The Olney Blades played in the Columbia Invitational 2009 Tournament over Memorial Day weekend, May 23 to 25. In their opening game the boys faced FC Frederic Academy Blue and easily won the game by 11:0 (4:0). Going into the second game against Herndon Inferno the Blades knew, after Hernadon had beaten Bethesda White 5:0, that this would be the toughest nut to crack to advance to the final. Although the Herndon Boys scored early the Blades were not impressed and passed the ball swiftly to a 1:1 tie in the first half. The second half was all about Blades Magic™ and the magicians finished the game 3:1. On the second day the boys played Bethesda White and won 8:0 (3:0), leaving no doubt about their ambitious plans for the 2009 Columbia Invitational. D-day was M-Day, when the Blades entered their final battle against the winner of bracket 1, the Freestate United Reds. An early lead by Marcos in the 16th minute of the first half underlined again the strong showing of the Olney boys and it did not take long until Olney striker Davis secured a robust 2:0 lead. But the Reds did not give up and were able to score an important goal minutes before the half time whistle. In the second half Freestate continued to play strong and were rewarded a second goal to tie the game. This however did not change the Blades rock solid determination to win the game and take home the trophy. Eight minutes before the end of the game the referee called a free kick for the Blades. Davis, who typically takes care of these matters, carefully positioned the leather on the turf, just outside the mid-field kick off area, stepped back a couple of yards and hammered the ball with his right foot up high into the net to set the final score to 3:2. Congratulations Olney Blades for a fantastic tournament and congratulations also to the brave opponent, the Freestate United Reds. For more information about the U9 Olney Blades please visit the team web site.