By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 21, 2017-Two weeks after winning the Eastern New York Premier League (ENYPL) championship, the Red Hook Heatwave topped the LaGrange Chargers, 2-1, to win the Girls-Under-18 State Open Cup. The game between two East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) teams was played on Sunday, June 4 at Stringham Park in LaGrange.
The Player of the Match was Red Hook goalkeeper Kyla Burns. Lauren Engel scored a Red Hook goal and Isabelle LaBarbera added the other off an assist by Alexa Franceschi.
“We are very excited to win the double!” commented Red Hook coach Paul LaBarbera. “The LaGrange team is awesome. They tested our keeper, Kyla Burns, and she is very aggressive. The girls left it all on the field as it was our solid defense that led us to the win, even though we had no subs because of a prom last night.”
A more rested Red Hook team will represent the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) at the Regionals from June 30 to July 4 in Spotsylvania, Virginia.
Red Hook also received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award as determined by the game officials. The namesake of the award, who died last year, 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.