Lake Grove/Newfield United 2001 Win the Boys-Under-17 Jose Vargas Cup for the State Championship
Youth Soccer News: Lake Grove/Newfield United 2001 goalkeeper Ryan McGovern was the hero of the Boys-Under-17 State Open Cup final by saving four penalty kicks during the shootout. Lake Grove/Newfield had tied another Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) team, the Levittown Gunners, 3-3, after both regulation and overtime and became state champs, winning 2-1, in six rounds of the shootout.
New York Youth Soccer News: Lake Grove/Newfield take the Jose Vargas Cup back to Long Island
The game for the Jose Vargas Cup was played on June 3 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. Jose was an enthusiastic ref who served as State Referee Administrator, State Youth Referee Administrator and State Director of Assessment as well as President of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) and East Fishkill Soccer Club.
Lake Grove/Newfield coach Frank Stagnitta stated, “It was Levittown the first 15 minutes, then we went up 3-0. We then became too fancy and they caught us.”
Olsen Aluc, Tyler Rosenfeld and Olvin Yanes scored Lake Grove/Newfield’s goals during regulation while Steven Rojas and Nicholas Pozo scored in the shootout.
Levittown received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award as determined by the game officials. Amoroso, a US Soccer Life Member who died in 2016, started the LIJSL Sportsmanship Program in 1980 and it spread to Eastern New York, nationally and then to China and Ireland, and in the process, made soccer games kinder and gentler.
Lake Grove/Newfield will represent the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) at the Regionals from June 29 to July 3 in Spotsylvania, Virginia as part of the National Championship Series.
Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association: With over 100,000 youth soccer players–both boys and girls–and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) reaches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees, and administrators.
