By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 10, 2015-The Girls-Under-17 State Open Cup final of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) was an interesting match-up between the HBC Strikers of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and the Manhattan Kickers Red of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL), two teams who had never won a State Open Cup championship before. HBC proved they are the best team in the state with a 3-1 win on a wet field on May 31 in LaGrange.
Brianna Cuccia, Emily Kaplan and Dominique Sarcona scored the HBC goals.
“We have been preparing for the State Open Cup for the whole year as we trained 11 months for this,” commented HBC coach Moussa Sy. “It takes consistency and commitment like everything else and playing in the Regionals will not be any different.”
HBC received a $2,000 check from Eastern New York to defray their costs during the Regionals from June 26 to 30 in Barboursville, West Virginia.
Manhattan received the Howard Rubenstein Sportsmanship Award for the Fair Play they demonstrated on the field. Now retired, Mr. 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.
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 Special Children. 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 on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.