By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 7, 2019-Two teams from Long Island competed in the Boys-Under-14 State Open Cup final on June 1 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. SUSA B05 defeated Stony Brook Red Star, 4-1, to win the Howard Rubenstein Cup.
Now living in Kentucky, Rubenstein was seemingly involved in every facet of New York soccer for decades and is a member of the Halls of Fame of Eastern New York, the US Amateur Soccer Association and the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL).
The second place team, Stony Brook, is nothing but consistent as this was their third consecutive trip to the final.
SUSA will represent the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) at the Regionals from June 28 to July 4 in Charleston, West Virginia as part of the National Championship Series.
SUSA’s Kyle Knussman scored two goals, Nick Nowak and Anthony Randazo added one apiece to win the state championship.
“Our pace was excellent and we were very organized defensively,” stated SUSA coach Dan Kravitsky.
Kravitsky coached the Sachem Destroyers, with current NYCFC player Joe Scally, to the State Cup title four years ago and his first State Cup title was coaching the HBC Raiders way back in the 1980’s.
SUSA also received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award, as determined by the game officials. Amoroso, a US Soccer Life Member who died three years ago, started the LIJSL Sportsmanship Program in 1980 and it spread to Eastern New York, nationally and then to China and Ireland, and in the process, made soccer games kinder and gentler.
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.