NY Pancyprian Freedoms Advance in Three New York State Cups
This was a busy weekend for the NY Pancyprian Freedoms with each mens teams competing in an Eastern New York State Soccer Association Cup,. Advancing in the three cups would mean the club is keeping with is traditional of being one of the top soccer programs in the nation.
Starting with the 2023 Dr. Manning Cup, open to all Premier Division teams of the Eastern Premier Soccer League and the Cosmopolitan Soccer League (CSL), the result was never in question for the NY Pancyprian Freedoms against the Manhattan Kickers FC from the first division of the CSL. The game was played on Sunday, October 16th at Belson Stadium at St. John’s University in front of vocal home fans. After two goals in the first half by Camil Koreichi and Joseph Holland, it would be Holland to find the back of the net again for a second time in the second half to seal a 3-0 victory. Goalkeeper Aristides Costeas kept a clean sheet in his first start in goal. The game is available to watch on Game In Frame.
“Overall I am happy with the team. We dominated from start to finish,” said Panos Onisiforou, NYPF Head Coach. “It was important to see the team stay focused and to play our game.”
On Saturday, October 15th In the 2023 Strumpf Cup, open to all 3rd and Metro division teams, the NYPF II faced a Falco FC returning to Astoria Park confident after their league win over the NYPF II the prior weekend. The game seemed to be an exact copy of the week before with the NYPF dominating possession and attacking opportunities as Falco sat back disrupting any flow to the game. This strategy would work midway into the second half with Falco getting a goal against the run of play. It didn’t take long for NYPF to level the game with a beautiful goal by Sean Arus. The 1-1 score pushed the game into spot kicks. With one save by NYPF veteran keeper George Angelidis and one missed NYPF kick by Gerasimos Tzanetatos, an eighth round spot kick by Arda Yazici ended the game with NYPF winning 7-6 on penalty kicks. The game is available to watch on Game in Frame.
“We got the win where it counted the most and we look forward to the next round of the cup,” said Paul Kontonis, NYPF II Head Coach. “The players were not about the let this game slip away, everyone one of them contributed to this victory.”
Also on Sunday, October 16th back in Astoria Park, the NYPF O-30 faced Central Park Rangers United in the 2023 Marth Cup, open to all over 30 teams. The matchup is a rematch of the 2022 Marth Cup final in which NYPF 0-30 drew 1-1 but lost on spot kicks. The Central Park Rangers came out strong and scored in the first half. The NYPF O-30 answered back with second half goals from Javed Morris and Jose Sorto Fuentes to came away with the 2-1 win.
Each team awaits the results of the other games in their respective cup brackets.
The NYPF next play on Thursday, October 20th in the semi-final round of the 2023 Werner Fricker Open Cup against Suffolk County in Breezy Park Field, Huntington. In their last meeting the NYPF came away with a 4-0 victory. The winner of this match plays in the final against Lansdowne Yonkers FC.
