New York Athletic Club

2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Lansdowne Bhoys’ surprise debut ends in Eastern NY title

January 16, 2014 by Michael Berton

lansdowne-bhoys-eastern-ny-final — Lansdowne Bhoys win the 2013 Eastern NY Open Cup title. Photo: Lansdowne Bhoys Facebook page

Lansdowne Bhoys are the Eastern New York Open Cup champions in its first attempt after defeating New York Athletic Club last November. The 2-1 victory in the final finished off a magical run that saw the side upset one of New York’s oldest and most famous clubs, Greek American Atlas SC.

The Bhoys may be relative unknowns nationally, but in New York they were steamrolling through competition in their local league, the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Containing such teams as the four-time US Open Cup champion Greek Americans and three-time Open Cup winners New York Pancyprian Freedoms, the CSL is the top amateur conference in New York, and arguably the nation. Lansdowne finished the fall season with a 9-1-0 record, outscoring its opponents 31-7.

The champions began their tournament at home against the Greek Americans, emerging 5-4 winners. After taking a 5-1 lead, Bhoys player/coach Austin Friel said that the team took its “foot off the gas.” The Greek Americans scored three goals in the last three minutes but could not find an equalizer.

In the second round, Lansdowne was pitted against United FC, which upset the Pancyprian Freedoms in the prior round 7-6 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. The Bhoys pulled out another close victory, this time winning 3-2 on the road. In a back-and-forth affair, United scored first, the Bhoys netted two goals, then United equalized. Lansdowne ended up scoring a late goal to win the game and advance to the final four.

Lansdowne’s next opponents were fellow CSL side Clarkstown FC Eagles, which made it to the semifinals with a pair of victories against non-CSL competition. In the first round, the Eagles scored a 4-0 victory over Stade Breton New York, which according to its Facebook page is the oldest French soccer team in the United States, having been created in 1955. Then, in round two, Clarkstown was a 4-1 victor over Westchester CF.

In the semifinal match-up, Lansdowne was dominant, earning a 5-0 victory over Clarkstown, which also operates a club in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Clarkstown coach Kevin Grogan, who was an Irish youth international who signed for Manchester United in 1997, said that while Lansdowne deserved the victory, an early sending-off influenced the game and led to the flattering scoreline.

In the final, the Bhoys got ahead quickly against NY Athletic Club, who advanced straight to the final thanks to winning the Rapaglia Cup, a tournament of champions in New York. Dwayne Reid, who was among the PDL leaders in points per minute last summer with the Ocean City Nor’easters, opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Fewer than 10 minutes later, Jermaine Russell added a second. NYAC had a glimmer of hope after Alessandro Sucre’s 88th minute goal, but Lansdowne was able to hold on to the 2-1 lead to earn its first state Open Cup title.

“For the first 25 minutes we were really dominant and possibly could have scored a few more,” Friel said. “We were just happy to win the game and move on to the next round.”

Lansdowne Bhoys will now represent Eastern New York in the 2014 USASA Region I Open Cup tournament, which is scheduled to begin April 6. The winner of that tournament will join the Region I Amateur Cup winner in the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

The USASA’s qualifying deadline was moved up to Dec. 31, and since there was no way to fit state and regional tournaments in before the end of the year, the 2014 Region I entries were already decided based on 2013’s results. The 2013 Region I Open Cup champion Icon FC (New Jersey) and Amateur Cup winners, Greek American Atlas, punched their tickets to this year’s Open Cup already.

2013-14 Eastern NY Open Cup Tournament
Home teams listed first

First Round

United FC 3:3 New York Pancyprian Freedoms
United FC advances 7:6 on penalty kicks
Lansdowne Bhoys 5:4 New York Greek Americans
Clarkstown FC Eagles 4:0 Stade Breton
Barnstonworth Rovers FC 1:1 Westchester CF
Westchester CF advances 11:10 on penalty kicks
New York Athletic Club – bye

Quarterfinals

United FC 2:3 Lansdowne Bhoys
Westchester CF 1:4 Clarkstown FC Eagles
New York Athletic Club – bye

Semifinals

Lansdowne Bhoys 3:0 Clarkstown FC Eagles
New York Athletic Club – bye

Final

New York Athletic Club 1:2 Lansdowne Bhoys

2010 Qualifying: Pancyprian Freedoms reach 5th straight Eastern NY Final

November 25, 2009 by

New York Pancyprian Freedoms: Three-time US Open Cup champions

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

2010 Qualifying: Pancyprian Freedoms among opening round Eastern NY winners

November 6, 2009 by

The New York Pancyprian Freedoms got off on the right foot in US Open Cup qualifying, defeating the Barstonworth Rovers 2-0 in the opening round of the Eastern New York Open Cup tournament.

The three-time Open Cup champions (1980, 1982, 1983) took an early lead in the 15th minute when Pete Halkidis found Tasso Polydefkis at the top of the penalty area, and Polydefkis fired it past the Rovers goalkeeper.

In the 28th minute, Polydefkis helped the Freedoms add to their lead when his corner kick found the head of Puerto Rican international Chris Megaloudis who found the back of the net.

The Freedoms controlled the majority of play on a damp night, but the Rovers continued to fight back with counter attacks. In the 55th minute, Barstonworth had a chance to cut the lead in half with a penalty kick, but New York goalkeeper Chad Calderone dove to his right to make the save to keep the clean sheet.

The Freedoms have pretty much the same team as they had from last year’s team that won the 2008 US Open Amateur Cup (USASA). They will move on to take on New York Athletic Club, who had no trouble with their opening round matchup, beating Stade Breton New York by a score of 7-0. The date has not been confirmed as of yet.

New York returns to league play in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League where they are in first place in the East group with a 3-1-2 record.

NY Pancyprian Freedoms lineup
Coach: Lukas Lukovic

Chad Calderone, Jon Simos, Chris Zisimatos, Matia Damiani, Peter Pavlakos, Stelios Andreou, Julio Cesar DoSantos (Tommy Vlahos 75th min.), Jeffrey Matteo, Pete Halkidis (Peter Antoniades 70th min.), Chris Megaloudis, Tasso Polydefkis

Fenerbahce USA 16:1 VV Nieuw Amsterdam

Fenerbahce USA scored a goal in the first five minutes of the match and never looked back in a 16-1 win over VV Nieuw Amsterdam. The term ‘mismatch’ might be a strong understatement as Fenerbahce’s Mohammad Mashriqi scored an unheard of 10 goals to send his club to the Semifinals of the Eastern New York Open Cup tournament. The score was 10-0 by the time the halftime whistle blew and their dominance continued from beginning to end in a game played at Bayville Soccer Stadium in Bayville, NY. Fenerbahce will likely be tested in their next match as they take on the New York Greek American Atlas.

Fenerbahce USA goalscorers: Mohamammed Mashriqi (10), Keith Ditell (2), Noorullah (2), Douglas Navarez (1), Ugur Kahveci (1).

Other Eastern New York First Round results:

New York Greek American Atlas 2:1 New York City Albanians
New York Athletic Club 7:0 Stade Breton NY

Eastern New York Semifinals schedule (Both games played at St. John’s University):

November 24: New York Athletic Club at New York Pancyprian Freedoms
November 25: New York Greek American Atlas at Fenerbahce USA