The New York Pancyprian Freedoms continued their Eastern New York dominance with a 2-0 Semifinal win over the New York Athletic Club. The Freedoms got their goals from Chris Megaloudis and Jeff Matteo to reach their fifth straight Eastern NY Open Cup Final. They move on to play the winner of the other final four match between Fenerbahce USA and New York Greek American Atlas for the right to advance to the USASA Region I tournament next Spring.
After a scoreless first half, the Freedoms broke through in the 60th minute. Pete Halkidis played a ball over to Megaloudis who split three defenders and placed a low shot to the left of a diving goalkeeper.
The game was a defensive battle with both teams able to withstand the attack of the other, however the Freedoms would put the game away off a set piece. After a foul was called just outside of the penalty area, second half substitute and former USL player Jeff Matteo stepped up and scored off the free kick to make it 2-0.
The Freedoms will host the winner of next week’s match between Fenerbahce USA and New York Greek American Atlas. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2 at St. John’s University. The championship game is also scheduled to be played at St. John’s on a date to be determined.
NY Pancyprian Freedoms Lineup:
(Luka Lukovic) Chad Calderone, Srdjan Stojiljkovic, Chris Zisimatos, Matia Damiani, Stelios Andreou, Tasso Polydefkis (Jeff Matteo 50th min), Pete Halkidis (Peter Pavlakos 85th min), Andreas Pafitis, Peter Antoniades (Marc Reeves 20th min), Chris Megaloudis, Julio Cesar DoSantos