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