By John Dempsey
The spring season has only just started yet Mandeville Soccer Club has already managed an impressive 16 appearances in the finals of tournaments over two weekends. 

The weekend of February 19-20 twelve teams travelled to Pensacola, Florida for the Pensacola Classic hosted by the Dallas Texans Florida. Of those twelve teams two made the semi-finals six made the finals and four brought home 1st place hardware. 

The two U-11B Lakers met in the Premier Division final on Sunday with the Black team winning the final 2-0. In the U-12G Premier Division both Lakers teams made the last four. The Lakers White Team fell  due to nothing more than bad luck in PK’s while the Lakers Black team made the finals. Both U-13 Boys and Girls Lakers brought home Championships. The U-13G Lakers won in impressive fashion; they scored twenty-one goals in four games, only conceded one goal on the weekend, and won the final 3-0. In the 15/16 Boys Division MSC Nitro also impressed as they scored fourteen goals in four games, conceded one and won the final 3-0.

The weekend of February 26-27 MSC sent fourteen teams to the 20th Annual Red Stick Tournament in Baton Rouge and two teams to the Tabasco Shootout in New Iberia.  Of the sixteen teams playing in the two tournaments nine of them made it into the finals and four brought championship trophies back to Mandeville with them on Sunday night. 

In Baton Rouge, MSC Mayhem made their first final appearance in the U-11 Boys Bronze Division. In the U-12 Girls Gold Division Final the MSC Storm ended regulation play in a tie and had some bad luck in penalties. In the U-14 Girls Gold Division Final MSC ’97 Black took the Runner-Up prize as well. In the four other Final Matches that Mandeville Soccer Club teams played the outcomes were more favorable, The MSC Legacy took the top prize in the U-15 Girls Gold Division. Both U-16 Girls and Boys teams, MSC Revolution and MSC Nitro respectively brought home the top prize from the U-16 Girls Gold Division and the U-16 Boys Gold Division. Finally, MSC United took home some championship hardware but not before having to endure the added pressure of going to penalties at the end of extra time.

Both groups who traveled to New Iberia made it to the finals. The MSC Maniacs met the Kajun Chaos in the finals of the U-12 Girls Division for the second time in as many tournaments and the second time in New Iberia. For the first time in three meetings MSC Maniacs managed a tie in regular time only to fall in penalties. In the U-13 Girls Division of The Tabasco Shootout MSC Chaos took second place after playing the defending Division I State Champions to a 0-0 draw after regular time and falling on the seventh round of penalty kicks.

It would be an understatement to say that it was a good two weeks for Mandeville Soccer Club. By the numbers what MSC teams achieved is just flat out impressive. In all the club had 26 entrants into 3 tournaments, 17 teams made it through bracket play, 15 teams made it to the finals, and 8 brought home the top prize in their respective divisions.