Two Columbus United Soccer Club teams won championships and another placed second at the Frostbite Tournament on Feb. 25-26 in Starkville.
The Columbus United Under-14 boys defeated Starkville, Oxford, and Amory in bracket play and beat Amory 8-1 in the championship match to take the title.
The win marks the third tournament championship for the team since September. It also won the Clinton Fall Classic and MSA Coaches Cup. The team is 17-0 and ranked No. 7 in the state.
The U-14 boys allowed one goal in the tournament. Goalkeeper Eli Hemphill recorded three shutouts. Backs Avery Velek, A.J. Reed, Daniel Longmire, Sam Young, Andy Blakney, and D.J. Beckom supported him and played solid defense.
The team scored 27 goals, with Roger Shilling leading the team in scoring.
Coached by Tom Velek and Chris Hemphill, the team upset the No. 1 team in Tennessee 2-0 last weekend in the first round of the Adidas Regional Blowout. It went on to take second in the event.
The Columbus United U-16 girls beat Tupelo and Saltillo and tied Starkville in bracket play. It defeated Saltillo 3-2 to take the championship. The title match was tied with 12 minutes to go when Effie Morrison scored the go-ahead goal. Morrison led the team in scoring. Farris Bradley and Missy Swaim followed in scoring.
Goalkeepers Abbey Whitman and McKenzie Harvey and defenders Justine Bell, Kayla Smith, Michelle Swaim, Brooke Younger, and Madison Thrasher anchored the defense.
This is the U-16 girls’ first tournament title. The team is coached by Derrick Parnell and Don Whitman.
“It was great to be able to come out in our first competition together and win a championship,” Parnell said.
The U-12 boys, coached by Ryan Rickert, took second in a round-robin bracket, losing only to eventual champion Oxford. The U-10 boys and girls and the U-12 girls also competed.
Tom Velek, director of competitive soccer for Columbus United, said it was the first time Columbus United has won two championships at the Frostbite event, which is the traditional tournament that marks the opening of the spring club soccer season.
“It is outstanding we can go into a tournament like this and have all our teams play competitively,” Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority’s Greg Lewis said.
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