Annual TOP Soccer Tournament at Plainview Old Bethpage
It was a very successful outing for more than 30 TOP soccer athletes who gathered to take part in the Long Island Junior Soccer League’s Plainview/Old Bethpage TOP Soccer Tournament.
Juniors / Intermediates
NHP 2, Terryville/W. Hempstead/Islip 2. The New Hyde Park Wildcats Juniors and Intermediates combined their talents and played against a conglomerate Green team from Terryville, West Hempstead and Islip. The games were well played by all athletes.
After a slow start in the first game, when NHP defense wasn’t quite settled and their opponents scored two quick goals. The Wildcats decided that was enough. Joshua Hom caught a pass from Demetri Georgedakis and sent the ball into the net. Not to be outdone, defender Nickolas Mazariegos, took the ball and had a breakaway down the field and tied the game.
James Sarro, Desmond O’Callaghan and Matthew Lausev were outstanding as midfielders.
NHP 3 vs. Terryville/W. Hempstead/Islip 0. After a well-deserved break, the NHP Wildcats played the Green team in a second game. At that time, the athletes must have discussed their offensive and defensive strategies because New Hyde Park came out on the field hungry for more goals. NHP’s goalie Frank LaPinta was unstoppable and had some unbelievable saves. He led his defense of Demond Pearson, Brandon and Brian Cisneros with authority and they backed him up, sending countless balls into the midfield.
LaPinta’s top defender, Petros D’Amico, had a strong game and even took one for the team during the last play of the match. For the first goal, Alex Laroia set up the play by controlling the ball in the midfield, sent it to the outside and Lucas Micchione dribbled around a few of the opponents, passed the ball to Sophocles Gianakis, who placed it in the back of the net for NHP.
Offensive midfielder John Bertuccio had a great game, with a few breakaways down the side of the field, but the opponent’s goalie was able to stop his shots. Nicolas Krieger, as the other offensive midfielder, brought the ball up with his fantastic dribbling skills, passing the ball to his strikers. Krieger gave the assist to Josh Hom, who scored the second goal.
Sophocles Gianakis added the third goal with a breakaway from the midfield line.
David Cheung and Jesse Sarro were unable to participate, but cheered their team into victory.
Seniors
NHP 4, Sachem 4. In the Seniors match, NHP tied their first game against Sachem with two outstanding goals by Matthew Saraiva. This was a well-played game, with the defense was strongly played by Tristan Yang, Patrick Williams and Jefferson Yen. The midfielders of Andrea Matteo, Tim Fahey, Harrison Stein and Charlie Hinz were interactive with the defenders and the strikers and gave great passing balls to the strikers. Stefanie Egre had a well-placed goal beating out the opponent’s goalie. Samuel Ho tied the game with the fourth goal. David Glass had a well-rounded game as a defender and midfielder as well as a player-coach. Sebastian Gonzalez held onto the tie as the team’s goalie.
NHP 1, Green Team 2. The 90 degree heat and humidity must have zapped some of NHP’s soccer power because the Seniors scored only one goal in the second game. Stefanie Egre was able to sneak it past the opponent’s goalie, but unfortunately the other team was able to get two goals past NHP goalie Sebastian Gonzalez. Strikers Sebastian Garcia, Joe Caban, and Tim Roth received great passes from their midfielders Adam Strominger, Mary Glass and Samantha Duggan who worked hard all game. However, it just wasn’t meant to be. New Hyde Park had a great game and should be applauded for their efforts in both matches. They were ready for their well-deserved awards after these two terrific and exhausting games.
Next week, June 8, is TOP Soccer’s final session, ending with our annual Parent vs. Athletes games. The athletes look forward to these matches every season and the parents hope that they will finally win a game but it doesn’t look too promising since the parents haven’t practiced all season.
Any soccer fans who want to watch some great games and true sportsmanship, come down to the Center Street School soccer field and watch our TOP soccer athletes. Games begin at about 10:15 a.m. You will not be disappointed.
