugh of ASPO Force
Jenna Filip of DASA Firecrackers
Michael Archer of Circle City
Zachary Dickey of Atlanta Sting
Anthony Mercado of GLASA Fire
Lizzie Chaffee of Hot Shots
Myles Shafer of DASA Cyclones
Jordan Dickey of RHI Sudden Impact
David Dowling of Turnstone
Turnstone Flyers Stats:
David Dowling 3 Goals & 3 Assists
Danil Vorndran 3 Goals
Derek Sellers *Played 1st time at Premier Level
Tiffany Labas *Goaltender
Turnstone Furious Flyers Stats:
Kadence Waldron 4 Goals *Played first Matches
Owen 1 Goal & 2 Assists
Greg Buse 2 Goals
All Turnstone games can be watched here.
Remembering Julie Meyers:
It's with a heavy heart that we share that Julie Meyers passed away Friday, February 25. Julie was a big part of the Turnstone program since 2006 which is the same year we started power soccer. Julie was also part of many of our recreational programs which included cycling, dancing, prades, snow skiing, bowling, candy making, and other socials to name a few. She worked for our local school system for many years, was a foster mom, and volunteered for Hospice. The impact she's had goes well beyond all the above.
During the tournament, Julie's competition chair was on display in the front lobby with photos, memorial notes, and flowers in her memory. In the second round of matches, all teams, coaches, referees, and spectators gathered for a moment in honor of Julie.