U14 Blaze wins Fusion championship tournament
Comet staff report

Champion team Carroll County Soccer U14 Blaze won the Fusion Fall Festival held last weekend in Indianapolis. Members of the team include (l-r): Kneeling - Kate Hickner (Flora), Shelbi Fisher (Camden), Braden Kemp (Camden), Elliot Packard (Flora), Justin Baker (Rossville), Austin Goodman (Camden), Bryce Everett (Lafayette), Alex Tello (Delphi). Standing - Ricky Windell (Camden), Codey Sattler (Delphi), Dan Budreau (Camden), Jeremy Hayes (Flora), Jackson O'Brien (Logansport), Jared Schliglof (Logansport), Blake Seward (Flora), Jose Molina (Logansport), Juan Carlos Velez (Delphi), and coach Gabor Pszota (West Lafayette, originally from Hungary). Photo provided

Carroll County Soccer U14 Blaze blew away the opposition Sunday afternoon 3-1 to claim the Fusion Fall Festival championship. The tournament was held Nov. 3 and 4 in Indianapolis.

After beating B division Sporting Indiana '94 1-0, the Blaze tied Terre Haute Flyers coming from the AS division 2-2 later on Saturday. With a 0-0 draw against Fusion Navy '94 Sunday morning they qualified for the final, where they faced the same team again. Fusion Navy, one of the home teams coming from the AAN division, was the favorite for the championship, but the Carroll Blaze team was unstoppable Sunday, winning 3-1 to claim the title.

"It already showed during the fall season that this team is able not to just compete against high level opposition, but also to play quality soccer that is exciting to watch," said Pszota. "On the basis of this, I was hoping to be successful if everything worked out and the team showed its better face. After fighting hard and winning the first game against a rough and highly motivated opponent, we fell asleep a little bit and allowed two quick goals in the first half of the second game. Watching the game, I felt that we could come back as long as our team believed it. They did, and we scored one not long after the start of second half."

"The team started to play at a much higher speed, dominating the rest of the game and scoring one more and getting a tie," continued Pszota. "This was the game where the team really found itself, and that gave momentum to tackle the remaining challenges. The face that our team showed in the final was completely new to me and it exceeded all my expectations. The pace that we dictated and the way our players fought for each other was something the other team didn't have an answer to."

"This weekend we honored the memory of Sam Kemp," Pszota said. "His son, Braden, scored a goal that gave us our hopes back when we were down."

The Fusion Fall Festival championship capped a highly successful fall season for the U14 Blaze. They earned second place in the AN division with only one loss out of the 10 games.

"Every effort has to be made to keep this team together because it is very solid now," added Pszota. "I am confident that they will achieve future results that Carroll County can be proud of."