By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 5, 2019-The Boys-Under-12 State Open Cup final in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) on June 1 at Stringham Park in LaGrange was a nail-biting affair that went to 10 rounds of the shootout to determine a champion.
After New York Stars Premier Galaxy and Kings Park Xtreme tied 1-1 after both regulation and overtime, a shootout was needed. New York Stars won that, 9-8, and the New York City-based team will represent Eastern New York at the Regionals from June 28 to July 4 in Charleston, West Virginia as part of the National Championship Series.
“There was a very marginal difference between two excellent teams who play a similar style. Kings Park is really, really good,” commented New York Stars coach Errol McFarlane. “In the end with the shootout, it came down to us holding our concentration.”
Sebastian Valdez scored New York Stars’ only goal of the game during regulation, also on a penalty kick.
New York Stars also received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award as determined by the game officials. The namesake of the award, who died in 2016, was inducted into the Halls of Fame of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and Eastern New York plus was honored as a Life Member by U.S. Soccer. Amoroso started the LIJSL Sportsmanship Program in 1980, it has since been copied around the world and he spoke about the benefits of Fair Play across the United States.
With over 100,000 youth soccer players––both boys and girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Children With Special Needs. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log onto http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.